CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – Eager spectators walked past window shops of internationally renowned fashion houses such as Fendi, Dior and Valentino along Corso Italia in Cortina Friday evening. The bass boomed from bars and restaurants teeming with locals and those in town from all over the world for the 2026 Winter Olympics. They passed the time with an assortment of wines and beers and reflected on the day minutes before a historic opening ceremony began.
These Games are the first ever with two Olympic cauldrons – one in Milan, one in Cortina – and multiple opening ceremony sites. Athletes walked proudly behind their countries’ flags in Milan, Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo.
Those competing in biathlon, women’s Alpine skiing, bobsled, luge, skeleton and curling started their leg in Cortina. They passed through an illuminated circle meant to function as “a portal and a point of orientation,” according to the ceremony media guide, while offering a contrast to verticality’s dominance on the surrounding landscape. The event culminated in the lighting of both cauldrons, designed as an homage to Leonardo Di Vinci’s knots. They will glow for the entirety of these Games.
No site was as grandiose as the ceremony in Milano, where famous singer Mariah Carey performed, giant set pieces ruled the evening, and complex choreography dazzled those in San Siro Stadium. But the parade along Coso Italia in Cortina was still special. Because it allowed athletes hundreds of miles away to enjoy the experience.
‘I feel like there’s been a lot of different, like, ‘You made it’ moments along the way,’ USA luger Ansel Haugsjaa said Friday. ‘The teams first get announced, but then you’re waiting a while. Then you go to welcome week, you know, ‘Oh man, this is crazy! It’s actually real.’ And then you get to the village… (The opening ceremony) just feels like one of those Olympic experiences that you’re always hearing about.’
In 2022, USA Skeleton athlete Kelly Curtis said their village was a two-hour trip from the opening ceremony site. Many of her veteran teammates stayed behind and had their own personal walk rather than spending so much time on the road. Especially because they had training the next day.
So Curtis, who currently lives in Italy and works on the Aviano Air Base, was really looking forward to Friday night’s festivities being so close.
‘It’s just incredible,’ she said Thursday. ‘I’ll have my family and some friends come up, and they’ll be watching from balconies.’
‘We all train with the bobsled and skeleton athletes, so to have Frankie as our flag bearer is something special,’ USA luger Zachary DiGregorio said, ‘and we’re all super excited for him with that. He’s a great guy.’
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Just outside the Olympic fan village in Cortina, young children planted the Italian flag into a mound of hard, muddy snow that had been cleared from the brick walkway for foot traffic. Fans crowded temporary metal barricades along the parade’s path. Some with their countries’ flag tied around their necks and draped thoughtfully over winter coats.
Cigarette smoke and steamy exhales filled the air. Half empty packs, beer glasses, and cocktail cups crowded small tables, tree stumps and front stoops. All as fans bounced between watching the Milan ceremony on large television screens and the on-site athlete parade.
Cortina has a rich Winter Olympic history. The city was chosen to host the Games in 1944, which did not take place because of World War II. In 1956, the opportunity came back around.
Competition included 923 athletes (only 132 women) from 32 countries, spanning 24 medal events, 11 days and eight disciplines (bobsled, ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating, Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, cross-country skiing and ski jumping). This year’s Games feature 2,900 athletes, 92 countries, 16 sports and 116 medal events. Italian cross country skier Bruno Colli, now 93, carried the torch through his hometown 70 years ago. He remembers it was -24 degrees celsius or -11.2 degrees fahrenheit. (It was about 2 degrees celsius or 36 degrees fahrenheit Friday night.)
The 1956 Games were the first broadcast live in a small handful of European countries in glorious black and white footage, as television began to take off after millions used it to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.
Venues built for the 1956 Olympics are still in use. Olympia delle Tofane, home to women’s Alpine skiing this year, also hosted races back then. The Olympic Ice Stadium hosted 1956’s opening and closing ceremonies, men’s hockey and figure skating. Now it’s enclosed and committed to curling.
The town once cut off from the rest of the world by the mighty Dolomites used those Games to become a fixture of international winter sport and tourism. Cortina regularly hosts FIS World Cups and skiing and curling World Championship events.
Between TV exposure and the staging of the Games accelerating pre-planned road upgrades (to the tune of 2 billion Italian lire, about $59 million today), access to Cortina improved at the perfect time. The city’s population hovers around 6,000 in the low season and explodes to 50,000 during winter months. Cortina has also been filmed for iconic movies like James Bond’s ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (1981) and ‘Spider Man: Far From Home’ (2019).
Hotels, restaurants and bars are sprinkled all across the mountainside, peaking through heaps of snow. Olympic paraphernalia – flags and banners and temporary structures – jump out against the Italian Alpine architecture that defines the region. Wood paneling on wood paneling on wood paneling.
Street lamps are few and far between up here. But twinkly lights – likely remnants of Christmastime left up in anticipation of the Games – glowing white line drawings of winter sport logos and spotlight projections of the Italian flag are a physical manifestation of a city beaming with pride. Proud of its storied connection with the Olympics. And proud of making history on the world’s biggest stage.
Reach USA TODAY Network sports reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.