And with that, 60,000 spectators at the San Siro slip into the night. Time for me to go bed too. The games proper start tomorrow, with Great Britain taking on Canada at 9.05am in the mixed curling. Thanks for your messages during this long, whacky, but quite lovely opening ceremony. Good night!
The Italian night is kind – cold and dry. Ski-ing icon Gustav Thöni is one of the final flame carriers in Milan. The last torch bearers are raised up and finally the cauldron is alight at the Arco della Pace.
The cauldron is based on drawings by Leonardo de Vinci, and is truly gorgeous. A few seconds later, the identical Cortina cauldron at Piazza Angelo Dibona is lit too.
The games are open!
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We’re killing time now for the flag to arrive at the Milan cauldron. A young girl gazes at a model of the solar system, only for a real life italian astronaut to tap her on the shoulder. More dancing.
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Lang Lang, all in white, plays on a white piano at the San Siro, as Olympic flags are raised in the stadium and in Cortina. Now the Olympic oath, in Italian.
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The torch has gone, and will reappear near the cauldron outside the stadium.
Milanese rapper Ghali performs Gianni Rodari’s Memorandum in four different languages. From nowhere, Charlize Theron, to read some words from Nelson Mandela.
And now the slow approach of the Olympic flag carried by a selection of incredible humans.
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The torch makes its way round the stadium as Bocelli reaches a glorious crescendo. Two of the bearers are the great Italian footballers Franco Baresi and Beppe Bergomi, both played at the San Siro and both captained Italy.
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“The IOC President is showing her stamina,” writes Simon Morris, “she’s been saying the same thing for the last 10 minutes at least. Sack her speech writer.”
A fair comment.
She’s done at last and hands over to the Italian president Sergio Mattarella. The torch is on the way but while we wait for it a spot of Nessun Dorman from a black polo-necked Andrea Bocelli. It’s as spine tingling as ever.
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Now Kirsty Coventry, the first female IOC president, and only the second non European, the owner of seven Olympic medals and five times an Olympian.
She addresses the athletes directly: “I know what it feels like, that mixture of excitement and nerves. Your whole life of early mornings, sacrifices, it all comes down to this. So first of all, be proud and take it all in, enjoy every second. Over the next two weeks you’ll show us what it is to be human… that strength isn’t just about winnings, its about courage, empathy and heart.”
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Now to the speeches. First from the president of the Milano-Cortina organising committee, Giovanni Malagò These games are unique, he says: “pioneering, respecting of the environment, most gender-balanced ever, and with the spirit Italiano. Italian beauty does not belong to us but has been entrusted to us, it lives only if it is passed on…” He’s quite charming.
And a welcome email from Dan:
“Pleased to say Hazel Irvine hasn’t forgotten her roots, name checking Dave Gilbert in the context of an Olympic opening ceremony. The Angry Farmer shares his walkon with a blistering figure skating routine apparently!
“Class. Enjoy the games”
Thank you Dan. You too.
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Lots of magnificent lighting, as orchestrated by Bruno Poet, and we’re back in 2026.
Quite a cute guide to Italian hand gestures, which doesn’t overstay its welcome, and here come the flags.
And finally, magnificently clad in Armani, Italy. Very happy they look too.
The athletes take their places, and are replaced by more dancers. This is a bit more straightforward for those of us who are a bit more basic. We go back in time to the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924. A phone rings from the 1960s and the main character leaps forward in time. Now to the 1980s, complete with a giant walkman and lots of florescent ski suits.
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“How about a shout out for another of GB’s representatives this evening,” writes Edward Poet. “ The man behind the lighting design for the event.”
Edward, I’m sorry I don’t know how to link to the Instagram post – but huge congratulations to Bruno and his team. What a CV!
“@Bruno_Poet_Lighting is an award-winning lighting designer with experience across theatre, concerts, opera, and large-scale events. His work includes Miss Saigon and TINA: The Tina Turner Musical (West End, Broadway, International Tours), Akhnaten at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and multiple UAE National Day ceremonies.”
The biggest cheer of the night for the team from Ukraine. They are, of course, in yellow and blue. The flag bearer, Vladyslav Heraskevych, has said that Ukrainian athletes may protest against the Russian and Belarusian Neutral Athletes during the games.
Tiny Venezuela are followed by huge USA, 232 athletes in cream duffle coats. And there’s JD Vance and his wife. It sounds from here as if the team get a warm reception, but the BBC commentator says it is “mixed.”
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“Why,” asks Kurt Perleberg, “is the John Lennon peace anthem “Imagine” played every single Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games?” I don’t think it is, is it? Embarrassed to say I’ve missed it if it happened this time around.
Ah, Google tells me that it is often played – presumably to encourage peace and harmony. The Pope echoed similar sentiments in a letter: ““In a world thirsting for peace,” he wrote, “I wholeheartedly encourage all nations to rediscover and respect this instrument of hope that is the Olympic Truce, a symbol and promise of a reconciled world.”
Three Serbian skiers are followed by a lone young athlete from Singapore, and a large contingent of smiling Slovakians.
