Key events
From ballet to opera, then giant paint tubes of red, yellow and blue drop matching silk scarves into the centre of the San Siro. It’s pretty spectacular actually. Now a multi-coloured array of performers parade on and around the stage in a grand Passeggiata.
The opening countdown features beautiful Italian places and beautiful Italian faces. In the centre of the San Siro human statues are static in display boxes, then Cupid wakens Pysche with a kiss ….
Thanks Billy. The red lights are on in the San Siro, the crowd cheers. The theme – harmony. Here we go.
Tanya Aldred has returned just in time. She will be your guide to the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, starting any moment.
We are minutes away from the start of the opening ceremony. The San Siro is decked out in red and black lights – Inter fans might be a bit peeved off.
Don’t forget you can keep across the Games using our live page:
The British flag-bearers for this evening are Brad Hall and Lilah Fear. Hall is the most successful men’s bobsleigh pilot in British history with 30 World Cup medals. Fear, who won Britain’s first global ice skating medal in 30 years alongside Lewis Gibson in 2025, started her Games earlier today in the figure skating team event.
Get all clued up with our range of previews for Milano Cortina 2026:
Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli are the headline acts tonight. There are more A-listers from Italian pop culture, including actors Pierfrancesco Favino and Sabrina Impacciatore, singer Laura Pausini, rapper Ghali and mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli. China’s world-famous pianist Lang Lang will also perform.
There will be stars in the stands too, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Jeff Goldblum, Boris Becker and, of course, Snoop Dogg having arrived for the ceremony.
A reminder of how the opening ceremony is going to be conducted:
The showpiece event will be centered in Milan’s landmark San Siro stadium, featuring the Parade of Athletes and entertainment over the course of the nearly three-hour spectacle. About 60,000 people are expected to attend San Siro, including a US delegation led by the vice-president, JD Vance.
Because the Games are spread out across Italy, elements of the opening ceremony including the procession of athletes will also be conducted in three other locations. Moments will be beamed to the televised audience from Cortina d’Ampezzo in the heart of the Dolomite mountains, Livigno in the Italian Alps as well as Predazzo in the autonomous province of Trento.
There will be two cauldrons – an Olympic first – inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s geometric studies: one in Milan, at the Arco della Pace and the other at Piazza Dibona in Cortina. The cauldrons will be lit simultaneously. The identities of the final torchbearers won’t be revealed to the world until they step into the spotlight tonight.
The ceremony will also include a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died in September at the age of 91. Armani had long designed the Italian team’s Olympic uniforms, and his legacy as one of the founders of Italian ready-to-wear is tightly tied to Milan.
Thanks Tanya. The stands are filling up nicely at San Siro ahead of the start of the opening ceremony at 7pm (GMT). After protests against ICE earlier today, demonstrations on other topics have been going on throughout the afternoon. The latest:
– With the opening ceremony due on Friday evening, Italian authorities ordered schools in central Milan to remain shut and blocked access to some areas to bolster security and ease traffic disruptions.
In the afternoon, a separate demonstration was held in a square near the San Siro stadium, where the opening ceremony will take place. A few hundred people – including a committee of public-housing tenants protesting against the high cost of living, and the Unsustainable Olympics Committee, which accuses the government of funnelling public funds rather than supporting lower-income residents – marched against what they see as the social and economic impact of the Games.
Protesters say the Olympics are a waste of money and resources while housing prices are unaffordable and public meeting places scarce. Some demonstrators also chanted slogans criticising Israel and expressing support for Palestinians.
On Thursday, environmental group Greenpeace staged a protest in front of Milan’s cathedral, protesting the role of Italian oil major Eni as a sponsor of the Games. Later on Friday a torchlit march organised by a protest movement against the Games is expected in an area close to the site of the opening ceremony. Reuters
I’m going to take a quick break now, Billy Munday will guide you through the next hour as the opening ceremony approaches.
In the world’s most fashionable city, there is pressure on the team outfits to deliver. The money is on Mongolia once again making a splash, with uniforms inspired by the Great Mongol Empire of the 13th-15th century. Or, as the official Instagram account puts it:
“Through these designs, we proudly present to the global sporting stage the resilience, wisdom, and warrior spirit forged over thousands of years by Mongolians who have endured the eternal winters of the Central Asian highlands.”
