Well, what a show that was. Much longer than planned, but great outfits, multiple locations and two Olympic flames. What more could you have asked for? (Other than a slightly shorter show).

Once you’ve digested that, the events will come thick and fast from tomorrow. On Saturday, there are five medal events, including the men’s downhill, the women’s speed skating and the men’s snowboard big air. On Sunday there are eight medal events, with the biathlon mixed relay, the men’s luge and the team figure skating perhaps the ones to watch.

But across the next 19 days there is so much to look out for and take in. Chloe Kim is going for snowboarding immortality, Lindsey Vonn is trying to win without an ACL, married skeleton duo of Belgium’s Kim Meylemans and Brazil’s Nicole Silveira are going for historic medals. There are stories everywhere!

A huge range of ages will be on display too. Abby Winterberger is just 15 and will be out there for the USA, while Austrian Claudia Riegler is 52! What an effort. Then there’s Norway’s cross-country legend Johannes Høsflot Klaebo, NHL players being back for men’s ice hockey, and ski mountaineering making its debut.

After the 2022 edition in Beijing was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2026 edition has the crowds, the history and the glory that all make sport at the Olympic level so special.

The closing ceremony is on February 22, but until then, thanks for joining us tonight and enjoy the Games!

The Olympic flag has now been raised in both Milan and Cortina. That is followed by the Olympic anthem, which is played by Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang. Rousing, sort of.

And then to Cortina, where athletes read the Olympic oath. We really are doing it all tonight. Ah! We are outside in Milan and here comes the flame. Wait, we are back in the stadium to discuss the planets. Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is there. Another performance. To be fair Samantha, this is starting to feel a bit lost in space here so we could use your help to land the show? Any help?

No, but that matters not. The finale is in sight. The flame is being carried in both the streets of Milan and Cortina. They are nearly there – and so are you. What an effort by everyone involved.

Italian skiing legends Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni hold the flame aloft and it is done! In Cortina, another skiing legend Sofia Goggia lits the flame and for the first time in Olympic history we have two Olympic flames! The Games are open, the ceremony is done and the fireworks have started in Milan.

Right folks, we are nearly there!

After a montage of where the flame has been over the last few weeks, we are back in the San Siro for Andrea Bocelli singing Nessun dorma. This is a classic, and, perhaps like other sports fans, I am taken back to Italia 90′ when this track was part of the World Cup. Oh the memories, and the tears. What a beautiful song, and Bocelli, unsurprisingly, absolutlely delivers.

Then, the flame appears and we are approaching the finale. With the Games officially open, all we need now is the flame to be lit and that will come when the flame gets to the park in Milan where it will be lit (and in Cortina too). 

Inside the stadium there is a dance that finishes with the dancers lined up as the dove of peace and then Charlize Theron is here! Wasn’t expecting that.

The actress delivers a message of peace, citing the great Nelson Mandela.

“Let these Games be more than sport, let them be one of our common humanity, our respect for one another and a resounding call for peace everywhere,” Theron says.

Out comes the Olympic flag, carried by some heroes who have all inspired around the world, including Rebeca Andrade and Eliud Kipchoge.

Surely not long now…

Right, here comes the big boss, and the IOC’s first female leader Kirsty Coventry, speaking at her first Olympics since becoming IOC President, welcomes the world to Italy and speaks first to the athletes. “I know how you feel. Enjoy it. Take it all in.”

“In the next few weeks, you will show us what it means to be human,” Coventry continues. “You will show us that strength is not just about winning, but also about courage, empathy and heart.”

Coventry highlights the virtues of sport and how they can teach us how to act the same, respectful, empathetic, caring for each other.

She references the African word ubuntu, which translates as I am because we are, as a way to remind us that we must do more to remember the concept of the collective not just the individual.

“So let these Games being a celebration of what unites us, of everything that makes us human,” Coventry added.

There is also some love, or shout-out as Coventry puts it, for the volunteers. It is true to say that the Olympics wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of so many people giving up their time to make it happen.

She says thank you, and passes on to Mattarella, who officially opens the Games.

Giovanni Malago, head of the organizing committee of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and IOC boss Kirsty Coventry, take to the stage with the flags behind them.

Malago goes first, and welcomes the world: “Tonight, Italy opens its arms to the world.”

He talked about Italy’s Olympic history (this is their fourth), this being the most gender-balanced Games in history, and how he was determined not to give up getting these Games ready even when it was hard because he loves his country, sport and the Olympic movement. He also thanks the community for bringing it all together. “I would like to say thank you to the Italian people, to the thousands of volunteers who will make these Games so special, and to all those who will compete. I’ve been as proud to be Italian as I am tonight.”

