The Olympic Winter Games of Milan Cortina 2026 extinguished this Sunday the Olympic flame as a golden brooch to 19 days of competition, excitement, controversy and anecdotes lived in 22,000 square kilometers of surface, in an event already historic not only for having been the largest, but for having had two official cauldrons that guarded the sacred fire carried from Greece.
Italy wanted to close its great Games with a subtle theme, with the same delicacy with which it opened the competition in San Siro, but with a much lighter ceremony. This time it gathered all the athletes in the Roman amphitheater Arena of Verona for a last parade, for a last tribute that also served to hand over the baton to the French Alps 2030.
Milan-Cortina 2026 extinguishes its flame
As in the opening ceremony, he emphasized the connection between the city and the mountains, between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, two guests that hosted most of an event that actually featured as many as six Olympic villages spread throughout northern Italy.
Artists such as Achille Lauro, Manuel Agnelli and Roberto Bolle, as well as chef Davide Oldani and the mayor of Verona Damiano Tommasi, a former Levante player, among others, took part in the initial exhibition.
In the stands, personalities and institutions followed the event, led by Giorgia Meloni, President of the Italian Government.
A tribute to the great tradition of Italian opera kicked things off with the famous aria from Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata ‘Libiamo nei lieti calici’ (Let us toast with joyful glasses).
Tributes also to Rigoletto, Figaro, Madama Butterfly and Aida: the Arena di Verona staged the entire repertoire of the great Italian opera.
Without forgetting those who paved the way, Maurilio De Zolt, Marco Albarello and Silvio Fauner, Olympic cross-country skiing champions (4×10 km relay, Lillehammer 1994), carried the Olympic flame to center stage, just before the start of the final parade of athletes, always an emotional and fundamental moment in the opening and closing ceremonies.
There was also time to celebrate the athletes who won medals in the 50km cross-country skiing race, the emblematic event of a Winter Games.
Sweden’s Ebba Andersson won gold in the women’s event, while Norway’s Johannes Klaebo, who dominated the Italian event, won gold in the men’s event.
After the institutional speeches by Giovanni Malagò, president of the Milan Cortina 2026 Foundation, and Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who officially closed the Games, it was time to extinguish the cauldrons.
In Verona, Arianna Fontana, ice speed skater and historic Italian athlete with 14 Olympic medals, held the Olympic flame as it burned out.
Those of Milan and Cortina went out simultaneously, too.
And so, Milan Cortina 2026, the historic event with its long distances, its commitment to parity and its two cauldrons, finally closed its curtain.
Filed under: Milano-Cortina extinguishes its flame
With information from EFE
