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Photos: Highlights from the Winter Olympics opening ceremony

NPR | By Emily Bogle

Published February 6, 2026 at 3:36 PM EST

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.

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 and Italian ballet dancers Antonella Albano and Claudio Coviello, among dozens of other dancers.

Here is a selection of images from the opening ceremony:

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.

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.

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.

Two performers are suspended between two large rings.

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.

Canadian athletes march into the stadium.

Colombia's flag bearer Fredrik Fodstad parades during the opening ceremony.

South Korea's athletes parade during the opening ceremony.

Stoats Milo and Tina, the Paralympics and Olympics mascots, dance before the Olympic opening ceremony.

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Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Donate