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Photos: Highlights from the Winter Olympics opening ceremony

NPR | By Emily Bogle
Published February 6, 2026 at 2:36 PM CST
Italian ballet dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games at the San Siro stadium in Milan on Friday.
Gabriel Bouys
/
AFP via Getty Images
Italian ballet dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games at the San Siro stadium in Milan on Friday.

Updated February 6, 2026 at 4:35 PM CST

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan on Friday evening, local time. Athletes representing over 90 countries march into the San Siro stadium filled with thousands of spectators during the opening ceremony in Milan.

The performance paid homage to Italian music, art and culture with tributes to composers, visual artists and films in a colorful spectacle. Performers included Italian actress Matilda De Angelis, American singer Mariah Carey, Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, Italian rapper Ghali and Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello, among dozens of other dancers.

Here is a selection of images from the opening ceremony:

Copyright 2026 NPR

Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello perform during the opening ceremony.
Wang Zhao / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello perform during the opening ceremony.
Colorful dancers perform under large tubes of paint suspended above them during the opening ceremony.
Gabriel Bouys / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Colorful dancers perform under large tubes of paint suspended above them during the opening ceremony.
Italian actress Matilda De Angelis (center) performs with dancers dressed as the three great masters of Italian opera: Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini.
Piero Cruciatti / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Italian actress Matilda De Angelis (center) performs with dancers dressed as the three great masters of Italian opera: Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini.
Mariah Carey sings during the opening ceremony.
Wang Zhao / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Mariah Carey sings during the opening ceremony.
Performers dressed in the colors of the Italian flag line up during the opening ceremony.
Piero Cruciatti / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Performers dressed in the colors of the Italian flag line up during the opening ceremony.
Members of The Corazzieri, the Italian Corps of Cuirassiers, raise the Italian flag during the opening ceremony.
Wang Zhao / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Members of The Corazzieri, the Italian Corps of Cuirassiers, raise the Italian flag during the opening ceremony.
Two performers are suspended between two large rings.
Piero Cruciatti / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Two performers are suspended between two large rings.
The Olympic Rings are revealed above dancers during the opening ceremony.
Piero Cruciatti / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
The Olympic Rings are revealed above dancers during the opening ceremony.
Greece's flag bearer, Nefeli Tita, and other athletes representing Greece parade during the opening ceremony at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium in Predazzo.
Javier Soriano / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Greece's flag bearer, Nefeli Tita, and other athletes representing Greece parade during the opening ceremony at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium in Predazzo.
Canadian athletes march into the stadium.
Piero Cruciatti / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Canadian athletes march into the stadium.
Colombia's flag bearer Fredrik Fodstad parades during the opening ceremony at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium.
Javier Soriano / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Colombia's flag bearer Fredrik Fodstad parades during the opening ceremony at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium.
South Korea's athletes parade during the opening ceremony in Livigno.
Cameron Spencer/Pool / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
South Korea's athletes parade during the opening ceremony in Livigno.
An aerial view of the athletes parading into the San Siro stadium.
Antonin Thuillier / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
An aerial view of the athletes parading into the San Siro stadium.
Athletes of Team Haiti arrive during the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Livigno. (Photo by / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Cameron Spencer/Pool / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Athletes of Team Haiti arrive during the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Livigno. (Photo by / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Italy's flag bearers Arianna Fontana and Federico Pellegrino parade with other athletes.
Piero Cruciatti / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Italy's flag bearers Arianna Fontana and Federico Pellegrino parade with other athletes.
USA's flag bearer Erin Jackson parades with other athletes at the San Siro stadium.
Piero Cruciatti / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
USA's flag bearer Erin Jackson parades with other athletes at the San Siro stadium.
Italian rapper Ghali (center) performs during the opening ceremony.
Gabriel Bouys / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Italian rapper Ghali (center) performs during the opening ceremony.
A general view of the Olympic flame in the Olympic cauldron designed by Marco Balich next to the Arco della Pace monument in Milan.
Julien De Rosa / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
A general view of the Olympic flame in the Olympic cauldron designed by Marco Balich next to the Arco della Pace monument in Milan.
Stoats Milo and Tina, the Paralympics and Olympics mascots, dance before the Olympic opening ceremony.
Ben Curtis / AP
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AP
Stoats Milo and Tina, the Paralympics and Olympics mascots, dance before the Olympic opening ceremony.
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Emily Bogle
See stories by Emily Bogle