A stunning curtain-raiser was a fitting celebration of the host country and the Games – with wider messages never far from the surface
T
his was an opening ceremony for the ages: effortlessly chic, bewitching and divine. Milan simultaneously delivered a three-hour love letter to Italy, and a plea for hope and harmony in a fractious world.
But not everyone in the 60,000 crowd at San Siro was listening. As the United States team, led by the speedskater Erin Jackson, made its way across the stadium it was loudly applauded. But then the TV cameras panned to the US vice-president, JD Vance, and his wife, Usha, and the cheers turned to loud boos.
Few here would have been surprised. All week Milan has echoed to the sound of loud whistles and rancour, ever since it heard that US immigration and customs enforcement officials (ICE) would be accompanying Vance, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