The flag bearer for Spain is British-born Olivia Smart, who swapped allegiances in 2017, and also won Dancing on Ice in 2023.
And huge cheer for Italy’s neighbours Switzerland, who had their best Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The Mongolian outfits are as magnificent as promised. Narnia meets the east Asian plains. “What we carried through winter, we carry to the world.”
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“Hi Tanya. On the other side of the stadium to you guys, but team GB look like walking piano accordions from up here.”
Hello Jnorring! I wish I was the other side of the stadium, but unfortunately I’m on my sofa in Manchester.
The Olympic and Paralympic winter games mascots are Tina and Milo, a pair of stoats. Actually, they’re very cute ,but nothing can beat 2012’s Wenlock and Mandeville.
Very keen on the stitching on the Mexican jackets. And Norway’s jumpers are on point.
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A small group of athletes from Israel enter, without any noticeable reaction from the crowd in any way, and then Kazakhstan, the largest landlocked country in the world. We must be about half way through now.
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Enter Iceland, closely followed by an email from Kari Tulinius.
“How is Iceland bad at winter sports? The two main reasons are, one, there’s not that many of us, and two, the weather’s not good for winter sports. The island regularly gets battered by storms coming up the Gulf Stream from the south, and the warm air and rain melts ice and snow. But oh hey! There’s our people! I’ll be cheering them on.” I am educated, thank you!
Enter 53-man/woman strong-team GB, dressed by Ben Sherman. The dominant sartorial items here are big scarves emblazoned with GREAT BRITAIN. Princess Anne and her husband smile – not grin - from the stands, wearing the same scarves. Tiny Lilah Fear carries the flag.
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The multi gold-winning German squad look great in poncho-type drapes. Their specialism? Sliding events. Dynamic luge duo Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt are on the hunt for their seventh and eighth gold medals this Games
Jamaica’s heirs to Cool Runnings dance into the arena, while we are told that 70 percent of Japan’s team are Gen Z .
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Lots of bouncing Danes, in practical beige jackets are followed by a small team from equatorial Ecuador, all in black. As are the UAE, Winter Olympic debutants, as Kari said.
“Hello Tanya,” hello Kari Tulinius!
“It’s always thrilling to see countries debut at the Winter Olympics, like Benin now. It’s been really heartening to see winter sports spread further afield. Apparently Guinea-Bissau and the United Arab Emirates are the other debutants this time around. Anyway, back to waiting for Iceland’s contestants. We suck at winter sports, incidentally, despite what Hollywood will tell you.”
But Kári – how?
A large Chinese contingent are also busy with flags – the men are in royal blue puffas, the women, ice blue. While Colombia’s jackets rock – long and yellow with huge red pockets.
The Czechs, in geometric jumpers, culottes and long socks, are very enthusiastic flag wearers. While Chile wear delicious long navy tail coats with brass buttons.
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There are a lot of Canadians, 207 to be precise, and 109 of them are Olympic debutants. They are extremely enthusiastic in enormous puffas, decorated with half a Maple leaf on either of the zip. They’re great actually.
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“Hopefully Danny Boyle got royalties,” writes William M Gilmore.
Brazil, incidentally, are in blow up bin bags.
I am enjoying Belgium’s yellow tracksuits, think lego people.
Next is Benin, who are one of eight African countries represented in these Olympics.
To add to the confusion, those athletes in the mountains are emerging from different venues than the San Siro. Which means that in some cases countries are represented only by a model in an enormous silver reflective robe and wraparound sunglasss.
Albania sport long grey puffas, Andorra zebra-striped tracksuits, while Saudi Arabia’s team of three are in traditional robes. Australia bounce in the usual green and gold but with white mittens.
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I’m not exactly sure how, but the five rings have come congregated in Olympic formation and sparkle above everyone’s heads. And everyone is welcomed to the first wide-spread Winter Olympic games – taking place over a large area of north Italy. Now, the main business of the evening, the athletes’ parade.
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Dancers in moss green congregate around a giant roll of Sellotape, two giant rolls of Sellotape – ah the Sellotapes become two of the Olympic rings. Up they go into the Milan sky, while harmony appears to have setlled on earth, at least for the next minute.
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The flag slides up the pole and obediently billows in the (artificial?) wind. The anthem is sung. While over in Cortina, a violinist is in conversation with the mountain.
Back at the San Siro, a poem gets a huge roar, as we enter a section that questions how to balance human ambition and the natural world. Be nice if they could work that out over the next couple of weeks.
Mariah gently blows a kiss to a very happy audience and we segue into three dancing heads of Italian composers jiving to some Europop.
Now a section devoted to Giorgio Armani, who died last year. Apparently some of his last sketches were for these games. A catwalk of models in green, red and white stride in unison. A beautiful woman in white, the face of Armani’s last collection, hands an ironed Italian flag to a military man in a spectacular uniform of brass buckles and tight white trousers.
A snippet of Nessun dorma and some fireworks finish off the first section. And then… MARIAH! In huge glittery dress, snow-white feather boa and diamonds, with tumbling golden waves down to her ribs. Even her microphone is sparkly.
