Seoul: The 2026 Winter Olympic Games commenced with an extraordinary opening ceremony held simultaneously across various locations in northern Italy, marking an unprecedented setup driven by the geographical expanse of the competition.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, which celebrate Italy's culture, creativity, and beauty, along with promoting peace and dialogue, feature around 2,900 athletes from 92 countries. These athletes are spread across an area of approximately 22,000 square kilometers, making this the most geographically dispersed Olympics in history, whether winter or summer.
This edition of the Winter Games, the first in Italy in two decades, is named after its two main host cities, Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, which are situated about 400 kilometers apart. Additionally, two clusters of venues host alpine skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, and cross-country skiing events.
In Milan, the financial hub of Italy, all skating events and the men's and women's hockey tournaments will take place. The Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium, renowned as the home of Italian football powerhouses AC Milan and Inter Milan, hosted the primary ceremony under the theme of harmony.
Simultaneously, ceremonies were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Livigno in the Alps, and Predazzo in the northern province of Trento, celebrating athletes competing in skiing, snowboarding, curling, and sliding events. The setup allowed some countries to have separate flag bearers in the Parade of Nations at different locations, enabling representation without the need to travel to Milan.
Notably, this year's Olympics feature two Olympic cauldrons for the first time: one at the iconic Arco della Pace outside Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium, and another in Piazza Angelo Dibona in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The cauldrons were lit by three Olympic alpine skiing gold medalists: triple champions Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni in Milan, and 2018 women's downhill champion Sofia Goggia in Cortina d'Ampezzo. These cauldrons will remain lit until the closing ceremony on February 22.
The organizing committee emphasized that this widespread edition represents the future of the Winter Olympics, aiming to utilize as many existing venues as possible while leveraging the sporting tradition and expertise of the territories involved.
The opening ceremony included tributes to Italian opera maestros Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Gioachino Rossini, a performance by tenor Andrea Bocelli, and a homage to the late fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who designed uniforms for Italian Olympians for decades. Additionally, the cauldrons' design pays tribute to Leonardo da Vinci and his "Knots," symbolizing harmony between nature, human ingenuity, and technical expertise.
South Korea's delegation, consisting of 71 athletes competing in six sports, aspires to secure at least three gold medals, surpassing their tally at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan and speed skater Park Ji-woo, both three-time Olympians, served as South Korea's flag bearers in Milan. The Korean Olympic Committee reported that 35 athletes and 15 officials attended Friday's ceremonies, including 15 athletes and six officials based in Milan.
As per tradition, Greece, the birthplace of the modern Olympics, was the first nation to march into the stadium, while host country Italy concluded the parade.