The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics have opened with a glittering ceremony at the San Siro stadium echoed by celebrations at Games venues across the Italian Alps.

The extravaganza reflected the most geographically widespread Games in history and in a first, the 2,900 athletes paraded in the venues closest to where they will compete, in a bid to minimise travel.

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Athletes also gathered in a more intimate ceremony in snow-covered Cortina, the chic resort 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Milan that is hosting the women’s alpine skiing. There were also celebrations in Livigno and Predazzo elsewhere in the Italian Alps.

Team Australia during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan. Picture: AP Photo/Hassan AmmarSource: AP

Australia was one of the first teams to be introduced to fans, with 53 athletes marching proudly from the largest team Australia has ever sent to a Winter Games.

Aussie flag bearers Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony – two of Australia’s big medal hopes — led the way for the Aussie contingent in Livigno, while there were some green and gold representatives at the iconic San Siro stadium in Milan.

Team Australia was well received by the Italian crowd, while some of the loudest applause during the parade was for the Ukraine team. Russian athletes taking part as neutrals because of Olympic sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were not included in the parade.

Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony, of Team Australia enter with the team into the parade at Livigno Snow Park. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

The US team also got loud cheers — but when US Vice President JD Vance was shown on the screen, he was booed by some spectators.

Vance and his wife Usher were seated next to former President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach. Fans earlier were instructed not to boo.

But the boos still came when the Vance’s were shown on a large screen at the San Siro stadium, both applauding and waving flags as the US athletes filed past in the ceremonial parade.

Hundreds protested in Milan earlier on Friday against Vance’s visit and the presence of some agents from the US immigration enforcement agency ICE to help protect the American delegation.

Vance also on Friday met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative who is close to US President Donald Trump, and hailed “shared values” with Italy.

JD Vance, Vice President of the United States, attends the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at San Siro Stadium. Picture: Andreas Rentz/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

Italian President Sergio Mattarella declared the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics open on Friday during a glittering ceremony at the San Siro stadium.

“I declare the Games open,” Mattarella told a packed crowd at the famous arena, one of a number of venues across northern Italy marking the opening of the Games.

International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry, overseeing her first Games, told the athletes: “Through you, we see the very best of ourselves.

“You remind us that we can be brave. That we can be kind. That we can get back up, no matter how hard we fall.

“The spirit of the Olympic Games is about so much more than sport. It is about us – and what makes us human.”

Italy’s Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni light the Olympic flame next to the Arco della Pace monument in Milan. Picture: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFPSource: AFPItaly’s torchbearer Sofia Goggia lights the cauldron in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Picture: Marco BERTORELLO / AFPSource: AFP

Two cauldrons were simultaneously — one in Milan and another in Cortina — by Italian skiing greats Alberto Tomba, Deborah Compagnoni and Sofia Goggia.

Tomba and Compagnoni jointly lit the cauldron at Milan’s Arch of Peace, while Goggia lit the one in Cortina d’Ampezzo — the resort 400km from Milan that is hosting the women’s alpine skiing.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry, left, addresses attendees as President of the Milan Cortina 2026 foundation Giovanni Malago looks on. Picture: AP Photo/Petr David JosekSource: AP

Under tight security, with helicopters buzzing over the San Siro, the curtain went up on the Games in a burst of colour and light.

The San Siro show began with dancers from the famed Teatro alla Scala’s academy taking centre stage, accompanied by symbols of Italian beauty and design.

The opening scenes also paid tribute to Italy’s rich cultural heritage, with performers wearing outsized heads of the three great masters of Italian opera: Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini.

American diva Mariah Carey took centre stage with the crowd singing along as she performed in a white sequined dress with feathers, singing “Volare” in Italian and “Nothing is Impossible”.

Carey stunned in a sparkling silver dress while singing the song “Volare” in Italian during the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies.

Creative director Marco Balich revealed in January that the Queen of Pop was going to perform “a beautiful song in Italian.”

Singer Mariah Carey performs during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Picture: AP Photo/Natacha PisarenkoSource: AP

“She will enchant many of us,” Balich said. Carey’s mum, Patricia, was an Opera singer.

Twenty years after the 2006 Torino closing ceremony, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli sang ‘Nessun Dorma’ in one of the most breathtaking moments of the ceremony.

Singer Andrea Bocelli performs during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Picture: AP Photo/Petr David JosekSource: AP

The ceremony also paid tribute to the late Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani, with dozens of models wearing red, green, and white suits honouring his legacy.

A video showed Italian President Sergio Mattarella arriving at the stadium on one of the city’s traditional yellow trams driven by Italian MotoGP great Valentino Rossi.

— AFP