"Well done, Italy. You kept your promises! Great Italy, you kept your word!" Giovanni Malagò, president of the Milano Cortina Foundation, said this evening in his speech at the closing ceremony of the Winter Games at the Verona Arena. "At the opening ceremony," he recalled, "I said I had never been so proud to be Italian. Tonight, I am even more so. Allow me to say 'thank you' to everyone who worked tirelessly to make all this possible and to everyone who believed in us. You are a winning team; be proud of your achievement."
After just over two weeks of winter sports competitions, the curtain falls on the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, the world's first ever multi-venue Olympic Games. The closing ceremony took place at the Verona Arena, where, in front of 12,000 spectators, the European Olympic flag was handed over to the Organizing Committee of the French Alps, which will host the next edition of the Winter Games in 2030.
The stage depicts a drop of water, a symbol uniting the mountain Olympic venues with the Po Valley. The event featured, among others, star of Milan's Teatro alla Scala, Roberto Bolle; singer-songwriter Achille Lauro; actress Benedetta Porcaroli; DJ Gabry Ponte; and the band Major Lazer. Among the dignitaries in attendance were Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Lorenzo Fontana, Minister of Transport and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini , and Minister of Sport Andrea Abodi. However, US President Donald Trump was absent, having preferred to remain in Washington to address the tariff issue and escalating tensions with Iran. Also absent were French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron (who did not even attend the opening ceremony at the San Siro Stadium) and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornou, a sign that the distance between Rome and Paris, following the Deranque affair, remains wide.
The Italian flag bearers chosen by CONI are Lisa Vittozzi and Davide Ghiotto, who contributed to the record number of medals (30, with 10 golds, 6 silvers and 14 bronzes) for the Winter Games set by the Italian Team, surpassing the previous record set in Lillehammer in 1994.
