The XXV Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 concluded on Sunday with a spectacular finale in Verona that bridged the gap between Roman antiquity and modern sporting triumph.
In a historic first, the closing ceremony moved from Milan to the first-century Roman amphitheatre of Verona.
Titled Beauty in Action, the ceremony transformed the UNESCO World Heritage site into a stage blending high-culture opera with contemporary energy.
The night featured dance icon Roberto Bolle, alongside performances by pop star Achille Lauro, dj Gabry Ponte and American electronic dance music trio Major Lazer.
The traditional transition saw the Olympic flag passed to the hosts of the 2030 French Alps Games, signalling the end of Italy’s two-week turn in the spotlight.
Italy’s record-breaking medal haul
The Azzurri capitalised on their home-turf advantage to shatter previous national records. Italy finished the Games with a total of 30 medals, placing them in the elite top five of the overall medal table.
This performance surpassed Italy’s previous record of 20 medals set at the 1994 Lillehammer Games.
Highlights included a 1-2 podium finish in men’s ski cross led by Simone Deromedis and historic golds in the first-ever women’s luge doubles (Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer).
Italian short track champion Arianna Fontana made her sixth Olympic appearance, while Italian ski star Federica Brignone overcame a potentially career-ending injury to claim gold in the women’s giant slalom.
Games overview
The 2026 Games were defined by their spread-out nature, stretching across northern Italy from the Valtellina to the Dolomites.
Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo cemented his status as the greatest of all time, becoming the first athlete to win six gold medals at a single Winter Olympics.
In one of the most anticipated finals in decades, Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in a thrilling overtime victory to claim their first men’s gold since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”
American Mikaela Shiffrin returned to the top of the podium, capturing slalom gold 12 years after her first title.
A light-hearted moment arrived when a Czechoslovakian wolfdog called Nazgul gatecrashed the women’s cross-country team sprint qualifiers, becoming an unexpected star of the Olympic Games.
Controversies
A bizarre controversy dubbed “Penisgate” emerged in ski jumping, with allegations that athletes were receiving hyaluronic acid injections to increase suit surface area for better “sail” effects during flight.
Biathlon became a tabloid sensation after Norwegian medalist Sturla Holm Lægreid admitted on live TV to cheating on his girlfriend, and French star Julia Simon won multiple golds while facing a fraud conviction for using a teammate’s credit card.
Israel’s bobsled team was expelled from the Games following a failed attempt to make an unauthorised substitution after an athlete confessed to feigning sickness.
Paolo Petrecca resigned as director of RAI Sport in the wake of a controversy over his gaffe-filled commentary of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony for Italy’s state broadcaster.
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified after he refused to compete without a helmet featuring the portraits of more than 20 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed in the war with Russia.
The Italian government blocked several airport and airline strikes, to avoid travel disruption during the Games, amid an investigation into suspected sabotage on Italy’s rail network.
State broadcaster RAI was forced to deny it had censored the genitals from Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man in its televised Olympic coverage.
US vice president JD Vance was booed, as was the Israeli Olympic team, during the Games’ opening ceremony.
International reception
Global reception was overwhelmingly positive, with surveys suggesting a 90 per cent approval rating for the Games’ presentation.
International media praised the “distributed” model, which brought the Olympics to local mountain communities rather than confining them to a single city.
The opening in San Siro and the closing in Verona were lauded as “masterclasses in soft power,” effectively using Italian fashion (Armani), music (Andrea Bocelli), and history to promote a positive image of Italy to a global audience.
What’s next?
The 2026 Winter Paralympic Games are scheduled from 6-15 March, with events hosted across Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo and other Alpine locations in northern Italy. The opening ceremony will be held at the Verona Arena.
The 2030 Winter Olympics, officially branded as French Alps 2030, will be held from 1-17 February 2030 across four main clusters in the French regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, following a regional model similar to Milano Cortina.
Photo La Stampa