Milan (dpa) – The Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo began with a colorful, extra-long opening ceremony. This is how international media see the spectacle:
Italy
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“Tuttosport”: “Milan-Cortina – a spectacle, from the choreography to the double goblet of fire: Italy shows itself at its best!”
“La Repubblica”: “The challenge of the Olympics: Italy under scrutiny after the parade in Milan, Cortina and other places. Whistles for Vance and Israel, ovations for Mattarella»
“Corriere della Sera”: “A magnificent opening ceremony with two Olympic flames and four slopes, like the great shows of yesteryear. The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris had the great courage to choose the entire City of Lights, including the Seine, as an incomparable backdrop. Here, too, there was no fear of combining big cities and Alpine areas, sport and history, pop and tradition.”
“Gazetta dello Sport”: “A magnificent homage to the art, culture and harmony that Italy has given to the world. A sea of lights and an expression of pride, crowned by the brilliant idea of having President Sergio Mattarella drive up to the San Siro in a typical Milanese tram driven by former motorcycle world champion Valentino Rossi. An extraordinary spectacle at the start of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games. (…) The opening show brought to the stage an image of Italy that went beyond Milan and Cortina and traveled through time and space. There we were, with all our strengths and weaknesses: happy people and those heartbroken, people who had stopped hoping and others who still believed.”
«La Stampa»: «Classic, with a retro inclination, with those peaks of elegance that always save us. This is how we show ourselves – a little as expected and a little as we were not expected: with the voice of the people who break out of the script and decide that the IOC may be neutral, but Italy is not.”
USA
«Sports Illustrated»: «The most widespread reports before the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina were not about enthusiasm or anticipation, but about unfinished arenas and the arrival of ICE. The theme of the opening ceremony was “Armonia” (Harmony), but US Vice President JD Vance was present – and was booed – so someone must have missed the message.
“Los Angeles Times”: “Italians demonstrate unity – except for JD Vance – at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.”
Great Britain
«The Sun»: «Mamma-Riah. It was a very nice ceremony, although a little too long. But it was mostly good entertainment.”
Daily Telegraph: Bobbleheads and Andrea Bocelli steal the show at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics
“The Times”: “JD Vance is booed, the games get off to a fiery start. The focus was on glitz and glamor at the San Siro with performances by Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli – but the political conflicts could not be ignored, and the Israeli team was also booed.
BBC: “Despite initial concerns about the logistics of a multi-venue celebration, it was an impressive production that ran smoothly.”
Spain
«Marca»: «A magical night for the opening of the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina. The opening ceremony in Milan-Cortina will be remembered. Challenge successfully mastered. A moving ceremony. With honors. With history. With stage presence. With rhythm, even in different places. The Winter Games started spectacularly.”
France
«L’Équipe»: «A decentralized opening ceremony, an innovative march by the athletes, Kirsty Coventry’s debut: Milan-Cortina ushered in the Olympic Games of the new era.»
“Le Parisien”: “This historic opening ceremony – the first in the history of the Winter Olympics to take place simultaneously in several locations – was beautiful and a complete success.”
Austria
“Kronen Zeitung”: “Mega show! The Olympic Games are open. The opening ceremony in the 100-year-old football arena began with a tribute to the beauty and art of Italy.”
“Kurier”: “Opening of the Winter Olympics: A show as a tribute to Italy and with many superstars.”
“oe24”: “Spectacle in Milan: 25th Winter Olympics officially opened. The first highlight of the show was Mariah Carey, who sang the classic “Volare Nel blu, dipinto di blu” in her best Italian.»
“The Standard”: “The XXV. Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina have opened. It was a spectacle between music, dance and grand gestures.”
Switzerland
“Blick”: “Star parade at the opening ceremony – and lots of applause for Switzerland. A case of norovirus in the ice hockey team, a big performance by star singer Mariah Carey and lots of applause for the Swiss delegation.”
“Tages-Anzeiger”: “The Swiss delegation, however, was decimated. The national ice hockey team had to stay at home because of a positive norovirus test. However, the affected athlete was isolated from the team, which defeated the Czech Republic in a penalty shootout that afternoon. Otherwise there were no major incidents, although geopolitical events played a role: There was great applause for Ukraine, but boos for Israel and the American Vice President JD Vance, who was present at the San Siro and was shown when the US delegation arrived.
“20 minutes”: “The Olympics have begun: Trump’s deputy is booed in the stadium.”
Netherlands
«Allgemeen Dagblad»: «The opening ceremony was colorful and musical. At Milan’s San Siro Stadium, the evening began with dance and theater, including a homage to Italian history. Among those who performed were Mariah Carey and Laura Pausini, who sang the Italian national anthem during the raising of the Italian flag.”
«De Telegraaf»: «The Dutch national team enthusiastically welcomes TeamNL at the opening of the Olympic Games, while American Vice President Vance is booed in San Siro. Diva Mariah Carey appeared at the packed San Siro Stadium in Milan in an elegant white dress and matching fluttering feather boa. The American superstar was supposed to provide a highlight to the opening ceremony of the Olympics, but according to many viewers it was a fiasco.
«De Volkskrant»: «The San Siro Stadium in Milan was not completely sold out on Friday evening, but with 67,000 spectators in over 70,000 seats, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games still attracted numerous visitors. Under the watchful eyes of numerous dignitaries, including US Vice President JD Vance and King Willem-Alexander, the Games opened with an evening of dancing, music and fireworks.”
Norway
«Aftenposten»: «When the audience realized who it was, cheers broke out. The American pop star Mariah Carey sang her way into the hearts of the San Siro, the huge football stadium whose stands slope steeply into the ground. Things looked much worse for the Americans in the VIP stands. This time the Olympic chaos was not caused by autocratic presidents from Russia and China or sheikhs from the Arabian Peninsula. It was US Vice President JD Vance who caused headlines and outrage before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
date: 2026-02-07 09:07:00