2026 Winter Olympics Live Updates: Opening Ceremony Will Formally Kick Off Milan Games

To that end, LVMH not only had its logo splashed around various Olympic venues like the usual sponsors, but many of its brands took center stage. Chaumet redesigned the Olympic medals. Louis Vuitton designed the trunks for the medals and the Olympic torch. Berluti outfitted the French team for the opening ceremony, and Dior dressed Celine Dion, Lady Gaga and Aya Nakamura for their performances.

Given that Milan, like Paris, is a global fashion center and one of the big four fashion week cities, you’d think they might have taken a page from the last Games and tried to get a fashion sponsor, too. But, no brand apparently ponied up, maybe because the Winter Olympics offer less opportunity for creative dressing, maybe because the uncertain global economic climate has rendered major sponsorships less attractive, or maybe because the Winter Olympics are traditionally less popular among viewers (and potential consumers) than the Summer Games.

That doesn’t mean there are no big fashion names involved, but their participation is on a smaller team or individual level.

It’s too bad. Given the increasing interdependence of sports and fashion, and the fact that increasingly, sports stars are more effective brand ambassadors than movie stars, it seems like a missed opportunity.

Leading up to the 2022 Beijing Games, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was quickly spreading across the world. China responded by barring foreigners, and most local spectators, from Olympic events. Only specially invited and screened Chinese visitors could attend, leaving most of the venues almost vacant.

Friends and family members of the Olympians had to stay home and watch them on TV.

“I think it was kind of the same for a lot of athletes,” Bowe said at a news conference on Wednesday in Milan. “It’s like, you’ve accomplished this thing you’ve been working for all your life, but you don’t have the people that you love and care about the most to share it with.”

Now Bowe and other athletes who competed in Beijing can’t wait for fans to start filing in. These Olympics, which officially open on Friday, will be the first Winter Games since Pyeongchang in 2018 with paying fans in attendance.

Casey Dawson, one of Bowe’s teammates in Beijing, is looking forward to “a little extra noise” coming from the stands. He said that the sound of cheering helps block out the pain he feels in his legs during races. (In speedskating, a sport that requires incredible cardiovascular endurance and lower body strength, that’s a legs-on-fire kind of pain.)

“I feel like the crowd almost carries you through the finish line,” Dawson said. He won a bronze medal in Beijing, in the team pursuit, after missing the 5,000-meter event and showing up just 12 hours before the 1,500 because he had tested positive for Covid weeks earlier and needed two negative tests to enter China.

He took 45 tests before he could get on a plane. Even then, his luggage did not make it, and he had to compete on borrowed skates.

“The whole Covid-19 pandemic tainted the experience,” he said on Wednesday.

The few spectators allowed in Beijing had to follow strict rules that left many venues in near silence. They wore masks and were told not to cheer so they wouldn’t spread the virus if they had it. They could applaud. But even that didn’t happen as it should have.

Spectators at some events, including ice hockey, seemed unfamiliar with the sport they were watching. So they clapped at the wrong moments, or didn’t clap at all.

The Beijing Games were stressful and, in many ways, lonely. There was the monotony of daily Covid tests, and the fear of testing positive and being thrown into isolation for weeks at an undisclosed location. Traveling outside the Covid-free bubble was forbidden, with everyone taking buses from their housing to the venue and back — and nowhere else.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the reigning world ice dancing champions and U.S. champions, said they felt grateful that those Games had not been canceled. Now, in Milan, at their fourth Olympics skating together, they are going out of their way to meet athletes from other countries, a usual highlight of the Olympics that barriers and masks had diminished in Beijing.

Chock and Bates, a married couple, also came prepared to mingle and trade pins with other competitors, an Olympic tradition. They brought 100 pins custom-made with the likenesses of their toy poodles, Henry and Stella.

“This is just the most incredible experience so far, and being able to socialize with other athletes, trade pins freely and openly without having to worry so much about Covid or bubble restrictions, has just been incredible,” Chock said. “You see the buzz, the excitement amongst the athletes, and it’s so beautiful because that’s what the Olympics is about, it’s about uniting people.”

Bowe, 37, is excited to have her family and friends in Milan, especially because she has said this will be her final Olympics.

Four years ago, they watched her compete from more than 7,000 miles away, on a big-screen TV at a watch party in Ocala, Fla., her hometown.

Now they will watch in person, with her mother, Debbie, wearing her usual blue knit gloves with alternating red and white pompoms on each finger. They are the same gloves she has worn again and again, all over the world, at her daughter’s events, so Brittany can easily spot her.

Over the years, Olympic torches have come in various forms and sizes. Some have been ornate, others curved. The 2026 torch design goes back to basics with a sleek, metal rod, which is named “Essential.”

Carlo Ratti, who was responsible for the design, said the name reflected the hallowed sense of the torch and its ancient role.

