Italy’s president declares opening of 2026 Winter Olympics

By AFP 7 February 2026, 1:14 am

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Italy's President Sergio Mattarella declares the Games open during the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the San Siro stadium in Milan, northern Italy, on February 6, 2026. (WANG Zhao / AFP)

MILAN, Italy — Italian President Sergio Mattarella declares the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics open during a glittering ceremony at the San Siro stadium.

“I declare the Games open,” Mattarella tells a packed crowd at the famous arena, one of a number of venues across northern Italy marking the opening of the Games.

International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry, overseeing her first Games, tells the athletes: “Through you, we see the very best of ourselves.

“You remind us that we can be brave. That we can be kind. That we can get back up, no matter how hard we fall.

“The spirit of the Olympic Games is about so much more than sport. It is about us – and what makes us human.”