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From ballet to opera, then giant paint tubes of red, yellow and blue drop matching silk scarves into the centre of the San Siro. It’s pretty spectacular actually. Now a multi-coloured array of performers parade on and around the stage in a grand Passeggiata.
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The opening countdown features beautiful Italian places and beautiful Italian faces. In the centre of the San Siro human statues are static in display boxes, then Cupid wakens Psyche with a kiss ….
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Thanks Billy. The red lights are on in the San Siro, the crowd cheers. The theme – harmony. Here we go.
Tanya Aldred has returned just in time. She will be your guide to the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, starting any moment.
We are minutes away from the start of the opening ceremony. The San Siro is decked out in red and black lights – Inter fans might be a bit peeved off.
Don’t forget you can keep across the Games using our live page:
The British flag-bearers for this evening are Brad Hall and Lilah Fear. Hall is the most successful men’s bobsleigh pilot in British history with 30 World Cup medals. Fear, who won Britain’s first global ice skating medal in 30 years alongside Lewis Gibson in 2025, started her Games earlier today in the figure skating team event.
Get all clued up with our range of previews for Milano Cortina 2026:
Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli are the headline acts tonight. There are more A-listers from Italian pop culture, including actors Pierfrancesco Favino and Sabrina Impacciatore, singer Laura Pausini, rapper Ghali and mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli. China’s world-famous pianist Lang Lang will also perform.
There will be stars in the stands too, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Jeff Goldblum, Boris Becker and, of course, Snoop Dogg having arrived for the ceremony.
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A reminder of how the opening ceremony is going to be conducted:
The showpiece event will be centered in Milan’s landmark San Siro stadium, featuring the Parade of Athletes and entertainment over the course of the nearly three-hour spectacle. About 60,000 people are expected to attend San Siro, including a US delegation led by the vice-president, JD Vance.
Because the Games are spread out across Italy, elements of the opening ceremony including the procession of athletes will also be conducted in three other locations. Moments will be beamed to the televised audience from Cortina d’Ampezzo in the heart of the Dolomite mountains, Livigno in the Italian Alps as well as Predazzo in the autonomous province of Trento.
There will be two cauldrons – an Olympic first – inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s geometric studies: one in Milan, at the Arco della Pace and the other at Piazza Dibona in Cortina. The cauldrons will be lit simultaneously. The identities of the final torchbearers won’t be revealed to the world until they step into the spotlight tonight.
The ceremony will also include a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died in September at the age of 91. Armani had long designed the Italian team’s Olympic uniforms, and his legacy as one of the founders of Italian ready-to-wear is tightly tied to Milan.
Thanks Tanya. The stands are filling up nicely at San Siro ahead of the start of the opening ceremony at 7pm (GMT). After protests against ICE earlier today, demonstrations on other topics have been going on throughout the afternoon. The latest:
- With the opening ceremony due on Friday evening, Italian authorities ordered schools in central Milan to remain shut and blocked access to some areas to bolster security and ease traffic disruptions.
In the afternoon, a separate demonstration was held in a square near the San Siro stadium, where the opening ceremony will take place. A few hundred people – including a committee of public-housing tenants protesting against the high cost of living, and the Unsustainable Olympics Committee, which accuses the government of funnelling public funds rather than supporting lower-income residents – marched against what they see as the social and economic impact of the Games.
Protesters say the Olympics are a waste of money and resources while housing prices are unaffordable and public meeting places scarce. Some demonstrators also chanted slogans criticising Israel and expressing support for Palestinians.
On Thursday, environmental group Greenpeace staged a protest in front of Milan’s cathedral, protesting the role of Italian oil major Eni as a sponsor of the Games. Later on Friday a torchlit march organised by a protest movement against the Games is expected in an area close to the site of the opening ceremony. Reuters
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I’m going to take a quick break now, Billy Munday will guide you through the next hour as the opening ceremony approaches.
In the world’s most fashionable city, there is pressure on the team outfits to deliver. The money is on Mongolia once again making a splash, with uniforms inspired by the Great Mongol Empire of the 13th-15th century. Or, as the official Instagram account puts it:
“Through these designs, we proudly present to the global sporting stage the resilience, wisdom, and warrior spirit forged over thousands of years by Mongolians who have endured the eternal winters of the Central Asian highlands.”
The athletes will be parading not only in the San Siro, but also at Predazzo, Livigno and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
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A reminder to stay ahead of the games by signing up for our daily briefing. It will arrive in your inbox before you’ve had your first cup of tea of the morning.
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Tonight’s opening ceremony, which kicks off at 7pm, will be held in two cities – Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo – with two matching Olympic flames. The Milan celebrations will unfold in the towering San Siro, concrete stadium of dreams, broken and made, which takes its final bow on the international stage before demolition. Below, Nicky Bandini says farewell.
Good news for Minions fans: Spanish figure skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate has been given last-gasp permission to skate to his usual theme music, taken from the score to the Minions film.
This means that spectators will be able to see him perform his dashing routine in a classic yellow T-shirt and blue dungarees combo, after threats that he would have to swap the music because of copyright problems.
