Hundreds of people filled the streets of the XXV Winter Games co-host as celebrations culminated with the lighting of the cauldron by Alpine skier Sofia Goggia.

The first-ever widespread Opening Ceremony had one of its focal points in Cortina d’Ampezzo, co-host of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Hundreds of people filled the Pearl of the Dolomites’ streets since the afternoon, while two giant screens next to the Bell Tower showed the main event, streamed live from the Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium. 

Piazza Dibona became one of the Ceremony’s centerpieces when two female Carabinieri hoisted the Italian flag and spectators, some of them from their balcony, joined in singing ‘Fratelli d’Italia’ alongside Laura Pausini in Milan.

Corso Italia then hosted the widespread athletes’ parade, staged simultaneously with Milan, Livigno, and Predazzo. More than 40 nations and five sports were represented as music and celebration continued in Cortina.

Each delegation was led by one Flagbearer, before the crowd roared to welcome the host nation’s two Flagbearers: Olympic Alpine skiing medallist Federica Brignone carried on the shoulders of Olympic curling champion Amos Mosaner.

Another key moment in Cortina was the hoisting of the Olympic flag. The two flagbearers were short track speed skater Martina Valcepina, who missed the Games through injury, and Franco Nones, Italy’s first Olympic gold medallist in cross-country skiing. .

Luger Dominik Fischnaller and local curling star Stefania Constantini then read the Olympic oath.

The Ceremony culminated with the lighting of the cauldron. Alpine skiing legend Gustavo Thoeni handed the torch to fellow Olympic champion Sofia Goggia, who lit the flame at the same time as Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni did in Milan – a symbolic moment bridging the mountains and the city.

Cortina d’Ampezzo during the Athletes’ parade

Athletes’ parade in Cortina d’Ampezzo: Flagbearears  – Full list

• Albania: Lara Colturi (Alpine Skiing)
• Andorra: Cande Moreno (Alpine Skiing)
• Argentina: Francesca Baruzzi (Alpine Skiing)
• Azerbaijan: Anastasia Alina Papathoma Paraskevaidou (Alpine Skiing)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Elvedina Muzaferija (Alpine Skiing)
• Brazil: Nicole Rocha Silveira (Skeleton)
• Bulgaria: Vladimir Iliev (Biathlon) 
• Czechia: Lucie Charvatova (Biathlon)
• Chile: Matilde Schwencke (Alpine Skiing)
• Cyprus: Andrea Loizidou (Alpine Skiing)
• Croatia: Matija Legovic (Biathlon)
• Denmark: Denise Dupont (Curling)
• United Arab Emirates: Piera Hudson (Alpine Skiing)
• Estonia: Johanna Talihaerm (Biathlon)
• Philippines: Tallulah Proulx (Alpine Skiing)
• Jamaica: Mica Moore (Bobsleigh)
• Great Britain: Brad Hall (Bobsleigh)
• Hong Kong, China: Eloise Yung Shih King (Alpine Skiing)
• Ireland: Anabelle Zurbay (Alpine Skiing)
• Iceland: Elin van Pelt (Alpine Skiing)
• Israel: Jared Firestone (Skeleton)
• Kosovo: Kiana Kryeziu (Alpine Skiing)
• Liechtestein: Martin Kranz (Bobsleigh)
• Latvia: Dzenifera Germane (Alpine Skiing)
• North Macedonia: Jana Atanasovska (Alpine Skiing)
• Madagascar: Mialitiana Clerc (Alpine Skiing)
• Malaysia: Aruwin Salehhuddin (Alpine Skiing)
• Mexico: Sarah Schleper (Alpine Skiing)
• Norway: Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (Alpine Skiing)
• Netherlands: Kimberley Bos (Skeleton)
• Puerto Rico: Kellie Delka (Skeleton)
• Portugal: Vanina Guerillot (Alpine Skiing)
• Romania: Mihai Cristian Tentea (Bobsleigh)
• Slovakia; Viktoria Cernanska (Bobsleigh)
• South Africa; Nicole Burger (Skeleton)
• Sweden: Sara Hector (Alpine Skiing)
• Chinese Taipei: Sin-Rong Lin (Bobsleigh)
• Trinidad and Tobago: Emma Gatcliffe (Alpine Skiing)
• Ukraine: Vladyslav Heraskevych (Skeleton)
• United States of America: Frankie del Luca (Bobsleigh)
• Italy: Federica Brignone (Alpine Skiing) / Amos Mosaner (Curling)

Flagbearers Amos Mosaner and Federica Brignone of Team Italy enter the parade during the Opening Ceremony.

• The opening ceremony marked the official start of the 2026 Winter Olympics with celebrations at Milan’s San Siro Stadium and at venues in Predazzo, Livigno and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
• The Parade of Nations, with participating athletes from around the globe, and the traditional lighting of the Olympic cauldrons were some of the highlights of the opening ceremony.
• The pageantry included performances from Mariah Carey, Laura Pausini, Andrea Bocelli and Sabrina Impacciatore of the HBO show “White Lotus.”
• More than 2,900 athletes from 92 national Olympic committees will compete at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games. The U.S. will have the largest presence with more than 230 athletes, followed by Canada with 210 and host nation Italy with 196.

The Olympic cauldrons are lit

The Olympic cauldrons were lit in Milan and Cortina, symbolizing the start of the Games.

Located in Milan at the Arco della Pace and in Cortina d’Ampezzo in Piazza Dibona, the cauldrons pay homage to Leonardo da Vinci. They have a sun-like structure inspired by Leonardo’s intricate knot patterns.

The cauldrons have been designed to open and close — with a diameter that expands from 10.2 feet to 14.8 feet — and will contain the Olympic flame at their core, encased in a glass and metal container.

All three flame-lighters — Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni in Milan, and Sofia Goggia in Cortina — are Olympic champion Alpine ski racers from Italy. Tomba and Compagnoni are retired; Goggia is entered in the 2026 Games.

The lighting of the cauldrons marks the end of the Olympic flame’s epic 63-day journey across Italy and the start of the Games.