Olympics opening ceremony live updates as 2026 Winter Games kick off in Milano Cortina

American singer Mariah Carey dazzled the stage at the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Games.

In a post on social media after the performance, she called it "such a dream come true" to perform in Italian at the ceremony.

"Thank you to everyone who made this happen, Nothing Is Impossible!" she said.

Actor Charlize Theron, who is also a UN Peace Ambassador, had a message of peace inspired by South Africa's Nelson Mandela.

"Peace is not just the absence of conflict," she said. "Peace is the creation of an environment where all can flourish, regardless of race, colour, creed, religion, gender, class, caste or any other social markers of difference."

The Olympic flag arrived in Milan and Cortina ahead of the lighting of the cauldrons.

The flag was carried in Milan by eight people — including Olympians Eliud Kipchoge, Rebeca Andrade, Cindy Ngamba and Pita Taufatofua. In Cortina, Franco Nones and Martina Valcepina were the athletes entrusted with carrying the Olympic flag.

Nones was Italy's first cross-country skiing Olympic champion, winning gold in the 30 km race at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Games.

The Olympic anthem was performed by world-renowned pianist Lang Lang, opera singer Cecilia Bartoli and the Teatro alla Scala Children's choir, as the flags were raised in both cities.

Kirsty Coventry, the first woman elected president of the International Olympic Committee, became the first woman to officially declare the Olympic Games open.

"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," Coventry said at the opening ceremony in Milan. "The spirit of the Olympic Games is about so much more than sport. It is about us, and what makes us human. This is the magic of the Olympic Games: inspiring us all to be the best that we can be - together."

Coventry, who is from Zimbabwe, herself competed as a swimmer in five Olympic Games and won seven medals.

When she was elected president of the IOC in 2025, she said: "I am particularly proud to be the first female IOC President, and also the first from Africa. I hope that this vote will be an inspiration to many people. Glass ceilings have been shattered today, and I am fully aware of my responsibilities as a role model."

Italian President Sergio Mattarella declared the 2026 Milano Cortina Games open.

The declaration was followed by a rousing performance by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli of "Nessun dorma" as the Olympic torch arrived at San Siro.

Italian actress Sabrina Impacciatore delivered a passionate dance routine with a troupe dressed alternatively as hockey players and in colorful 1980s ski wear, a tribute to 100 years of Winter Olympics, including Cortina in 1956 and Turin in 2006.

During this routine, she acquainted the audience with some Italian classics, including a 1972 hit by Adriano Celentano with a driving beat and tongue-twisting nonsense lyrics meant to imitate English.

The name of the song says it all: "Prisencolinensinainciusol.''

Giovanni Malago, president of the organizing committee for the Milano Cortina Games, celebrated the athletes and volunteers in a rousing speech.

"We stand ready to make Olympic history again, inspired by the values that unite all of us: excellence, friendship and respect," he said. "The coordination of so many different bodies in the pursuit of one dream has been a powerful expression of this country's ability to deliver such a complex project."

He added: "I have never been as proud to be Italian as I am tonight."

Here are more photos from the 2026 Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony.

Chilean skier Henrik Von Appen marched at the opening ceremony with the help of crutches after his Olympic dreams were shattered following a crash.

Von Appen injured his right knee and suffered cuts to his face when he crashed a little over a week ago at Crans-Montana in Switzerland.

"These Games have been my goal for four years," he wrote on social media a few days later, saying "it is with enormous sorrow" that he could not participate in them.

But he was able to participate in the opening ceremony in the mountain town of Livigno, where the men's alpine skiers who will compete in Bormio are marching.

-CBS/AP

Politics is never far from the Olympic stage and it was present during the Parade of Nations.

The delegation from Ukraine received a raucous welcome from the crowd in San Siro. Flagbearer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who flashed a small sign saying "No War in Ukraine" to the cameras after racing in Beijing four years ago, said being picked to represent Ukraine on the world stage deeply moved him.

