|
|
|
|
Printable Page
02/06 13:01 CST The Milan Cortina Olympics' four-site and two-cauldron opening
ceremony begins
The Milan Cortina Olympics' four-site and two-cauldron opening ceremony begins
By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP National Writer
MILAN (AP) --- Featuring planned tributes to da Vinci and Dante, Puccini and
Pausini, Armani and Fellini, pasta and vino, and other iconic tastes of Italian
culture --- plus an appearance by American diva Mariah Carey --- an
unprecedented four-site, dual-cauldron opening ceremony was getting the Milan
Cortina Olympics officially started Friday.
It didn't exactly feel like a Winter Games as the festivities began at the main
hub, Milan's San Siro soccer stadium, where the temperature was a tad below 50
degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) and the sky was a crisp, clear azure
all afternoon. Not a trace of clouds, let alone snow.
The Olympics were returning to a nation that last hosted the sports spectacle
20 years ago. This, though, is the most spread-out Winter Games in history,
with competition venues dotting an area of about 8,500 square miles (more than
22,000 square kilometers), roughly the size of the entire state of New Jersey.
Aside from San Siro, which opened a century ago and is home to Serie A soccer
titans AC Milan and Inter Milan but is due to be razed and replaced in the next
few years, athletes were slated to march in three other places, some carrying
their country's flag: Cortina d'Ampezzo in the heart of the Dolomite mountains;
Livigno in the Alps; Predazzo in the autonomous province of Trento.
That allowed up-in-the-mountains sports such as Alpine skiing, bobsled, curling
and snowboarding to be represented in the Parade of Nations without requiring
folks to make the several-hours-long trek to Milan, the country's financial
capital.
___
Associated Press writer Colleen Barry contributed to this report.
___
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
|
| Copyright DTN. All rights reserved. Disclaimer. |
|