The athletes will be parading not only in the San Siro, but also at Predazzo, Livigno and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
A reminder to stay ahead of the games by signing up for our daily briefing. It will arrive in your inbox before you’ve had your first cup of tea of the morning.
Tonight’s opening ceremony, which kicks off at 7pm, will be held in two cities – Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo – with two matching Olympic flames. The Milan celebrations will unfold in the towering San Siro, concrete stadium of dreams, broken and made, which takes its final bow on the international stage before demolition. Below, Nicky Bandini says farewell.
Good news for Minions fans: Spanish figure skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate has been given last-gasp permission to skate to his usual theme music, taken from the score to the Minions film.
This means that spectators will be able to see him perform his dashing routine in a classic yellow T-shirt and blue dungarees combo, after threats that he would have to swap the music because of copyright problems.
Summary
That’s it for the live action, so a quick glance at what has unfolded today:
Great Britain’s mixed doubles curling team beat Sweden (7-4) and Korea (8-2). The defending champions Italy also got off to a winning start, triumphing over Switzerland (7-4) and Switzerland (12-4). The US edged out frenemies Canada (7-5), and the Czech Republic (8-1) while Norway thrashed neighbours Sweden (9-0).
In the women’s ice hockey, Japan beat France (3-2) and Switzerland the Czech Republic (4-3) in a sudden-death thriller late in the afternoon.
Lots to enjoy in the ice-dancing. The United States are first in the team standings, with Japan two points behind, and Great Britain in eighth.
A week after rupturing the ACL in her left knee, Lindsey Vonn opened her chase for Olympic gold at 41 with an aggressive and successful downhill training run two days before the race.
JD Vance, who will be in the audience at the San Siro for the opening ceremony, and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative, hailed their “shared values”.
University and high school students have gathered in front of the Politecnico di Milana to protest against the presence of ICE agents at the games.
Ice hockey: Switzerland beat Czech Republic 4-3 (shootout). After five shots each, the teams are level 3-3, and slide into sudden death. Some outstanding goalkeeping keeps things going a little longer, but the debutant Swiss take the win, thanks to a goal from Ivana Wey.
Ice hockey: After a high-speed, high-stakes five minutes on ice, full of breakaways, sprawled bodies and a squaring-up, there were no more goals so, at 3-3, the crowd will be treated to a shootout.
Thanks Yara. It’s been a busy day zero at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Before we round things up, there is still something to play for at the PalaItalia.
Ice hockey: It’s crunch time in the one bit of live action left today – the women’s ice-hockey match between the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Switzerland came back from 1-3 down to tie the game and send it into sudden death overtime. If things are all square after five minutes, then we have a shoot-out.
That is all from me for today. Tanya Aldred is here to recap the day’s events and take you through the opening ceremony.
Ice hockey: Tereza Plosova adds one more for Czech Republic and they leads Switzerland 3-1.
Opening ceremony: The ice hockey game between Czeck Republic and Switzerland will be the day’s final bit of action. Then all eyes will turn to the opening ceremony.
The showpiece event will be entered in Milan’s landmark San Siro stadium, featuring the Parade of Athletes and entertainment over the course of the nearly three-hour spectacle. About 60,000 people are expected to attend San Siro, including a US delegation led by vice-president JD Vance.
Because the Games are spread out across Italy, elements of the opening ceremony including the procession of athletes will also be conducted in three other locations. Moments will be beamed to the televised audience from Cortina in the heart of the Dolomite mountains, Livigno in the Italian Alps as well as Predazzo in the autonomous province of Trento.
There will be two cauldrons – an Olympic first – inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s geometric studies: one in Milan, at the Arco della Pace and the other at Piazza Dibona in Cortina. The cauldrons will be lit simultaneously. The identities of the final torchbearers won’t be revealed to the world until they step into the spotlight Friday night.
The ceremony will also include a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died in September at the age of 91. Armani had long designed the Italian team’s Olympic uniforms, and his legacy as one of the founders of Italian ready-to-wear is tightly tied to Milan.