"It means a lot, especially during a time of full-scale war," he told The Associated Press in Cortina shortly before the start of the opening ceremony. "I'm very grateful for this opportunity. It's a great honor for me. Also, people in Ukraine were really happy about my role as a flag bearer, and it meant even more to me."

Meanwhile, the four athletes from Israel, who put on a stoic face with frozen smiles, were booed.

There have been some calls for Israel to be banned from the Games over the war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians.

Vice President JD Vance, who is leading the U.S. governmental delegation, drew jeers in the stadium when an image of him waving the U.S. flag appeared on a big screen.

Team Italy entered the celebrations at the opening ceremony, led by flagbearers Arianna Fontana and Federico Pellegrino in Milan and Amos Mosaner and Federica Brignone in Cortina. The Italians entered to an amped-up version of "Largo al factotum."

Team USA has arrived!

The Americans - with Vice President JD Vance watched in Milan - entered to a raucous applause as flagbearers Erin Jackson and Frank Del Duca waved the U.S. flag.

Team USA boosts 232 athletes at these Olympic Games, representing more than 30 states.

Olympic fans hoping to see their favorite athletes at the opening ceremony in San Siro might have been disappointed on Friday night.

While the TV broadcast of the ceremony catches all the athletes wherever they are, it wasn't until the sixth country walked out in Milan that fans were able to see an athlete on stage.

Greece, Albania, Andorra, Saudi Arabia and Argentina do not have athletes competing in Milan. The countries' sign holders instead walked the runway, wearing a long silver puffer jacket.

Armenia was the first country to walk out with four athletes at San Siro to a huge cheer. All the countries' names were read out, regardless of whether they had any athletes in Milan.

Benin isn't the only nation making its Winter Olympics debut. The United Arab Emirates, fielding two skiers, hopes to make its mark at the Milano Cortina Games.

The country is being represented by Alexander Astridge, 19, and Piera Hudson, 29, both alpine skiers.

The Olympic opening ceremony was sold out with some 61,000 people in attendance at San Siro Stadium in Milan, organizers said Friday.

While ticket prices went as high as the symbolic sum of 2,026 euros (more than $2,300), volunteers were offered a deal at 26 euros ($31) a piece, and people under 26 years old could buy two for the price of one.

-CBS/AP

Benin has its first-ever winter Olympian this year in alpine skier Nathan Tchibozo. He was the West African nation's flagbearer in Livigno.

Fashion is its own competitor at the Winter Olympics, from team uniforms at the opening and closing ceremonies to individual looks in the stadiums and on the slopes.

Here are some of the outfits at the opening ceremony today:

Read more about the outfits here.

A key moment was the formation of the five Olympic rings.

Two aerial acrobats were lifted high into San Siro Stadium in the center of two golden rings, falling dramatically into a spinning formation from the highest point.

Three more golden rings arrived, and the final positioning of all five rings was marked by surging sparklers.

-CBS/AP

Speedskating champion Erin Jackson and bobsled Olympian Frank Del Duca, who were selected to carry the American flag for Team USA at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan, said they were honored to have been chosen for the role.

"It's a moment that reflects far more than one individual – it represents my family, my teammates, my hometown, and everyone across the country who believes in the power of sport," Jackson said earlier this week, according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. "The Olympics remind us of the power of sport to connect and inspire, and I'm proud to carry that forward on the Olympic stage." 

"Being flag bearer for Team USA is an incredible honor," Del Duca said. "With the Olympic Games being held in Italy, it means even more. Nearly everyone in my family is of Italian descent. There is no greater honor than leading Team USA into the Opening Ceremony in Italy. It feels like a bridge between my family's heritage and the country I'm so proud to serve."

While the 2026 Winter Olympic Games officially begin after the opening ceremony, some sports have already begun.

Team USA is off to a strong start.

On Friday, in mixed doubles curling, the Americans came out strong with an 8-1 over the Czech Republic and a 7-5 win over Canada in the preliminaries. These wins come after strong performances against Switzerland and Norway on Thursday.