“The flame is a sacred thing, not an object,” he said, so the designers opted for “an essential shape around the technical core to put the emphasis on the flame.” He added that it was the lightest torch ever made, weighing just over a kilogram, or roughly two pounds, when the gas canister is empty.

Last year, Ratti curated the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, and that, too, informed the design of the torch in terms of “sustainability and how can we use materials in a more effective way,” he said in a telephone interview.

The torch is made from recycled and recyclable materials, including aluminum and brass. For the core, Ratti partnered with Cavagna Group, which he described as a company typical of Italy’s industrial fabric, “a niche company that is a world leader in something very specific.” Cavagna came up with the engineering for the burner, which is powered by a biofuel produced from food waste. The burner is refillable and can be used up to 10 times.

He said the design team “fell in love with the mechanism” and wanted to share it with the world. As a result, a window in the torch allows viewers to see the moment of ignition as well as the flame inside. The outer finish is made of a material that acts as a mirror, reflecting the surrounding environment.

“We took a different approach” from the design of past torches, Ratti said, adding that the torch was usually about “covering and adding and we worked by subtraction and revealing.”

“Ultimately, the torch is a symbol, and what is important are the values it conveys,” he said.

After A.C. Milan and Inter Milan bought the stadium last year, they announced plans to demolish it and build a new one. UEFA, European football’s governing body, ruled that the stadium is outdated, stripping San Siro of the rights to host its title match, the Champions League final, in 2027.

But for those in Milan, and soccer fans of every stripe, San Siro is special. With more than 75,000 seats, it is the largest stadium in Italy and is deeply entrenched in the city’s history.

“It’s an overused adjective, but San Siro is iconic,” said Claudio Sanfilippo, a Milanese songwriter who has co-written two books on the stadium. Along with Milan’s Gothic cathedral, Leonardo’s Last Supper and La Scala opera theater, “San Siro is one of the most important symbols of the city,” he said.

Located in a neighborhood in Milan of the same name, the stadium was built a century ago by Piero Pirelli, then the owner of A.C. Milan. Some 20 years later, its crosstown rival, Inter, began playing there, too.

Because two popular teams play there, “over the decades it became an essential point of reference,” for sports fans, Sanfilippo said. A museum at the stadium houses the teams’ trophies and other memorabilia and is one of the most visited places in the city, he said.

The original stadium was expanded with a second tier in 1955. A third tier was added before the 1990 World Cup.

“It kept giving dreams to more and more people,” said Gianfelice Facchetti, an actor and director who has also written a book on the stadium. The Rolling Stones played there, as have Bob Dylan, Madonna and Beyoncé.

Plans for the new stadium call for it to be built near the original structure, partly in an area known as the Park of the Captains, one of whom was Giacinto Facchetti, Gianfelice’s father, an Inter player and the captain of Italy’s national team from 1966 to 1978. The Italian news media report that the new stadium should be ready around 2031. Almost all of the old stadium is expected to be torn down.

In 1980, the stadium’s official name changed to Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, after a beloved local player who died the previous year. A two-time world champion, he spent most of his career at Inter and held the club record for most goals. He also spent two seasons at A.C. Milan.

For most people, however, it remains known as San Siro.

“San Siro has had a kaleidoscopic history,” Facchetti said. “You shake it, look inside, and you can get lost in everything that has happened there.”

The opening ceremonies of the Milan-Cortina Games are overlapping with one of the greatest moments of geopolitical turbulence since the last world war, as conflicts rage around the globe, national leaders threaten violence and alliances are sharply strained.

In recent weeks, President Trump ordered a military intervention against Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro, and warned he would use force to take Greenland, a threat he subsequently dropped. At the same time, efforts to end almost four years of war after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have shown little public progress.

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Milan on Thursday. Mr. Vance met with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy early Friday afternoon.

With the Olympics on a grand global stage, the pope called on politicians and others not to yoke athletic accomplishments to nationalistic pride, though he did not refer to anyone specifically.

“When sport succumbs to the mentality of power, propaganda or national supremacy, its universal vocation is betrayed,” he wrote. “Major sporting events are meant to be places of encounter and mutual admiration, not stages for the affirmation of political or ideological interests.”

Other popes have spoken about sports, but Leo’s message is particularly notable for its breadth and because it was delivered in the form of a letter, a formal designation in the papal world. Pope John Paul II, an avid skier and swimmer, convened special meetings for athletes in 1984 and 2000 during two Roman Catholic Jubilees, which marked a year of penance and forgiveness for the church.

The Vatican, under Pope Francis, issued a lengthy publication about the church and sports in 2018, during Europe’s migrant crisis, noting that “more and more people are struggling to coexist with those who are culturally different or hold belief systems different from their own.” It said that “sports are one of the few realities today that have transcended the boundaries of religion and culture.”