Ice hockey: A tame second period as Czech Republic still lead Switzerland 2-1.
Curling: And the last of the mixed doubles of the day is complete as Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill fall home favourites Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, who win 7-4.
Bryan Armen Graham
Lindsey Vonn moved a step closer to one of the most improbable Olympic starts in Alpine skiing history, producing an aggressive and largely clean downhill training run on the Olimpia delle Tofane course less than a week after fully rupturing the ACL in her left knee and being airlifted off a mountain in Switzerland.
The 41-year-old American clocked 1min 40.33sec in a fog-delayed session, but the time itself was secondary to what the run represented: proof that she can still attack a course at speed – and survive it – as she targets Sunday’s medal race.
Curling: Job done for Team GB’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds. After a killed power play and five stolen ends, they beat South Korea’s Kim Seonyeong and Jeong Yeongseok 8-2.
Across from them, Team USA’s Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin steal two more in the sixth and accept the offer of a handshake from Czech Republic, winning 8-1.
Curling: Norway get their first win, and what a statement from Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten! The Swedes have no answer and can only watch helplessly as they give up another steal to take the game 9-0.
Lizzy Yarnold, the former skeleton racer who was the first British Winter Olympian to win two gold medals, knows first-hand the emotions the athletes are feeling at the Games. In her column, she writes about taking in the buzz while also competing through illness and injury.
Curling: GB’s Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat are in cruise control here as they extend their lead to 7-1 against South Korea. Meanwhile, Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner score two to more against Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill to make it 6-2.
Team GB skier targets ICE with graphic message in snow
Sean Ingle
Team GB skier Gus Kenworthy has launched a blistering attack on US Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers by urinating the words “Fuck Ice” on the snow just before the start of the Winter Olympics.
In a post on Instagram the 34-year-old, who will compete for Team GB in the free-ski half-pipe in Milano Cortina, also urged Americans to write to their senators to “rein in” ICE and border patrol.
“Innocent people have been murdered, and enough is enough,” said Kenworthy. “We can’t wait around while ICE continues to operate with unchecked power in our communities.
“Senators still have leverage right now … and must use it to demand real guardrails and accountability – including getting ICE and CBP [customs and border protection] out of our communities, ending blank-check funding for brutality, and establishing clear limits on warrantless arrests, profiling, and enforcement at sensitive locations like schools and hospitals.”
Read the full story (and view the photo) below.
Ice hockey: Buzzer goes for the end of the first period between Czech Republic and Switzerland. The Czech lead 2-1 after goals from Kristyna Kaltounkova and Natalie Mlynkova, and end the first 20 minutes with 16 shots compared to Switzerland’s nine.
Curling: Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten may be closing in on their first win here, stealing three stones against the Sweden siblings to go 5-0 up.
Summary of the day so far
If you’re just joining us, here is a summary of Day 0 of the 2026 Milano Cortina Games so far.
A week after rupturing the ACL in her left knee, Lindsey Vonn opened her chase for Olympic gold at 41 with an aggressive and successful downhill training run two days before the race.
The 2010 downhill champion and World Cup leader in the discipline had to wait just under two hours for low cloud to lift before she could test her braced left knee at any speed.
In mixed doubles curling, Great Britain continued their winning streak with a 7-4 victory against Sweden. The defending gold medallists, Italy, beat Switzerland 12-4 while the United States edged Canada 7-5.
Japan scored twice late on to overcome France 3-2 in their opening match of the women’s ice hockey tournament, with the French suffering their second successive loss of the Games.
The US vice-president, JD Vance, and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative, hailed their “shared values”.
Prime minister Meloni, one of the European leaders closest to President Donald Trump, said sport and religion were “values that keep together Italy and the US, Europe and the US, western civilisation”.
Hundreds of students from high schools and universities in Milan gathered in front of the Politecnico di Milano to protest against ICE’s presence at the Games.
Milano Cortina will officially open later today with a ceremony combining elements from the co-hosts, seeking to reflect city and mountain life and preaching a wider message of harmony.
Thanks Tom, and hello all. Let’s do a quick recap of the day.
Right, that’s it from me. To guide you through the rest of the curling and beyond is Yara El-Shaboury.