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Summary
That’s it for the live action, so a quick glance at what has unfolded today:
Great Britain’s mixed doubles curling team beat Sweden (7-4) and Korea (8-2). The defending champions Italy also got off to a winning start, triumphing over Switzerland (7-4) and Switzerland (12-4). The US edged out frenemies Canada (7-5), and the Czech Republic (8-1) while Norway thrashed neighbours Sweden (9-0).
In the women’s ice hockey, Japan beat France (3-2) and Switzerland the Czech Republic (4-3) in a sudden-death thriller late in the afternoon.
Lots to enjoy in the ice-dancing. The United States are first in the team standings, with Japan two points behind, and Great Britain in eighth.
A week after rupturing the ACL in her left knee, Lindsey Vonn opened her chase for Olympic gold at 41 with an aggressive and successful downhill training run two days before the race.
JD Vance, who will be in the audience at the San Siro for the opening ceremony, and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative, hailed their “shared values”.
University and high school students have gathered in front of the Politecnico di Milana to protest against the presence of ICE agents at the games.
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Ice hockey: Switzerland beat Czech Republic 4-3 (shootout). After five shots each, the teams are level 3-3, and slide into sudden death. Some outstanding goalkeeping keeps things going a little longer, but the debutant Swiss take the win, thanks to a goal from Ivana Wey.
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Ice hockey: After a high-speed, high-stakes five minutes on ice, full of breakaways, sprawled bodies and a squaring-up, there were no more goals so, at 3-3, the crowd will be treated to a shootout.
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Thanks Yara. It’s been a busy day zero at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Before we round things up, there is still something to play for at the PalaItalia.
Ice hockey: It’s crunch time in the one bit of live action left today – the women’s ice-hockey match between the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Switzerland came back from 1-3 down to tie the game and send it into sudden death overtime. If things are all square after five minutes, then we have a shoot-out.
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That is all from me for today. Tanya Aldred is here to recap the day's events and take you through the opening ceremony.
Ice hockey: Tereza Plosova adds one more for Czech Republic and they leads Switzerland 3-1.
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Opening ceremony: The ice hockey game between Czeck Republic and Switzerland will be the day’s final bit of action. Then all eyes will turn to the opening ceremony.
The showpiece event will be entered in Milan’s landmark San Siro stadium, featuring the Parade of Athletes and entertainment over the course of the nearly three-hour spectacle. About 60,000 people are expected to attend San Siro, including a US delegation led by vice-president JD Vance.
Because the Games are spread out across Italy, elements of the opening ceremony including the procession of athletes will also be conducted in three other locations. Moments will be beamed to the televised audience from Cortina in the heart of the Dolomite mountains, Livigno in the Italian Alps as well as Predazzo in the autonomous province of Trento.
There will be two cauldrons – an Olympic first – inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s geometric studies: one in Milan, at the Arco della Pace and the other at Piazza Dibona in Cortina. The cauldrons will be lit simultaneously. The identities of the final torchbearers won’t be revealed to the world until they step into the spotlight Friday night.
The ceremony will also include a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died in September at the age of 91. Armani had long designed the Italian team’s Olympic uniforms, and his legacy as one of the founders of Italian ready-to-wear is tightly tied to Milan.
Ice hockey: A tame second period as Czech Republic still lead Switzerland 2-1.
Curling: And the last of the mixed doubles of the day is complete as Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill fall home favourites Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, who win 7-4.
Lindsey Vonn moved a step closer to one of the most improbable Olympic starts in Alpine skiing history, producing an aggressive and largely clean downhill training run on the Olimpia delle Tofane course less than a week after fully rupturing the ACL in her left knee and being airlifted off a mountain in Switzerland.
The 41-year-old American clocked 1min 40.33sec in a fog-delayed session, but the time itself was secondary to what the run represented: proof that she can still attack a course at speed – and survive it – as she targets Sunday’s medal race.
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Curling: Job done for Team GB’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds. After a killed power play and five stolen ends, they beat South Korea’s Kim Seonyeong and Jeong Yeongseok 8-2.
Across from them, Team USA’s Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin steal two more in the sixth and accept the offer of a handshake from Czech Republic, winning 8-1.
Curling: Norway get their first win, and what a statement from Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten! The Swedes have no answer and can only watch helplessly as they give up another steal to take the game 9-0.
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Lizzy Yarnold, the former skeleton racer who was the first British Winter Olympian to win two gold medals, knows first-hand the emotions the athletes are feeling at the Games. In her column, she writes about taking in the buzz while also competing through illness and injury.
Curling: GB’s Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat are in cruise control here as they extend their lead to 7-1 against South Korea. Meanwhile, Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner score two to more against Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill to make it 6-2.
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Team GB skier targets ICE with graphic message in snow
Team GB skier Gus Kenworthy has launched a blistering attack on US Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers by urinating the words “Fuck Ice” on the snow just before the start of the Winter Olympics.
In a post on Instagram the 34-year-old, who will compete for Team GB in the free-ski half-pipe in Milano Cortina, also urged Americans to write to their senators to “rein in” ICE and border patrol.