In figure skating, Alysa Liu marked her return to Olympic competition with a strong 74.90 in the women's singles short program. She is in second place behind Japan's Kaori Sakamoto. In the team event, Team USA is leading the pack with Madison Chock and Evan Bates posting a world-best 91.06 points in the rhythm dance.

On Thursday, the U.S. women's hockey team beat the Czech Republic 5-1 in a preliminary game.

Team USA will have its first two chances to medal in women's skiathlon and men's downhill skiing on Saturday.

The highly-anticipated Parade of Nations kicked off with Team Greece.

The birthplace of the Games always enters first, followed by countries in alphabetical order based on the language of the host country.

In addition to San Siro Stadium in Milan, athletes will march in three other places: Cortina d'Ampezzo in the heart of the Dolomite mountains, Livigno in the Alps and Predazzo in the autonomous province of Trento.

Here are more photos of countries in the Parade of Nations:

The Olympics paid tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died in September.

Models donned his signature, loosely-tailored suits in red, white and green to form the Italian flag. 

Armani had long designed the Italian team's Olympic uniforms and his legacy as one of the founders of Italian ready-to-wear fashion is tightly tied to Milan.

Italian singer Laura Pausini sang a moving rendition of the Italian national anthem, "Fratelli d'Italia." 

Mariah Carey helped open the Winter Olympics in Milan as one of the headliners of the opening ceremony.

The American singer sang a version of the classic song "Nel blu dipinto di blu," better known around the world as "Volare." She also included some of her hit "Nothing Is Impossible."

Ahead of the performance, the ceremony's director, Marco Balich, told CBS News' Kelly O'Grady that Carey was performing free of charge.

Though it is typical for performers to forgo a fee for appearing at the opening ceremony, Balich said he was grateful that someone as beloved as Carey was happy to participate and to sing in Italian.

A colorful spectacle came alive with an ode to Gioachino Rossini and his most famous and recognizable overtures, William Tell Overture."

The reverence for Italian opera continued with actors dressed as the great masters Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini.

Athletes and fans from around the world are gathering in Milan to celebrate the official opening of the Winter Olympics against the backdrop of a number of geopolitical tensions, like President Trump's recent comments about wanting to take control of Greenland.

At a press conference on Thursday, Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, was asked about potential hostility directed towards American athletes.

"We don't anticipate a lot of negative energy on the field of play, but we have done a ton of Games-readiness preparation with the athletes to ensure they feel comfortable and are not walking into an environment that is uncertain," Hirshland said. "They know the resources available to them if an uncomfortable situation arises."

Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports are not allowed to compete in the Games as representatives of their own countries, but only as so-called Individual Neutral Athletes, also known by the French acronym AIN. There are a number of AINs who have been approved to compete in at least eight events.

The opening ceremony of the 2026 Milano Cortina Games kicked off with glitz and glamour from the San Siro Stadium in Milan.

"You care about your country, and you cheer for your country, but … nobody's against another country," one American fan told CBS News ahead of the start of the opening ceremony in Milan.

"It's a global community. Politics don't matter," another American fan said. "It's everyone having pride in your home country and letting the spirit of competition win."

One sports fan from California said they were looking forward to seeing "how the world comes together to celebrate sport."

Another fan, also from California, said: "I think they showed the excitement, the national pride, but at the same time you see how everyone's happy to see each other and proud of their countries and just come together to celebrate the whole experience."

A fan from Texas said they were excited for the Olympic Games to "bring the world together."

"I love the walk of all the teams and seeing the unity of all the athletes come together," another fan from Pennsylvania said. "The opening and closing are really the one time that they all get to see and meet and greet each other and just enjoy the spirit of the Olympics together and really cheer for each other. So it's a beautiful moment."

The opening ceremony of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games has begun.

The Olympics were returning to a nation that last hosted the sports spectacle 20 years ago. This is the most spread-out Winter Games in history, with competition venues dotting an area of about 8,500 square miles (more than 22,000 square kilometers), roughly the size of the entire state of New Jersey.