He preached harmony, unity and respect, and how the Italian team will bring the whole country together regardless of the results.

Right, we are into the real heart of the show now. The opening speech can’t be far away, but first, we have a big 1980s, steam punk dance set with plenty of hat-tips towards the different Winter Olympic sports. Then we are in a nightclub with a house track and everyone is wearing apres-ski outfits. It’s all happening.

Now for some comedy. A sign artist arrives to give a speech, but pretends to be having trouble with the microphone so is communicating to us all in sign language, which is really to explain the depth of Italian gestures. She finishes with the words: “Welcome to Italy!”

And now it’s time for the speeches…

After three Serbian skiers, we’ve got Trinidad and Tobago’s bobsleigh team in Cortina, and then huge cheers in Milan for the Ukraine team. A lot of love for the athletes in Cortina too.

And we are into the final nations. After Venezuela, comes the USA. The team is met with cheers, but the moment the big screen in the stadium turns to US Vice President JD Vance, the stadium boos. The US have the biggest team of all the competing nations, with over 230 athletes. It’s also the biggest the US have ever sent. They mean business, clearly.

France are the penultimate finishers tonight, which is customary for the country hosting the next Games. In 2030, the Winter Olympics will be in the French Alps. Tonight though, the teams are wearing some beige jackets with belts that I’m not sure pops as much as they think.

But the biggest cheer is for the final nation, the hosts! Here come Italy. They are wearing Armani, but the grey with the Italian colors in the middle aren’t quite working for me. Still, they are delighted and so as the fans watching on. That’s it, we have made it through the full list of nations!

Right, into the depths of the alphabet now.

After Jamaica’s small team but big vibes, we’ve got Great Britain. They are wearing aggressively larged-sized scarves with the words “Great Britain” on them, in case you might forget who they are representing.

Guinea-Bissau are here! And then Haiti and their sensational outfits are out, love it. Israel’s team in Milan are walking out, and Oliver Moody reports that there are some boos in the stands in response to their arrival. That makes sense, given what fellow DW correspondent Elisabetta Galla reported earlier.

Mexico only have three athletes in Milan, but they are having a good time and their enthusiasm is met with cheers. They have the first mother-son team in Winter Olympic history. Mexico’s Sarah Schleper, 46 and in her seventh Olympics, will join her 17-year-old son, Lasse Gaxiola who is making his debut, in alpine skiing. Wow!

The nations continue, and there are over 90 so this will take time. 

Brazil steal the show, dancing in their Moncler outfits (see below) and making everyone smile. Canada have a huge team in Milan, which gets a big cheer in the stadium. We then move to the other members of the Canadian team in Livigno and Predazzo too.

Sorry, I still can’t get used to it, but kudos to the camera work. It can’t be easy to keep swapping between so many different places at the right time.

By the way, my favorite outfits are in the tweet below. It is a highlight to see them on show in Milan and elsewhere.

I’ve also noticed that in Milan they have the athletes sitting down as soon as they’ve gone through the initial welcome. I did like how in Paris and in London, they had the athlete spill into certain areas, which again encourages interaction and gives them a bit more a special experience.

Anyway, here comes Germany! Leon Draisaitl, NHL superstar, holds the flag in Milan. The outfits are not so great, sadly. Looks like a bad modern take on a poncho. In Livigno, there are even more of the Germany team and then in Predazzo, Katharina Schmid, two-time Olympic silver medalist in ski jumping, holds the flag. There’s also a lot of people in Cortina. Obviously the USA have a huge team, but Germany have 185 athletes at these Games. A huge team! Germany won 27 medals four years ago, including 12 gold medals. They will be hoping to go better this time around, and what an ask that will be.

Greece are out first, as is tradition as the inventors of all of this. Only a handful – and not in Milan – but they are happy to be at the Games and we are happy to see them!

I have to say, this is strange. One of the great parts is that the athletes get to have a huge stadium welcome and meet others from other nations, but the TV cameras are panning away to different places depending where the respective nations are based. Three Saudi Arabian athletes are in Livigno, for example, and then there are three more in Predazzo. In Milan, one lady with a Saudi Arabia sign walks through alone because no athletes are here. Clearly, the travel distances are too far and there just aren’t that many sports in Milan, but still, teams being split up and no stadium atmosphere for everyone? It just doesn’t feel very Olympic.