“Innocent people have been murdered, and enough is enough,” said Kenworthy. “We can’t wait around while ICE continues to operate with unchecked power in our communities.
“Senators still have leverage right now … and must use it to demand real guardrails and accountability – including getting ICE and CBP [customs and border protection] out of our communities, ending blank-check funding for brutality, and establishing clear limits on warrantless arrests, profiling, and enforcement at sensitive locations like schools and hospitals.”
Read the full story (and view the photo) below.
Ice hockey: Buzzer goes for the end of the first period between Czech Republic and Switzerland. The Czech lead 2-1 after goals from Kristyna Kaltounkova and Natalie Mlynkova, and end the first 20 minutes with 16 shots compared to Switzerland’s nine.
Curling: Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten may be closing in on their first win here, stealing three stones against the Sweden siblings to go 5-0 up.
Summary of the day so far
If you’re just joining us, here is a summary of Day 0 of the 2026 Milano Cortina Games so far.
A week after rupturing the ACL in her left knee, Lindsey Vonn opened her chase for Olympic gold at 41 with an aggressive and successful downhill training run two days before the race.
The 2010 downhill champion and World Cup leader in the discipline had to wait just under two hours for low cloud to lift before she could test her braced left knee at any speed.
In mixed doubles curling, Great Britain continued their winning streak with a 7-4 victory against Sweden. The defending gold medallists, Italy, beat Switzerland 12-4 while the United States edged Canada 7-5.
Japan scored twice late on to overcome France 3-2 in their opening match of the women’s ice hockey tournament, with the French suffering their second successive loss of the Games.
The US vice-president, JD Vance, and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative, hailed their “shared values”.
Prime minister Meloni, one of the European leaders closest to President Donald Trump, said sport and religion were “values that keep together Italy and the US, Europe and the US, western civilisation”.
Hundreds of students from high schools and universities in Milan gathered in front of the Politecnico di Milano to protest against ICE’s presence at the Games.
Milano Cortina will officially open later today with a ceremony combining elements from the co-hosts, seeking to reflect city and mountain life and preaching a wider message of harmony.
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Thanks Tom, and hello all. Let’s do a quick recap of the day.
Right, that’s it from me. To guide you through the rest of the curling and beyond is Yara El-Shaboury.
Sakamoto scored 78.88 to give Japan 23 points. That’s not enough to go past the USA into gold medal position and Japan sit second ahead of day two in the figure skating team event. Medals for that will be decided on Saturday evening.
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Another point for GB against the Korean hammer. Kim Seon-yeong can’t get past the British guard, it’s 3-0.
In the team figure skating, Alysa Liu of Team USA has been on the ice for her short program routine. She scored 74.9 to give the Americans 25 points, which takes them top of the standings. Japan can go back ahead with Kaori Sakamoto’s run.
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Great result for Britain in the first end as they steal two against the hammer. Korea clipped the guard wth the final stone to leave Team GB in scoring position.
Snoop Dogg shocks British curling pair with request for photo at Winter Olympics
Snoop Dogg and the sport of curling made for a very odd mixture at the Winter Olympics on Friday with British competitors Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds even more shocked than the crowd and the millions tuning in when they got a picture request from the rapper.
Mouat and Dodds had maintained their unbeaten record so far at the Games with a 7-4 win over tough opponents Sweden, but were just as pleased to meet the US superstar.
“We saw him at half-time. We saw he was sat next to [US curler] Cory [Thiesse]’s mum. He asked for a photo with us, so I am feeling pretty good about myself,” reported Mouat.
Team GB’s Dodds and Mouat are on the ice for their afternoon match. South Korea have the hammer in the first end.
Naki Guttman scored a big 71.62 to add 21 for the Italian team to send them top of the standings in the team event.
Czechia v Switzerland is next up in the women’s ice-hockey, puck drops at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in about five minutes.
All over in the women’s ice-hockey, Japan won it against France 3-2.
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Canada’s Madeline Schizas just performed a fabulous routine to a medley of tracks from the Lion King. Will the judges be feeling the love tonight (or this afternoon, even)? Yes! Schizas scores 64.97 to add 19 points for Canada and leapfrog the French into first position. Next up, home favourite Lara Naki Gutmann.
In the women’s ice-hockey, Japan have scored twice in the third period to take a 3-1 lead against France. There’s about two minutes to go in that one.
We’ll have more curling action in about 15 minutes as Team GB return to the ice in Cortina to take on winless South Korea. The other matches on the 1.35pm (GMT) slate are Italy v Estona, Sweden v Norway and Czechia v USA
Vance meets Meloni to discuss “shared values” ahead of opening ceremony
US Vice President JD Vance and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative, hailed their “shared values” on Friday ahead of the Olympics as hundreds protested against the US in Milan.
Prime Minister Meloni, one of the European leaders closest to President Donald Trump, said sport and religion were “values that keep together Italy and the US, Europe and the US, Western civilisation”.
Vance praised Meloni for Italy’s organisation of the Olympics and also welcomed “coming together around shared values”.
There has been anger in Italy ahead of the Games over the presence of some agents from the US immigration enforcement agency ICE as part of security for the US delegation.