Italy has ramped up security ahead of tonight's opening ceremony with thousands of agents protecting athletes, spectators and global leaders from Milan to the Dolomites.

Around 6,000 security personnel will be deployed across the Olympic sites during the Games, including bomb disposal experts, snipers and counter-terrorism units, Italian authorities said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters took to the streets on Friday, voicing their discontent, particularly the reported presence in Italy of U.S. immigration agents and the closure of streets ahead of the opening ceremony.

Dozens of students gathered Friday morning at Milan's Leonardo da Vinci plaza to protest, blowing whistles and shouting "We don't want ICE in our city!" as they marched under drifting clouds of pink smoke.

"It's not only that I don't like what they are doing to immigrants, I also don't like what they are doing to protesters," said Andrea Cucuzza, 18. "That's why we are protesting. They don't like manifestations, protests? Then we are doing one."

A small group of protesters also gathered in the same piazza holding Palestine flags and a large white banner that read, "From Milan to Minneapolis, students and workers united against war, repression and exploitation." The protest, organized by Amazon unionist Chris Smalls, targeted Israel's participation in the Olympics.

Homeland Security Investigations, a unit within ICE that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. HSI officers are separate from the ICE arm at the forefront of the immigration crackdown known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there was no indication ERO officers were being sent to Italy.

The U.S. will have the largest presence at the Winter Olympics with 235 athletes (including three alternate athletes), followed by Canada (211 athletes) and host nation Italy (195 athletes).

They are part of the approximately 2,916 athletes from 92 National Olympic Committees.

Read more about the Olympics by the numbers.

The opening ceremony will be headlined by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, American singer Mariah Carey and Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

Other performances will include Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, singer-songwriter Laura Pausini and rapper Ghali.

They will be joined by Italian actors Pierfrancesco Favino, Sabrina Impacciatore and Matilde De Angelis.

The Parade of Nations is one of the highlights of the opening ceremony, with participating athletes from 92 national Olympic committees taking part.

The order of countries in the Parade of Nations changes from year to year, with just one constant: Greece always enters first as it is the birthplace of the Games. 

After Greece, countries enter in alphabetical order based on the language of the country hosting the Games. In Italian, Japan is spelled "Giappone," and Hungary is "Ungheria," meaning that Japan will enter before Hungary, even though Hungary comes before Japan in the English alphabet. 

There are a few exceptions to the alphabetical order. The final country to enter is the host country, and the second-to-last is the nation hosting the next Games. 

Read more about the Parade of Nations here.

Celebrities and athletes hit the red carpet event at historic Teatro Alla Scala in Milan ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

All eyes are on teams from around the globe proudly donning their countries' uniforms for the opening ceremony. 

Team USA is wearing uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren, Team Canada is dressed in Lululemon, and Team Mongolia is wearing ceremonial outfits designed by Goyol Cashmere, to name a few.

See more of the best outfits from the opening ceremony here. 

The 2026 Winter Olympics are bringing thousands of athletes from around the world together for more than two weeks of competition on snow and ice. From the athletes and events to records and costs, the Games are a gold mine for statistics.

Here's a look at the 2026 Winter Olympics by the numbers:

2: Number of previous times Italy has hosted Winter Olympic Games 

Italy first hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, followed by the 2006 Games in Turin. The country has also hosted the Summer Olympics once, in Rome in 1960.

8,494: Square miles the venues for the Winter Olympics will cover

The 2026 Games will be the first Olympics co-hosted by two cities, with competitions held across 13 venues in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The dual host cities mean it will become the most widespread Games in Olympic history, according to the International Olympic Committee, spanning nearly 8,500 square miles of northern Italy. Milan and Cortina are about 250 miles apart by road, nearly a five-hour drive.

Read other stats here.

Pita Taufatofua, the multi-sport athlete who gained fame by proudly carrying the Tonga national flag at multiple opening ceremonies in a traditional shirtless outfit, is returning after being absent from the last two Olympic Games.