From Oliver Moody in the San Siro:

“Zero athletes in Milan for the first five countries…bit weird. Thank goodness for Armenia. It’s very odd watching a series of people walk across the holding country names with no one walking behind them.”

Moody notes that there are still quite a few empty seats, by the way. That will surely be news tomorrow.

Armenia are followed by Australia as some atmosphere finally enters the San Siro! And now we roll through the nations…

More dancing follows, this time with a dance beat and a violin solo.

And then the Olympic rings slowly move into position. Once set, they glow in gold. It looks beautiful, I must say.

Then we get a look at the venues at this historic Olympics – Predazzo, Cortina, Tesero, Antholz, Bormio, Livigno and Milano. This is the first to officially be held in some many different places.

And then it’s time for my favorite part – here come the nations!

Massive cheers for Sergio Mattarella, the President of Italy. He is beloved in Italy and the sight of him in the video and when they announced him in the stadium is met with huge cheers. He joins the rest of the leading political names in the stands.

Then we have a very classy moment to remember Giorgio Armani, the legendary fashion designer who passed last September. We have three lines of women in suits, one in white, one in red and the other, of course, in white. He was involved in planning this. Vittoria Ceretti, a famous model and also Leonardo DiCaprio’s partner, hands over the flag, and then we move to Cortina where a different flag is raised. Symbolically though, we are all one here tonight though.

What follows is the Italian national anthem. What an anthem this is! Mind you, it feels different when it’s sung by one person rather than 60,000. Still, an all-time great and it rings around the San Siro as the Italian flag is raised. Why can’t the Games begin now?

Well, we couldn’t have had an opening ceremony in Milan without a reference to fashion. After all, Armani, Prada and Versace are all based here.

We have photographers taking photos of a glamorously-dressed woman, who then turns out to be a conductor as three figures wearing big heads of three famous Italian composers appear.

Then we have paint spilling from paint tubes hanging in the sky. All the creativity is on show here in the form of Italian culture: People dressed as Pinocchio, chefs, opera. There are even a host of people dressed as mokas. Italy’s influence in the world is indeed vast.

We turn the page in order to listen and watch Mariah Carey, who, dressed in a white diamond dress, is singing one of her songs (Nothing is Impossible) in Italian tonight. The crowd loves it and even joins in. She goes back to English for the second half, but that doesn’t stop more cheers coming later. What a range she has. Her voice can shatter glass, you know?

Right then, time to begin!

After Snoop Dogg, Zlatan and a whole host of other celebrities have arrived in Milan, it’s time for the show to start.

The legendary San Siro stadium glows in red, both inside and out.

From our correspondent in the stadium Oliver Moody:

“Still a lot of empty seats as it gets underway. Tickets were on sale an hour ago, around €700 a pop.”

After a video montage of Italy, we are back in the stadium where a winged individual dances around what looks like a museum with sculptures of famous Italians. Plenty of illusions to ancient Rome here. Lots of group dancing before we focus on our pair in the middle who are delivering some excellent ballet, a dance that was invented in the Italian Renaissance, did you know?

Before the show tonight, there were protests on the streets of Milan as hundreds of people, mostly students according to reports, voiced their unhappiness at the presence of American ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in Italy.

Our correspondent Elisabetta Galla was at the protests today and passed on the following information:

Many were protesting about the social issues in Milan, such as rising rent costs and how spending money on an Olympic Games was not the right choice right now. Others were upset about the environmental impact of all the new construction that has gone on, particularly in Cortina. There were also protesters about Isreal being at the Games and not being banned like Russia. Around 10,000 protesters from all across Italy are expected in Milan tomorrow, but tonight, in front of the stadium, Galla reports a totally different atmosphere with many happy people from Milan who are proud of hosting the Olympics.

The US ambassador to Italy, Tilman J. Fertitta, recently said that the ICE officers would be deployed “only in an advisory and intelligence capacity, without patrolling or enforcement measures.”

This is likely in reference to the Homeland Security Investigations unit, which is a unit within ICE that focuses on cross-border crimes. It frequently sends officers to events like the Olympics to help with security, and they are completely seperate from those currently at the forefront of the immigration crackdown in the US. However, as the protests show, any ICE presence in the country has increased the tension.

US vice president JD Vance and secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be at the opening ceremony tonight, and Vance met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni earlier on Friday. Meloni said sport and religion were “values that keep together Italy and the US, Europe and the US, Western civilisation.”