ICE operations in a number of US cities have triggered large-scale protests, and the recent killings of two demonstrators have caused outrage.
Hundreds of students from high schools and universities in Milan gathered in front of the Politecnico di Milano to protest against ICE.
“This is all unacceptable for us,” said Leonardo Schiavi, a protester, referring to Vance’s visit and the presence of ICE agents.
Giacomo Calvi said he was protesting the American “anti-immigration police which are carrying out all kinds of violence in the United States”.
The Italian government has said the ICE agents will not have any operational role on its soil. The agents will be from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Unit, which is a different division from the one accused of violence in the US.
Reporting courtesy of AFP
Thanks Billy. The figure skating team event is still ongoing with Frenchwoman Lorine Schild currently on the ice for her routine.
Tom Bassam is back to see you through the next little while.
Figure skating: GB’s Kristen Spours powers through her short program routine. Because of her spinal injury she can’t stretch her leg properly and therefore finds it difficult to do some of the spins. Nevertheless, what she does produce is pretty flawless and gets her a score of 48.28 after China’s Zhang Ruiyang got 59.83 on the first run.
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In the women’s ice hockey, Japan and France re-emerge for the third period locked at 1-1 after goals from Rui Ukita and Lore Baudrit.
This is a big moment for Great Britain’s Kristen Spours in the women’s singles section of the figure skating team event. The 25-year-old is competing at her first Olympics but says she will retire from figure skating later this year having recovered from surgery on a spinal injury suffered last March.
Spours will skate to Iron Sky by Paolo Nutini and go second after China’s Zhang Ruiyang, who is skating to Frozen by Madonna.
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Vonn completes first training run in Cortina
The weather kept Lindsey Vonn waiting, but the US ski great completed her first downhill training run at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Friday without her knee causing any obvious difficulty. The 41-year-old plans to race on Sunday despite rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament in a World Cup downhill crash in Switzerland last week.
Wearing bib No 10, the 2010 downhill champion and World Cup leader in the discipline had to wait for low cloud to lift before she could test her braced left knee at any speed.
Slovenian first starter Ilka Stuhec had crashed earlier, with the Olimpia delle Tofane piste requiring re-grooming, and the session was then halted again as fog rolled in after the fourth skier, Austria’s Nina Ortlieb.
Norway’s Marte Monsen, who also crashed in Crans-Montana last week, did not start.
When Vonn did get going, more than 90 minutes after Stuhec had started, her run was over in 1min 40.33sec and a point proved.
She overcooked one turn and lost speed on the lower slopes but skiers often ease off in training, focusing on lines and terrain. “Nothing makes me happier! No one would have believed I would be here...but I made it!” she had posted on Instagram as she made her way up the mountain in the morning. Reuters
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USA freestyle skiers have been speaking about projecting a positive image for their country amid the protests against ICE’s presence in Italy.
Aerials specialist Chris Lillis said on Friday:
I think that as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect.
I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realise that’s the America that we’re trying to represent.
Asked what it means to wear Team USA gear and the American flag, Hunter Hess said it brought up mixed emotions:
It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US.
In a sign of renewed sensitivities, US officials changed the name of a shared hospitality space for USA Hockey, US Figure Skating and US Speedskating, in Milan from “Ice House” to “Winter House.”
Reporting by Reuters
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The final standings for the pair skating section of the team event:
1 Japan – 82.84pts
2 Georgia – 77.54
3 Italy – 76.65
4 Canada – 68.24
5 USA – 66.59
6 China – 65.37
7 France – 63.72
8 Poland – 60.20
9 Great Britain – 57.29
Up next, the women’s singles short program in about 15 minutes.
Rapper Snoop Dogg brought a touch of flair to the mixed doubles curling competition today, sporting a custom jacket featuring the faces of American duo Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse while cheering them to victory over Canada.
Snoop was in attendance at the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium to witness the American pair beat Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman 7-5 in front of a raucous stadium packed with U.S. supporters.
It was the US team’s third straight win in the mixed doubles competition.
“It’s the Olympics, and our family and friends are here cheering us on. Snoop Dogg’s here cheering us on! It (the jacket) was so cool. Loved it. Coach Snoop looked good today,” a fired-up Dropkin said.
Hip-hop icon and sports fan Snoop, who was named the honorary coach of Team USA in December, got hands-on with the sport and was given a quick primer on the basics by members of the US teams on the ice after the match.
He also distributed “Coach Snoop” beanies and chains featuring the logo of his music label Death Row Records to players and coaches.
“He came out to meet the teams, he brought us all little gifts and it was fun,” US coach Phill Drobnick said.
“We got a necklace and a Coach Snoop hat. Good to see him, sitting with Korey’s mom, watching the game, learning about the sport. He had the jacket with Cory and Korey on it, so that was really cool.” Reuters
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Thanks Tom. The Italian pair of Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii had just gone top of the standings in the pair skating to Concerto de España, prompting pretty emotional scenes among their supporting cast. Conti was wearing a knee brace after straining a ligament in December.