Sakamoto scored 78.88 to give Japan 23 points. That’s not enough to go past the USA into gold medal position and Japan sit second ahead of day two in the figure skating team event. Medals for that will be decided on Saturday evening.
Another point for GB against the Korean hammer. Kim Seon-yeong can’t get past the British guard, it’s 3-0.
In the team figure skating, Alysa Liu of Team USA has been on the ice for her short program routine. She scored 74.9 to give the Americans 25 points, which takes them top of the standings. Japan can go back ahead with Kaori Sakamoto’s run.
Great result for Britain in the first end as they steal two against the hammer. Korea clipped the guard wth the final stone to leave Team GB in scoring position.
Snoop Dogg shocks British curling pair with request for photo at Winter Olympics
Snoop Dogg and the sport of curling made for a very odd mixture at the Winter Olympics on Friday with British competitors Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds even more shocked than the crowd and the millions tuning in when they got a picture request from the rapper.
Mouat and Dodds had maintained their unbeaten record so far at the Games with a 7-4 win over tough opponents Sweden, but were just as pleased to meet the US superstar.
“We saw him at half-time. We saw he was sat next to [US curler] Cory [Thiesse]’s mum. He asked for a photo with us, so I am feeling pretty good about myself,” reported Mouat.
Team GB’s Dodds and Mouat are on the ice for their afternoon match. South Korea have the hammer in the first end.
Naki Guttman scored a big 71.62 to add 21 for the Italian team to send them top of the standings in the team event.
Czechia v Switzerland is next up in the women’s ice-hockey, puck drops at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in about five minutes.
All over in the women’s ice-hockey, Japan won it against France 3-2.
Canada’s Madeline Schizas just performed a fabulous routine to a medley of tracks from the Lion King. Will the judges be feeling the love tonight (or this afternoon, even)? Yes! Schizas scores 64.97 to add 19 points for Canada and leapfrog the French into first position. Next up, home favourite Lara Naki Gutmann.
In the women’s ice-hockey, Japan have scored twice in the third period to take a 3-1 lead against France. There’s about two minutes to go in that one.
We’ll have more curling action in about 15 minutes as Team GB return to the ice in Cortina to take on winless South Korea. The other matches on the 1.35pm (GMT) slate are Italy v Estona, Sweden v Norway and Czechia v USA
Vance meets Meloni to discuss “shared values” ahead of opening ceremony
US Vice President JD Vance and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative, hailed their “shared values” on Friday ahead of the Olympics as hundreds protested against the US in Milan.
Prime Minister Meloni, one of the European leaders closest to President Donald Trump, said sport and religion were “values that keep together Italy and the US, Europe and the US, Western civilisation”.
Vance praised Meloni for Italy’s organisation of the Olympics and also welcomed “coming together around shared values”.
There has been anger in Italy ahead of the Games over the presence of some agents from the US immigration enforcement agency ICE as part of security for the US delegation.
ICE operations in a number of US cities have triggered large-scale protests, and the recent killings of two demonstrators have caused outrage.
Hundreds of students from high schools and universities in Milan gathered in front of the Politecnico di Milano to protest against ICE.
“This is all unacceptable for us,” said Leonardo Schiavi, a protester, referring to Vance’s visit and the presence of ICE agents.
Giacomo Calvi said he was protesting the American “anti-immigration police which are carrying out all kinds of violence in the United States”.
The Italian government has said the ICE agents will not have any operational role on its soil. The agents will be from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Unit, which is a different division from the one accused of violence in the US.
Reporting courtesy of AFP
Thanks Billy. The figure skating team event is still ongoing with Frenchwoman Lorine Schild currently on the ice for her routine.
Tom Bassam is back to see you through the next little while.
Figure skating: GB’s Kristen Spours powers through her short program routine. Because of her spinal injury she can’t stretch her leg properly and therefore finds it difficult to do some of the spins. Nevertheless, what she does produce is pretty flawless and gets her a score of 48.28 after China’s Zhang Ruiyang got 59.83 on the first run.
In the women’s ice hockey, Japan and France re-emerge for the third period locked at 1-1 after goals from Rui Ukita and Lore Baudrit.
