Political tensions surface at slick Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony
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Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the San Siro Stadium in Milan on Feb 6.
PHOTO: EPA
MILAN/CORTINA D’AMPEZZO – Italy launched the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics on Feb 6 with a slick and colourful ceremony that celebrated the country’s history, arts and fashion but where global political tensions surfaced in the crowd reaction.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella formally declared the Games open at the main event in Milan’s San Siro Stadium as part of an unprecedented show that also linked to celebrations in co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo, more than 400km away in the Dolomites.
US Vice-President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were among the crowd in the iconic stadium for the performance entitled “Armonia” that lasted three-and-a-half hours.
Mr Vance, who has been strongly critical of Europe, drew jeers in the stadium when an image of him waving the US flag appeared on a big screen.
The announcement of the Israeli team also prompted some booing in Milan over the loud soundtrack, but the group of five athletes from Ukraine drew huge cheers.
International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry said the Games should bring people together.
“Let these Games be a celebration of what unites us – of everything that makes us human,” she said. “This is the magic of the Olympic Games: inspiring us all to be the best that we can be – together.”
For the first time, two Olympic cauldrons were lit simultaneously and will burn throughout – one at Milan’s Arco della Pace (Peace Arch) and the other in Cortina’s Piazza Dibona.
Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, two of Italy’s most successful Alpine skiers who both won three Olympic gold medals, lit the cauldron at the 19th century Milan monument.
Sofia Goggia, one of Italy’s top medal hopes for these Games, did the honours in Cortina.
Pop diva Mariah Carey had got the party started in an opening ceremony combining elements from the co-hosts, seeking to reflect both city and mountain life.
Carey performed the 1950s Italian song Nel Blu, Dipinto Di Blu (In The Blue, Painted In Blue) with its famous Volare (To Fly) refrain to cheers in the stadium.
The ceremony celebrated the diversity of Italian life, from fashionable Milan to the smaller mountain towns in the Alps that host the outdoor events at the Games, which run until Feb 22.
Athletes also paraded in the mountain venues of Livigno and Predazzo, in a Games spread over 22,000 sq km.
Among those marching in Livigno was Singapore’s flag bearer and sole representative, Alpine skier Faiz Basha
He said: “It’s truly a special feeling to share a journey with not just family but the people you are out to beat! We all came together and did a group hug, not really believing we all made it.
“It was bittersweet, unity with a tint of loneliness, but I’m glad I’m able to feel these emotions.”
There was some initial confusion over access in Cortina.
Loredana Vido, who is from Padova but has a home in Cortina, was blocked at the start of Corso Italia, the town’s main street, and said: “We were not told that everything would be closed off. We were told it was free entry.”
But some competitors in Cortina were pleased to get a slice of the action without having to trek to Milan, and they mixed with one another after their parades.
“Do I wish I was at the full one? Kind of. Am I happy I don’t have to spend 10 hours on a bus that day? Yes,” said Austin Florian, part of the US skeleton team.
In the outdoor event in Livigno, at the foot of the snowboard and freeski runs, a thin crowd of locals and tourists watched the main ceremony in Milan on screens.
A series of protests took place on Feb 6, with more planned over the weekend
Italy’s government has said the controversy is unfounded, with ICE personnel not on the streets during the Olympics and only operatives from its Homeland Security Investigations in Italy working out of US diplomatic missions.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee has also said no agents from ICE were providing security for Team USA.
More local issues such as the closure of schools and streets have also irked some Milanese. REUTERS