But Georgia’s pair of Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava have just trumped that to go top themselves to Bolero.
I’m due for a blogging break but Billy Munday is here to take over.
The Guardian’s photographer Tom Jenkins was at the Milano Ice Skating Arena to capture the ice dance session of the figure skating team event:
Up next are the US pair of Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea who are skating to a cover Hallelujah. Like the Brits, the US pair are let down on the Salchow and will be requiring powers from above now. It’s a 66.59, which keeps them in first, but up next are favourites Japan.
It’s a disappointing run from the British pair who started well but Digby and Vaipan-Law’s triple Salchow goes awry. Without the additional technichal elements to boost their score, it’s a below par 57.29 for the Brits.
Pope urges nations to respect Olympic Truce as ‘instrument of hope’
Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged nations to respect the tradition of the Olympic Truce as an ‘instrument of hope’, ahead of the opening ceremony of the Winter Games in Italy.
‘On the occasion of the upcoming Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, I wholeheartedly encourage all nations to rediscover and respect this instrument of hope that is the Olympic Truce, a symbol and promise of a reconciled world,’ the US pontiff said in a letter on the value of sport.
UN member states last November adopted a resolution urging international conflicts be paused during the Olympics – an ideal embraced in principle every two years yet regularly ignored.
In the eight-page document, released by the Vatican ahead of Friday night’s ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium, Leo reflected on the benefits of sport – and the risks of its corruption.
He stressed the importance of making sports accessible to everyone – and warned of the risks that it becomes solely about business, or exploited for political means.
‘When sport succumbs to the mentality of power, propaganda or national supremacy, its universal vocation is betrayed,’ the pope wrote.
‘Major sporting events are meant to be places of encounter and mutual admiration, not stages for the affirmation of political or ideological interests.’
Modelled on a millennia-old Greek tradition, the Olympic Truce has been introduced at the UN biennially since 1993 by the host country. In theory, for these Games it began 30th January and is in place until 15th March after the conclusion of the Paralympics.
Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has led to a range of sporting bans for Russian and Belarusian athletes, inluding at Milano Cortina 2026.
Reporting by AFP
With the live sport we’re still on the ice but this time from Milan with the figure skating team event. British skaters Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby are out warming up currently, but it’s the US and Japan who are favourites for this event.
Ever wondered about the origins of curling stones?
The ancient sport of curling requires the best materials to make the best stones – the granite from an uninhabited island in Scotland. Check out this archive gallery from Andrew Buchanan who went to see how the stones were produced:
Anti-ICE protestors take to the streets in Milan
Hundreds of people are protesting in Milan against the presence of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the Winter Olympics.
Carrying banners reading “ICE out”, “Fuck ICE” and those criticising US vice president JD Vance and secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who are in Milan for the olympics, the protesters, mostly students, gathered in Piazzale Leonardo da Vinci, in front of a building of the Politecnico University in the eastern part of the city.
More protests are planned on Friday afternoon and again on Saturday involving a variety of activists groups, including pro-Palestinian, environmental campaigners and students fighting for affordable housing.
Vance is due to meet the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, on Friday.
The US state department said last week that several federal agencies, including ICE, will be at the Olympics to help protect visiting Americans.
Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, said ICE’s investigative arm would be involved in the security detail and not its operational unit. Piantedosi said on Wednesday that the agency’s role would be operational and that its presence “is certainly not a sudden, unilateral initiative squeezing our national sovereignty”.
Schools were closed in central Milan on Friday while access to traffic was blocked in some areas as Milan bolstered security in the city ahead of the opening ceremony at San Siro stadium on Friday night.
Team GB beat Sweden 7-4!
Unable to score in the final end, Sweden accept their fate and shake hands to give Team GB the win. Dodds and Mouat remain unbeaten ahead of their meeting with South Korea later.
The Canadian only managed to score a single in the eighth end, meaning they go down 5-7 to the US pair.
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Sweden have the hammer in the final end, but trail by three after GB scored a single. The Swedes will need something miraculous to take this one. Maybe the Wranå siblings should look across the ice at the US team who just managed a three-point end against Canada to take control of that match. The Americans now lead 7-4 going into the eighth and final end.
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Unsurprisingly, Italy have won their match with Switzerland, that one finished 12-4. Sweden can only score a single with the hammer, so GB lead 6-4 with two ends remaining. US v Canada is 4-4.
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A better end for GB with the hammer there, they picked up a couple of points with the hammer and now lead 6-3 in the sixth end. Elsewhere, Italy have a 10-4 lead over Switzerland, but it’s still tight in the US v Canada match, the Americans lead 4-3.
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Team GB chief predicts ‘most potent’ Winter Games ever with sights set on eight medals
Team GB have never made anything more than the occasional ripple at the Winter Olympics. Which makes the prediction of Eve Muirhead, Britain’s chef de mission at the Milano Cortina Games, rather extraordinary.
“I believe that we are taking one of the most potent teams of athletes that we have taken to a Winter Olympic Games,” she says. “We have the capability to disrupt the norm.”
