Milano-Cortina Games hailed as ‘new kind’ of Winter Olympics at closing ceremony
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Singers perform during the closing ceremony of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Verona Olympic Arena in Italy on Feb 22, 2026.
PHOTO: EPA
MILAN – International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry lauded Milano-Cortina 2026 as a “new kind of Winter Games” as she declared them closed on Feb 22.
These Olympics used mainly existing venues for over a fortnight of medal-filled action spread for hundreds of kilometres across the Italian Alps.
“You delivered a new kind Winter Games and set a new standard for the future,” Coventry told her Italian hosts at the closing ceremony at the Verona Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheatre.
After she spoke, the two cauldrons in Milan and in Cortina d’Ampezzo were extinguished to formally signal the end of the Feb 6-22 Winter Olympics.
Earlier, the Olympic flag was handed over to the leaders of the two regions that will host the next Winter Games in the French Alps in 2030.
Organisers said some 1.3 million tickets were sold, accounting for 88 per cent of the total that went on sale. The newly added ski mountaineering was sold out, while speed skating and figure skating were especially popular.
“The Olympics have given us unforgettable emotions and a sense of pride that will remain with Italy for a long time to come,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X, adding that the organisation had “brought prestige to the entire nation”.
However, hundreds of people marched through the streets of Verona a few hours before the closing ceremony to protest against housing costs and environmental concerns linked to the Games.
Fittingly, Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo was awarded one of the six gold medals he won at the Games during the closing ceremony.
Klaebo made history by winning all six races in which he was entered – and his tally of 11 career golds is a Winter Olympics record.
Norway topped the medal table by some distance with 18 golds and 41 overall.
They were third when counting only women’s events, perhaps giving the nation room to grow at the next Games.
The United States were second with 12 golds and 33 medals overall, while Italy and the Netherlands both amassed 10 golds.
The hosts smashed their previous high of 20 overall medals by winning 30, with short track speed skater Arianna Fontana reaching 14 Olympic medals in her career, one short of the Winter Games record.
It was a breakthrough campaign for Japan, with their five golds the country’s most at an overseas Winter Olympics and tying their previous best as hosts in 1998 in Nagano.
Their 24 medals comfortably eclipsed the 18 from 2022 in Beijing and were the fifth-most among all nations at the Milano-Cortina Games.
Australia also basked in their most successful Winter Olympics after a six-medal haul. They leave Italy with three golds, two silvers and a bronze – eclipsing the previous benchmark of four medals at Beijing 2022 – while climbing to 14th in the medal table.
Brazil are the country closest to the equator to win a medal in these Games.
But Norway can still claim partial victory: Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who won gold in giant slalom representing Brazil, was born in Norway. AFP, KYODO NEWS, REUTERS, NYTIMES