The Rev. Paul Tighe, the spokesman for the Vatican department of culture and education, said Leo’s letter was “one of the most important statements coming from a pope on sports.”

While noting that sports can be a symbol of peace and fraternity, Leo warned that financial interests could corrupt the benefits of participating. He also addressed repeated doping scandals, writing that “the dictatorship of performance can lead to the use of performance-enhancing substances and other forms of dishonesty.”

Citing his particular concern for the potentially warping effects of artificial intelligence, he wrote that such technologies could transform “the athlete into an optimized, controlled product, enhanced beyond natural limits.”

In the midst of all the warnings, Leo, a recreational tennis player and perhaps now the world’s most famous White Sox fan, also wrote of the personal joy that athletes could find if they focused on the “rewards intrinsic to the activities they perform, namely by accomplishing them and appreciating them for their own sake.”

He gave a shout-out to his preferred sport, tennis, when he described an extended rally as “one of the most enjoyable parts of a match” because it showed each player pushing “the other to the limit of his or her skill level.”

Elisabetta Povoledo and Josephine de La Bruyère contributed reporting from Rome.

These Olympics hold special importance for Balich, 63, since they are centered in Milan, the city where he is based. Last month, he sat for an interview in his office, just off a canal-lined street in the city center. His studio was scattered with souvenirs from past projects — an immersive show about the Sistine Chapel blessed by the Vatican, a temporary Disney theme park in Saudi Arabia, the 121-foot-tall centerpiece of the Expo Milano 2015 fairgrounds.

“The secret to a beautiful ceremony is to say something meaningful, using concepts that are easy to understand,” and express them “in a super-spectacular way,” he said.

He also sought to make it resonate globally. “Everyone is watching, from South Africa to Alaska,” with a potential audience of 2.2 billion people, he said.

And of course, if problems arise, “Always have a plan B.”

This year’s Olympic opening comes with a logistical twist: For the first time, it will take place in four locations where athletes will be competing: the cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, and the mountain towns of Livigno and Predazzo.

The raising of the Olympic flag and the lighting of the cauldron — staples of every opening ceremony — will take place simultaneously in Milan and Cortina. Organizers said that having multiple ceremonies would allow all the athletes to participate regardless of where they are.

“A noble and great objective,” Balich said, “but from the point of view of the creative direction it’s been a nightmare.” He smiled.

Without giving away spoilers, Balich said that Friday’s ceremonies would consist of three sections, celebrating Italy, the athletes and peace.

“We’re doing a big pull on peace,” he said, which will nod to the ancient Greek tradition of the Olympic truce, which calls for a moment of calm amid conflicts. Balich said he felt particularly strongly about the peace section, having been raised in Venice by parents who lived through World War II and instilled in him an understanding of the “horrors of war.”

“Symbols are important, and the Olympic flame and the Olympic rings represent a symbol that isn’t contaminated by factions of war or religion,” he said, adding: “This is a marvelous thing that should be protected.”

For clues as to how Balich will celebrate Italy, look no further than the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2006 Turin Games, the last time the country hosted an Olympics, where he served as executive producer and creative director. The show featured over-the-top mash-ups of all things Italian, including the famed tenor Luciano Pavarotti in his final public performance and a Formula One Ferrari spinning on ice.

This year, he said, he aimed to portray Italy “in a slightly more original way.” He also hoped “to connect with Gen Z.”

Balich worked as a rock promoter and producer of music videos before joining one of Italy’s top advertising and events companies. It won the bid to design the flag handover ceremony at the end of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, his first Olympic foray. After the Turin Games, he designed the flag handover at the London Olympics in 2012 and was executive producer for the 2016 opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.

By then, Balich had his own company, which also worked on the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and later Olympics in Tokyo (2021) and Beijing (2022).

Balich still buzzes with enthusiasm for the challenge of pulling off large-scale events. But he could soon trade it in for a different sort of spectacle, Italian politics. The Italian news media reports that he is considering a run for mayor of Venice.

He didn’t deny the reports, saying, “I’d like to be a public servant.”

For now, he’s busy rustling some 1,200 volunteers who have been rehearsing their parts in Friday’s show for months.

On a recent afternoon, Damiano Michieletto, a director known for his opera stagings who is part of Balich’s creative team for the Games, was marching some 240 volunteers through their paces in a park next to San Siro stadium, the hub of the Milan opening ceremony.

“Volunteers give you back a very special enthusiasm that coincides with the Olympic spirit, which is that of participation,” Michieletto said. “It’s what makes the difference.”

Balich noted that designing an opening ceremony is a team effort. However, he laughed, “If something goes wrong, I get the blame.”

For the first time, the event will take place simultaneously across four separate venues in the cities of Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Predazzo and Livigno.

Italy is six hours ahead of the Eastern time zone in the United States. Here’s how to watch and follow the action.