That norm, between 1952 and 2010, was just 12 medals in 16 Winter Games. Then came a surge, with five medals in Sochi in 2014 and five in Pyeongchang in 2018, before Britain won just two medals in Beijing. But Muirhead, who led the women’s curling team to Team GB’s only gold four years ago, senses that new ground will be broken by the 53 British athletes over the next 16 days.
“I see a set of athletes with a real pedigree in terms of recent results in the winter circuit,” she says. “And while we are a nation that already punches well above our weight, given the relative lack of snow and ice, I believe this team has the potential to really disrupt the natural order of big winter nations.”
Read Sean Ingle’s full story from Milan:
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Sweden have struck back in the curling. Jen Dodds’ hammer stone clipped the guard and did not manage to get into a scoring position, giving the Swedes a two-point steal, it’s 4-3.
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Vonn ready for first Olympic downhill training run in Cortina
Lindsey Vonn inspected the Olympic downhill course with other racers early this morning as she prepared to take part in the opening training session despite tearing the ACL in her left knee a week ago.
The 41-year-old Vonn is planning to compete at the Milan Cortina Games with a large brace covering her injured knee.
She had a partial titanium replacement inserted in her right knee in 2024 and then returned to ski racing last season after nearly six years of retirement. She crashed during the final World Cup downhill before the Olympics in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
Vonn, who holds the record of 12 World Cup wins in Cortina, has two sessions of open training remaining – Friday and Saturday – before Sunday’s downhill race. Thursday’s session was cancelled due to heavy snowfall.
Reporting courtesy of AFP
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There are a couple more matches currently on the ice in Cortina. Italy are narrowly trailing Switzerland 3-4 and the US have a 3-1 lead against Canada.
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Isabella Wranå drops her final stone short and Sweden only score. Another missed opportunity and GB have a chance to extend their lead in the fourth end. The Brits lead 4-2.
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GB’s curling mixed doubles pair have started well against Sweden. Dodds and Mouat have raced into a 4-0 lead in the third end. The Swedes have a chance to score with the hammer here, but the sibling duo Isabella and Rasmus Wranå have struggled so far.
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Struggling to understand ‘Penisgate’? The story first emerged in the German newspaper Bild and is gathering a head of steam. Natasha May has produced a helpful explainer to get to the bottom of it:
‘Penis injection’ claims in Winter Olympics ski jumping investigated by Wada
During its 26-year history, the World Anti-Doping Agency has faced thousands of questions about athletes using illicit substances. Thursday, however, surely marked the first time it was asked whether ski jumpers were injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid in order to fly further.
The Wada president Witold Banka’s reaction? “Ski jumping is very popular in Poland [Banka’s home country] so I promise you I’m going to look at it,” he said, with a wry smile.
As crazy as it sounds, there are broader concerns surrounding this issue – which has been dubbed “Penisgate” – after they were first reported by the German newspaper Bild.
Last year two of Norway’s Olympic medallists, Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang, were given three-month suspensions after the team was found to have secretly adjusted the seams of their suits around the crotch area at the 2025 World Ski Championships.
Norway’s head coach Magnus Brevik, assistant coach Thomas Lobben, and staff member Adrian Livelten were also banned for 18 months for their involvement in the scheme, which made the jumpers’ suits larger and therefore reduced their descent rate due to the bigger wingspan.
Is the new USA Dream Team a group of figure skaters?
This morning, inside the Milano Ice Skating Arena, the United States will launch their defense of the Olympic figure skating team title carrying something rare in a sport usually defined by individual brilliance: overwhelming depth. Which raises a question that, until recently, would have sounded almost absurd in figure skating.
Is the new USA Dream Team a group of figure skaters?
Not only because they could leave Milan with a medal haul worthy of comparison to the 1984 US boxing team or the 1996 US women’s track and field squad. But because of something more: the chance this group could push figure skating beyond its traditional audience and back into the center of the sporting conversation, much like the US men’s basketball team did at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Bryan will be covering he events at the Milano Ice Skating Arena this morning and you can read the rest of his figure skating preview here:
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We are curling!
Team GB’s doubles match with Sweden is underway in Cortina. Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds have won their first three matches of the round robin stage already. They can add two more today as they also play South Korea later.
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You can follow all of our Winter Olympics coverage in a dedicated section of Big Website and the Guardian app too. One of the best features is the live schedule, which updates with all of the scores from the events currently taking place.
Find that here:
Preamble
Hello and welcome to our daily Winter Olympics live coverage. There is a smattering of action across the Olympic venues in northern Italy today, ahead of tonight’s opening ceremony at San Siro in Milan and we’ll be bringing you all of it. Team GB are on the ice in the curling with Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds in doubles acton against Sweden at 9.05am (GMT), then their second match of the day a bit later on South Korea. I’ll be providing updates on both of those matches.
Sean Ingle, Andy Bull and Bryan Armen Graham will be reporting from on the ground in Italy, but we would also like to hear from you too. Get in touch via the email link at the top of the page.
I’m a big fan of becoming a two-week expert in a sport I watch every four years, usually that’s one of the cross-country skiing events but I’ll go where the icy wind takes me. How about you, reader? What event are you looking forward to?
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