Milano Cortina 2026: Winter Olympic Games Kick Off in Northern Italy; Athletes March in Simultaneous Opening Ceremonies

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:33 JST, February 7, 2026

MILAN — The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games opened in Northern Italy on Friday. This marks Italy’s third time hosting the Winter Olympics, following Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956 and Turin in 2006, and the first European Winter Olympics since the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia.

About 2,900 athletes from 92 countries and territories will compete in the 2026 Olympics, which will continue through Feb. 22, featuring 116 events across 8 sports.

Japan’s national delegation comprises 283 members, including 121 athletes. Among them are speed skater Miho Takagi, 31, figure skater Kaori Sakamoto, 25, and ski jumper Ryoyu Kobayashi, 29. There are high hopes for these competitors to equal or surpass Japan’s current record high Winter Olympics medal tally of 18, set at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The opening ceremonies and athletes’ parades took place in Milan and three other areas. Representatives from Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, led the parades, followed by countries and regions in alphabetical order according to the Italian language.

Therefore, the delegation from Japan — “Giappone,” in Italian — marched 34th, led by speed skater Wataru Morishige, 25, who carried the national flag as he marched with a smile through Milan’s San Siro Stadium.

In Cortina d’Ampezzo, which will host events like curling and sledding, athletes and others marched through the town center. Skeleton racer Hiroatsu Takahashi and other Japanese athletes waved to spectators as they paraded. Finally, the Olympic flame was lit at a cauldron set up in a plaza, as the same was done simultaneously in Milan.

In Livigno, athletes walked a parade course that began at the finish line of the snowboard parallel giant slalom competitions. Four Japanese athletes, including Hiroto Ogiwara, who were to compete in the men’s snowboard big air final Saturday, also marched amid cheers of “Giappone!”

Athletes from Russia, which is continuing its aggression in Ukraine, and its ally Belarus, were allowed to participate in the Games as neutral athletes, but did not march in the opening ceremonies.