Named “Harmony” by the artistic direction, the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, which took place simultaneously in four of the host cities in northern Italy, was marked by boos from the public at the delegations from the United States and Israel, amid geopolitical conflicts with European countries.
The main stage of the event — which takes place after the actual start of the competitions — was the San Siro stadium, in Milan, where the first part of the ceremony took place.
The event began with dance numbers and acrobatics that sought to remember and praise Italian history and culture, in performances led by costumed actors such as composers Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini.
On the stage of the Milan and Internazionale stadium, the American singer Mariah Carey appeared in one of the highlights of the opening group to perform, in Italian, the classic “Nel blu dipinto di blu”, by Domenico Modugno, winner of the 1958 Grammy, popularly known as “Volare”. She also followed up with the hit “Nothing is Impossible”.
The Italian Laura Pausini, also well known to the Brazilian public, gave an emotional interpretation of the Italian national anthem, accompanied by a battalion of models dressed in suits with the red, white and green colors of the national flag.
Then, the delegation parade began, with around 3,500 athletes from 93 countries.
In addition to the entry of the respective national delegations into the stadium in Milan, there were simultaneously parades of athletes from each country already allocated to the headquarters of Cortina D’Ampezzo, Livigno and Predazzo, where competitions will take place in the Italian Alps, such as skiing and snowboarding.
The flag bearer at San Siro was Norwegian-born Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who competes in alpine skiing and is Brazil’s main hope for Brazil’s first podium in the history of the Winter Games. In Cortina D’Ampezzo, the person responsible for carrying the national flag was Nicole Silveira, from skeleton.
As had already happened during the rehearsals the day before, at the entrance of the United States delegation, boos could be heard coming from the San Siro stands, answered by applause from another part of the audience. American athletes in the parade chanted “USA” in response.
The presence of ICE (US Immigration and Customs Service) accompanying the American delegation in Italy generated complaints from Italian authorities and protests in host cities, in the wake of the Donald Trump government’s anti-immigration policy that resulted in the deaths of two people in Minneapolis.
Recent statements by the President of the United States about a possible forced acquisition of Greenland, an autonomous territory belonging to Denmark, also contributed to the outcry.
The vice-president of the United States, JD Vance, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, were present in the grandstand at the Milanese stadium, accompanied by the president of the IOC (International Olympic Committee), Kirsty Coventry, as well as the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, and the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
New boos, of lesser intensity and also responded by applause, were heard again during the entry of the Israeli delegation, possibly related to the war and the impacts caused to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
The Ukrainian delegation, invaded by Russia in February 2022, was the most celebrated by the public when entering the stadium. Russian athletes were able to participate in the Games, but without participating in the parade and without the flag and national anthem in case of a podium.
Closer to the end, there was a painting starring Italian actress Sabrina Impacciatore, who brought the musical evolution of the Winter Games from the first edition in Chamonix, France, in 1924, to the present day, and a performance by singer Andrea Bocelli, who performed his hit “Nessun dorma”, from Giacomo Puccini’s opera.
The ceremony was also attended by Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, Brazil’s greatest Olympic medalist and one of the guests to carry the flag with the Olympic rings before the lighting of the pyres, alongside names such as Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, five-time Olympic champion in athletics, and Cindy Ngamba, the first athlete from the refugee team to stand on the podium at the Olympics.
For the first time in the history of the Games, two Olympic pyres were lit, in the Arco da Paz, in Milan, and in Piazza Dibona, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, by Alberto Tomba and Sofia Goggia, respectively, Olympic champions in alpine skiing. They will be deleted together, on February 22nd, when the competitions end.
Brazilian participation in the Games begins next Tuesday (10), with Bruna Moura, Eduarda Ribeiro and Manex Silva in the cross-country skiing qualifiers.
The country’s best result in the history of the Olympics on ice and snow so far is Isabel Clark’s ninth place in snowboard cross, in Turin 2006.
