The Opening Ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games will mark an unprecedented historic moment. For the first time ever, the opening event will be shared across multiple venues, symbolically bringing together city and mountains in a single, global narrative.
In Cortina d’Ampezzo, one of the most innovative and symbolic opening ceremonies in Olympic history will take place, held simultaneously with the main event in Milan, as part of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
In Cortina, the evening will begin at 7:00 pm with the parade of Cortina’s local associations, followed at 8:00 pm by the start of the official ceremony.
One of the key moments will take place at 8:40 pm with the Athletes’ Parade, which will see around one thousand athletes physically parading in Cortina, representing the disciplines whose competitions will be hosted in the Ampezzo area: alpine skiing, curling, bobsleigh, luge and skeleton, with the addition of biathlon, held in Anterselva/Antholz.
The Parade of Nations will take place along Corso Italia, with one flag bearer for each delegation (Italy will have two), and will also occur simultaneously in Livigno and Predazzo. This “distributed” format will allow all athletes to take part without facing complex travel, making the ceremony truly inclusive and shared.
One of the most emotional moments of the evening will be the simultaneous lighting of the two Olympic cauldrons, scheduled for around 10:30 pm: in Milan, at the Arco della Pace, and in Cortina d’Ampezzo, in the central Piazza Angelo Dibona. The Olympic flame will burn in both cities throughout the duration of the Games.
Bringing the Olympic Flag to Cortina will be Franco Nones, the first Italian Olympic champion in the history of cross-country skiing, and Martina Valcepina, an athlete of the Fiamme Oro and the Italian national short track team, already a three-time Olympic medallist—two iconic figures of Italian sport.
Important note: the ceremony is not open to the public. Access to the area is strictly reserved for accredited individuals only.
At this time, we do not have any further details regarding the program of the ceremony in Cortina.
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