Canada Marches Into Unique Olympic Opening - Beritaja

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MILAN – Canada marched into the Milan Cortina Winter Games — astatine 4 different locations — connected a colourful and unsocial Friday night.

The country’s delegation took portion successful a never-before-seen Parade of Athletes that stretched crossed bluish Italy successful the first Olympic curtain-raiser held astatine aggregate venues for what is the about wide arena of its benignant successful history.

Moguls skier Mikaël Kingsbury and skis transverse racer Marielle Thompson, some Olympic gold-medallists, carried the Maple Leaf successful Livigno, much than 200 kilometres from Milan successful the Italian Alps.

Roughly 50 members of the Canadian delegation successful Milan marched into the famed San Siro, renamed Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium for the arena that runs done Feb. 22, to raucous applause.

Meanwhile, successful Livigno, fans stood successful -3 C temperatures to watch the ceremonial connected 2 large screens pinch the halfpipe and large aerial runs gleaming achromatic nether the floodlights arsenic a backdrop.

Kingsbury and Thompson — some four-time Olympians — person 5 medals betwixt them.

“It’s rather a responsibility,” Thompson said of carrying her nation’s colours earlier starring the battalion pinch Kingsbury. “To stock it pinch Mikael is huge. He is specified an icon successful Canada and successful our sport.”

Other than the walkout of athletes competing locally, the festivities astatine Livigno Snow Park were mostly an workout successful watching large screens. The crowd shouted loudly erstwhile the municipality was announced arsenic 1 of the big venues, but it was business arsenic accustomed elsewhere arsenic the occasional snowplow worked the slopes supra the crowd.

Livigno is staging snowboard and freestyle skiing events. Bormio, about a one-hour thrust away, is hosting men’s alpine skiing, pinch the downhill first connected the schedule Saturday, arsenic good arsenic skis mountaineering, which is making its Olympic debut.

Cortina D’Ampezzo, which held the 1956 Games and had about 2 twelve Canadian athletes march, is about 400 kilometres from Milan successful the bosom of the Dolomite mountains.

Spectators successful the town, brimming pinch shops, cafés and high-end boutiques is location to curling, sliding sports and women’s alpine skiing events gathered adjacent the municipality quadrate for an different ceremony.

Competition started successful northeastern Italy a mates of days ago, and the Olympic buzz has been building since. A fewer twelve members of the Canadian squad participated successful the ceremonial connected a chilly but comfortable evening.

There was, however, nary stadium mounting successful Cortina. Spectators alternatively lined the adjacent streets and sidewalks aliases watched the unsocial proceedings from edifice aliases chalet balconies.

Predazzo, the 4th location taking portion successful the Friday’s ceremony, is about 300 kilometres distant successful the autonomous state of Trento. Italy besides welcomed the world astatine the 1960 Olympics successful Rome and again successful 2006 successful Turin.

Back successful Milan, U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, who received boos erstwhile shown connected the large surface arsenic the American delegation walked onto the stadium floor, was among the dignitaries successful attendance wrong a tight information perimeter.

Sirens could beryllium heard crossed Milan, wherever hockey, fig skating and some speedskating disciplines are taking place, passim the day, and helicopters buzzed overhead successful the hours starring up to the Games’ charismatic opening.

The spectacle that stretched about 3 1/2 hours — about 30 minutes longer than scheduled — successful Italy’s second-largest metropolis featured 1,200 unpaid performers, homages to the country’s arts and culture, including 3 monolithic tubes of overgarment suspended precocious supra the arena floor

There were besides performances by American popular prima Mariah Carey and famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli wrong Milan’s iconic 75,000-seat stadium that’s location to shot giants AC Milan and Inter Milan. The building, primitively constructed successful 1926, has besides hosted World Cup games and Champions League finals.

Most countries were greeted warmly by the crowd — Ukraine and the Olympic hosts received the loudest ovations — but Israel received a mixed invited that mixed jeers and cheers.

Switzerland’s women’s lucky squad didn’t return portion successful the festivities and is alternatively isolating pursuing a affirmative trial of norovirus, the aforesaid tummy unwellness that ripped done Finland’s roster and forced the postponement of its opening crippled Thursday against Canada. The Canadian squad is scheduled to look the Swiss connected Saturday.

Two cauldrons inspired by the geometric studies of Leonardo da Vinci were lit simultaneously successful a Games first — 1 successful Milan astatine the Arco della Pace, a short region from the San Siro, and astatine Piazza Dibona successful Cortina.

The organizers of a Games group to beryllium staged crossed 22,000 quadrate kilometres of territory successful bid to usage arsenic overmuch existing infrastructure arsenic imaginable said successful the charismatic notes that Friday’s showcase was “a return that unites representation and vision, reaffirming Italy’s domiciled arsenic a crossroads of culture, innovation, and the expertise to ideate caller ways of creating an Olympic ceremony.”

-With files from Neil Davidson successful Livigno, Gregory Strong successful Cortina, and The Associated Press.

This study by BERITAJA was first published Feb. 6, 2026.

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"Canada Marches Into Unique Olympic Opening - Beritaja"

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