Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A handful of events began earlier in the week -- curling, figure skating and ice hockey -- but the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics officially got underway Friday afternoon in Italy.
The opening ceremony started at 2 p.m. EST at Milan's historic, 100-year-old San Siro Stadium in Milan, a nearly 4-hour celebration of the Games that is expected to include a range of performances, the parade of nations and, finally, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
The Milano Cortina Olympics will be the first to include two venues in the opening ceremony and the first to light two caldrons for the Games: one in Milan at the Arco della Pace and another at Piazza Dibona in central Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Organizers have said that lighting two cauldrons is meant to represent harmony between the two cities of Milan and Cortina -- which are jointly hosting the Games -- as well as other areas that the Games are being held.
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