Earlier this week, Olympic organizers announced Taufatofua was chosen as one of the 10 Olympic flagbearers at tonight's opening ceremony.

Taufatofua first got international attention when he bared his chest at the 2026 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. He then braved the freezing temperatures in PyeongChang two years later at the 2018 Winter Games, wearing sandals and a ta'ovala (a Tongan mat wrapped around his waist). He returned to carry his nation's flag at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.

Taufatofua, who did not qualify for the 2022 Beijing Games and the 2024 Paris Games, said in a comment on an Instagram post announcing the flagbearers for the Milano Cortina Games that he is "Feeling humbled to walk next to these true legends."

Other Olympic flagbearers include: Rebeca Andrade (Brazil), Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) and Franco Nones (Italy).

The theme of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games opening ceremony is "Harmony," an especially potent message with many populations exposed to violence.

Opening ceremony creative director Marco Balich recently told the Associated Press that the concept of an Olympic Truce, which originated in ancient Greece and was revived in the 1990s, is even more urgent this year.

The truce aims to promote peace and dialogue through sport by ceasing hostilities for a week before the Olympics and a week after the Paralympics, which close March 15.

Some 1,200 volunteers have been rehearsing since November for today's show.

The ceremony will also include a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died in September. Armani had long designed the Italian team's Olympic uniforms, and his legacy as one of the founders of Italian ready-to-wear is tightly tied to Milan.

-CBS/AP

There will be two cauldrons — an Olympic first — inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's geometric studies: one in Milan, at the Arco della Pace, about 2½ miles from San Siro Stadium, and the other at Piazza Dibona in Cortina, some 250 miles away. The cauldrons will be lit simultaneously.

However, the identities of the final torchbearers won't be revealed to the world until they step into the spotlight later today.

-CBS/AP

Blink and you might miss it. Luge is the fastest sport on ice, where milliseconds matter. So every push, every paddle and every turn is critical. 

Athletes like Team USA's Jonathan Gustafson race down an ice-covered track at speeds that can top 90 miles an hour — no seat belts or brakes. The fastest time wins. 

"I would describe luge as really just extreme sledding. Like anything any kid does when they're younger, get that plastic tube and down a hill. We're pretty similar to that, just a lot more advanced," Gustafson told "CBS Mornings." 

Gustafson will compete in the men's single luge at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday, his second time competing in the winter games. He last competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Read more from his "CBS Mornings" interview here.

CBS News' Kelly O'Grady is at a Milan megastore on the hunt for Olympic mascots Tina and Milo - and also some of the most popular Olympic merchandise.

From purple jackets to stuffed animals, swag from the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games is being scooped up fast.

Pope Leo XIV, an avid sports fan, marked the start of the Winter Games on Friday by extolling the positive values of sport and fair play while warning that the pursuit of profits and performance risked corrupting sport entirely.

In a message entitled "Life in Abundance," Leo traced the history of Christian philosophers and popes who identified sports and leisure activities as beneficial for both physical and spiritual development.

He called for sport to be accessible to both poor people and women, especially, and for fans to refrain from turning sport into a fanatical religion. Athletes, too, he said, must refrain from narcissism and becoming obsessed with their image and success.

"The cult of image and performance, amplified by media and digital platforms, risks fragmenting the person, separating body from mind and spirit," he warned.

True sport, he said, calls for a "shared ethical accord" between competitors, where the rules of the game are accepted and the integrity of the contest is respected.

"Accepting the limits of one's body, the limits of time and fatigue, and respecting the established rules means recognizing that success comes from discipline, perseverance and loyalty," he said.

Leo, 70, religiously plays tennis and swims, and is a longtime fan of the Chicago White Sox.

The pontiff drew on his experience as a tennis player in his message, noting the cultural and spiritual benefits of the so-called "flow experience," of being challenged beyond one's level, that both fans and players alike can experience in a prolonged tennis rally.