What time are the opening ceremonies?

The events begin at 2 p.m. Eastern on Friday (8 p.m. in Italy).

How can I watch?

NBC and Peacock will air the events live in the United States and show them again later that same night at 8 p.m. All live streams will be available on mobile and tablet via the Peacock, NBC and NBC Sports apps.

The full TV listings can be found here on NBCOlympics.com. You can subscribe to Peacock here and navigate to its Olympics landing page here.

If you’re not in the United States, dozens of broadcasters will carry the event live, including HBO Max (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden), the BBC (United Kingdom), and the CBC (Canada).

How long will it last?

It is expected to last around three hours.

What do we know about it?

It will be the first time in the Games history that two Olympic cauldrons will be lit simultaneously — one in Milan at the Arco della Pace, a 19th century triumphal arch, and one in Cortina d’Ampezzo in Piazza Dibona, a cobbled square at the heart of the mountain town.

The Milan-Cortina Games said the cauldrons will be lit at the same time to signify the “constant dialogue between the different territories of this widespread edition of the Games.” The design of the cauldrons was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s intricate knot engravings, the organization said, to symbolize “the harmony between nature and human ingenuity” and to pay homage to the artist who lived in Milan for 17 years.

There also will be athlete parades across all four venues in Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Predazzo and Livigno.

Who is performing?

Mariah Carey, known for her seasonal blockbuster “All I Want for Christmas is You,” will headline the show.

There will also be performances by popular Italian artists, including Laura Pausini, a singer who rose to fame after winning the Sanremo Festival of Italian Song in 1993 and won a Grammy Award for best Latin pop album in 2005; and Andrea Bocelli, a tenor and recording star in classical music and opera.

Sabrina Impacciatore, an Italian actress who played a hotel manager in the second season of “The White Lotus,” will also be a part of the ceremonies.

A few things to look for in the Games.

The U.S. women’s figure skating team has a chance to end its 20-year Olympic medal drought with two dominant skaters: Alysa Liu, 20, and Amber Glenn, 26. The last time the United States won a medal in women’s figure skating in singles was 2006, a silver. The last gold was in 2002.

Ilia Malinin, a 21-year-old American, is considered the greatest figure skater in the world and the only skater ever to land a quad axel in competition. If he captures gold in Milan, American men will have won back-to-back golds for the first time since 1988.

The lineup for the U.S. ski and snowboard teams will feature Olympic veterans like Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin and Jessie Diggins.

Vonn, the 41-year-old Alpine skiing star, came out of a five-year retirement in November 2024. She couldn’t walk without pain or limping, and underwent partial knee replacement surgery in April 2024. She has three Olympic medals and is a top medal contender in Milan.

And then there’s Jordan Stolz, the 21-year-old speedskater phenom who grew up in Kewaskum, Wis. He has a handful of world championships in the 500-meter, 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter and mass start, and is favored to win gold in all four of those events.

That brings in Cortina d’Ampezzo, in the Italian Dolomites, 150 miles to the northeast, where skiers will head down the slopes, lugers will glide and, an hour to the north, biathletes will ski and shoot.

Both places will have Olympic cauldrons that will be lit during the opening ceremonies.

But not all the events will be held in those two regions. Livigno and Bormio, both over 100 miles from Milan by car in the Italian Alps, will host snowboarding and the new Olympic sport of ski mountaineering. Predazzo and Tesero, roughly 125 miles away, will host ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

The issue is not just geography; it is facilities. The organizers were eager not to sink into a financial morass by building numerous new arenas and tracks, instead mostly reusing existing venues. And there just are not luge tracks in every town.

Olympic organizers say this is the first time the opening ceremony will be divided across four cities. The main ceremony will take place in the San Siro, the largest stadium in Italy. It is home of the soccer giants Inter Milan and A.C. Milan and is celebrating its 100th birthday this year.

A highlight of any Olympics is the Parade of Nations, as athletes, coaches and officials in uniform march into the main stadium behind their country’s flag. This time, though, it will be the Parades of Nations.

Athletes will parade in the city center of Cortina d’Ampezzo, at the ski jumping stadium in Predazzo and at the snowboard and freestyle skiing site in Livigno. Though the bulk of the performances and pomp will be at the San Siro, “satellite events and symbolic moments” will be held in the other locations, organizers say.

Carrying a flag is a high honor often given to athletic superstars and national heroes. At these Games, each nation will get two flag bearers who can share flag-carrying duties at the same location or be at two different locations. Italy, as host, will get four flag carriers.

Why four parades? Most of the competitors are staying in or near the places they will compete. And quite a few will be starting their events on Saturday and Sunday. Asking them to haul to Milan and back seems too much.

And after all the skating, skiing and curling is done, the closing ceremony will be held in yet another city in northern Italy — Verona, in order to take advantage of its 2,000-year-old amphitheater.

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