Winter Olympics 2026 Opening Ceremony Highlights: Milano Cortina Games Declared Open - Here's Everything That Happened

Welcome to everyone joining us for the live coverage of the XXV Olympic Winter Games, Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony. Follow along for the real-time updates and a lot more.

Right then. The 2026 Winter Olympic Games' opening ceremony will feature a star studded line-up with plenty of meaningful acts and performances from world's top-class artists.

The whole event is being produced by the Balich Wonder Studio, who have previously done so in more than 15 Olympic games. It will be an entertaining 3-hour spectacle at the San Siro Stadium in Milan and in North Italy.

The city of Milan is anyways known for its rich history of art, music, food, sports, cinema and a lot more. All of this is going to combine tonight.

The star-studded line-up for the Winter Olympics 2026 opening ceremony features 5-time Grammy award winning pop star Mariah Carey, Golden Globe winner Laura Pausini, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, famed Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, Emmy-nominated actress Sabrina Impacciatore and homegrown rapper Ghali.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Jeff Goldblum, Boris Becker and Snoop Dogg are among the celebrities who will be watching from the stands.

Additionally, the opening ceremony will also pay tribute to late Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani, who used to design Italy’s Olympic and Paralympic uniforms. The fashion cult, who died last September at the age of 91, is deeply embedded within Milan's history.

And we are underway for the live ceremony of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic games and the first act features a contemporary dance act. The soon to be demolished San Siro stadium in Milan is absolutely packed with people.

American pop star and 5-time Grammy winner Mariah Carey delivers a magical performance. She starts with an Italian song and concludes with her famous track Nothing is impossible. She wore a glittery dress, snow-white feather boa and diamonds. Here are a few stills from her stunning look.

A number of models lined-up for a ramp show kind of a thing, wearing Italian flag colours to synchronize the nation's fashion culture with the Winter Olympic games.

The national flag has now been handed to be hoisted and the drums are rolling. Here comes the Italian national anthem.

The pictures you see below is a tribute being given to the late Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani, who died at the age of 91 last year.

The Italian flag ascended simultaneously across two iconic locations, Milan’s San Siro and Cortina’s Piazza Dibona to the soaring vocals of Laura Pausini, who sang the Italian national anthem.

In a beautiful display of a contemporary act and violin, the Olympic rings assembled from all parts of the San Siro stadium and lit up brightly to mark the start of this first-ever widespread Winter Games opening ceremony. Here come the athletes now.

Greece are the first nation to arrive for the contingent parades, hoisting their flag in Milan and Cortina’s Piazza Dibona for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Albania and Andorra are up next. Saudi Arabia and Argentina arrive with happy faces as well.

For your information, the contingents are entering the opening ceremony across two different locations - San Siro in Milan and the Piazza Dibona in Cortina.

West African Alpine skier Nathan Tchibozo, who hails from the nation of Benin, is the country's first-ever athlete to feature in an Winter Olympic edition. One by one, the contingents are coming out with much enthusiasm.

Here comes the Chinese contingent, one of the biggest in this edition. They are a sporting powerhouse and are expected to win plenty of medals. China had also hosted the previous Winter Olympic edition in Beijing 2022.

Previous Winter Olympic hosts China have sent their largest contingent ever at the games as a total of 126 athletes are set to participate in Milano Cortina 2026.

Canada have sent a contingent of 207 athletes and 109 of those are actually debutants

Organizers have confirmed that the opening ceremony has reached a full capacity of 61,000 at the San Siro. Premium seats were priced at €2,026. Volunteers are enjoying a special €26 rate.

The Jamaican contingent brought the

The Indian contingent comes out for the opening ceremony. There are only 2 representatives for India - 25-year-old Alpine skier Arif Khan, who will participate in Men's Slalom along with Cross-Country skier Stanzin Lundup, who is taking part in the Men's 10KM Freestyle.

The Israeli contingent was booed by the crowd inside the San Siro stadium. The participating four athletes had awkward faces as they entered the venue.

The most decorated nation in the Winter Olympics - Norway were welcomed with cheer and whistles. They topped the medal chart last time around in Beijing 2022, winning 37 medals, including 16 golds, which is the most by any country in a single Winter Games edition.

Norway have won a total of staggering 329 medals.

Now the final three contingents make their way in the opening ceremony of Milano Cortina 2026. They are the 90th and third last nation to arrive. Upcoming edition's host nation France are up next at 91 they will host the games in 2030.

And lastly, hosts Italy arrive amid massive cheers and whistles. The tempo of the San Siro stadium has gone a level higher as they don Armani made jackets.

A total of 196 athletes are there with a female percentage of 47.4 - the most in Italian history. Roland Fischnaller, who is making his 7th appearance, is their Oldest (45) athlete. Giada D'Antonio, who is an Alpine skier, is their youngest at the age of 16.

Italian actress Sabrina Impacciatore delivered a very good performance in which she showcased the journey of the Winter Games since its inception. Her act had a time travel theme and it displayed how the games have evolved through the years.

Milan-based comic Brenda Lodigiani welcomed the world to Italy by introducing them with the nation's second language - Gestures. Her act was an inspiration from Bruno Munari's 1963 Supplement to the Italian dictionary.

Giovanni Malago, the president of the Milan Cortina Foundation that is organizing the 2026 Winter Olympics, is addressing the crowd inside the San Siro Stadium. His captivating speech is making the Italian crowd move.

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry will address the crowd now.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry concludes her speech and hands it over to Italian President Sergio Matarella for the final addressal before the games are officially announced open in Milan and Cortina.

This is the 3rd time Italy is hosting the Winter Olympics and first time since Turin 2006. Their first occasion was the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo edition.

The Italian President officially opens the Winter Olympic games. Tenor Andrea Bocelli set the stage on fire with his staggering vocals as the Olympic flame was passed for the final leg to the Milan cauldron at the Arch of Peace. The other one, as part of this widespread ceremony, is in Cortina.

Instead of a single flame, the 2026 Winter Olympics will feature two cauldrons: one in Milan and another 400km away in Cortina. The Milan flame was lit by Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, while Sofia Goggia headlined the lighting ceremony in the Dolomites.

And that's it from our coverage as well.