Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics opens with multi-venue ceremony highlighting harmony-Xinhua
Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics opens with multi-venue ceremony highlighting harmony
Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2026-02-07 11:03:17
MILAN, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Games opened Friday with an unprecedented ceremony staged in two cities - Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, featuring "Armonia", or harmony in English.
Torchbearers run with the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Lai Xiangdong)Mariah Carey performs during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)Three groups of models walk the runway wearing creations designed by Giorgio Armani during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)Three groups of models walk the runway wearing creations designed by Giorgio Armani during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu)Vittoria Ceretti carries the Italian national flag to the protocol stage during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)Vittoria Ceretti carries the Italian national flag to the protocol stage during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Tao Xiyi)A flag-raising ceremony is held during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu)This photo taken on Feb. 6, 2026 shows the Olympic rings at the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)
The athletes' parade took place across four locations: Milan, Livigno, Predazzo and Cortina. The expanded format echoed the opening ceremony's theme, emphasizing the connection between territories and people.
The delegation of China parades into the San Siro Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Lai Xiangdong)Members of the delegation of China attend the parade of athletes during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Xia Yifang)The delegation of China parades into the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Predazzo, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Meng Yongmin)Members of the delegation of China attend the parade of athletes during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)Members of the delegation of China attend the parade of athletes during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)The delegation of China parades into the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Predazzo, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Huang Wei)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)Actress Brenda Lodigiani presents Italian gestures during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry addresses the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)Andrea Bocelli performs during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)Photo takn on Feb. 6, 2026 shows the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy. (Xinhua/Li Ming)Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)Chinese pianist Lang Lang (L) and Italian opera singer Cecilia Bartoli perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan)Samantha Cristoforetti, an astronaut with the European Space Agency and the first Italian woman to serve on the International Space Station, and a girl perform during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing) A girl performs during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)Torchbearer passes the torch during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
The opening ceremony reached its climax when Italian alpine skiing greats Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni jointly lit the cauldron at Milan's Arco della Pace and PyeongChang 2018 gold medalist Sofia Goggia lit the one at Cortina's Piazza Angelo Dibona.
Trochbearers Deborah Compagnoni (R) and Alberto Tomba ignite the cauldron of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Arco della Pace in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)The cauldron of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is lit in Piazza Angelo Dibona in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)Torchbearer Sofia Goggia ignites the cauldron of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Piazza Angelo Dibona in Cortina Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Gang)The cauldron of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is lit in Piazza Angelo Dibona in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)The cauldron of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is lit at the Arco della Pace in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)The cauldron of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is lit at the Arco della Pace in Milan, Italy, Feb. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
Milan-Cortina 2026 marks Italy's third time hosting the Winter Olympics, following the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Games and the 2006 Turin Games, and stands as the most geographically spread-out Winter Olympics in history. Its competition venues are divided into four clusters: the urban hub of Milan, and the mountain venues of Cortina, Valtellina and Val di Fiemme, spanning over 22,000 square kilometers in northern Italy.
A total of around 2,900 athletes from more than 90 countries and regions will compete in 116 events across eight sports and 16 disciplines, with the Games set to run through February 22.■