"The reason this is one of the most enjoyable parts of a match is that each player pushes the other to the limit of his or her skill level," Leo wrote. "The experience is exhilarating, and the two players challenge each other to improve; this is as true for two ten-year-olds as it is for two professional champions."

-CBS/AP

Lindsey Vonn. Alex Ferreira. Alysa Liu. Brittany Bowe. Maxim Naumov.

These are just some of the more than 230 American athletes representing Team USA at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

Olympians from Team USA have won a total of 330 Winter Olympic medals through Beijing 2022 — second only to winter sports powerhouse Norway.

Take a look at some of the Team USA athletes to watch over the next few weeks in Italy.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates rock-and-rolled their way to a world-best 91.06 points in the rhythm dance Friday to open the team competition at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Cheered on by a crowd that included Vice President JD Vance, his family and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chock and Bates were able to secure their team the maximum 10 points for their Lenny Kravitz-inspired dance while making a big early statement.

The three-time world champions, Chock and Bates, are the favorites to win individual Olympic gold later in the Winter Games.

Read more here.

-CBS/AP

As the 2026 Winter Olympic Games kick off, at least a dozen athletes will represent AIN.

The three-letter acronym isn't an abbreviation of a country delegation — its athletes are tied to Russia, whose nation's flag will not be present following a series of doping scandals and Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

AIN is an acronym of the French term "Athlètes Individuels Neutres," meaning "Individual Neutral Athletes." French is one of the two official languages of the Olympic Games, along with English.

AIN athletes will also include competitors from Belarus, which was banned as a country in Paris 2024 over its involvement in the war.

Read more here.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee is sending its biggest Winter Olympics team ever to the 2026 Games in Italy — 232 Olympic athletes representing 32 home states.

The CBS News data team mapped the home states of the athletes to identify which states had the most representation.

Colorado leads with 30 athletes, followed by Minnesota, which is home to 24, and California, with 19.

States with the fewest competitors include Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, North Dakota and Washington, D.C., each with just one, while 18 states have no athletes on the team.

Read more here.

The Olympic torch arrived in Milan on Thursday evening ahead of today's opening ceremony to officially kickstart the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games.

The torch, which was lit in Olympia, Greece, on Nov. 26, 2025, arrived in Italy on Dec. 5 and has since traveled through all the regions of the country, building anticipation for the Winter Games.

Today, the torch is making its way through Milan before reaching the San Siro Stadium for the lighting of the Olympic flame.

Speedskater Erin Jackson and bobsledder Frank Del Duca were chosen as the U.S. flagbearers for today's opening ceremony — and they might be the perfect pair to lead Team USA into the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Jackson is the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics and Del Duca is a sergeant in the Army with deep Italian roots. They were selected by a group of their fellow Olympians as the U.S. flagbearers.

Jackson will become the eighth U.S. speedskater to carry the flag into an Olympics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said, while Del Duca will be the first bobsledder to carry the flag at an opening in 70 years.

Read more here.

The athletic events at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games began on Feb. 4 with training sessions and early rounds for multiple disciplines, including curling, ice hockey and snowboarding.

The first medals of the Games will be handed out on Saturday, Feb. 7:

• Alpine skiing (men's downhill)
• Cross country skiing (women's 10k + 10k skiathlon)
• Ski jumping (women's NH individual)
• Snowboard (men's big air)
• Speed skating (women's 3000m)

For more details on the Olympic schedule, click here.

American star Lindsay Vonn participated in an official Olympic training event for Women's downhill skiing on Friday, hitting the slopes at the Winter Games for the first time after rupturing her left ACL when she crashed in a World Cup race in the Swiss Alps a week ago.

Friday's run was the first official downhill training to take place ahead of the Games, after an event scheduled for Thursday was canceled due to the weather.

Vonn completed the run without any apparent issues. Her first competitive Olympic event, the women's downhill, is scheduled for Sunday.

Read more about Vonn's first run in Milan here.

An animal most people have never heard of — the stoat — is the mascot for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. 

Drawings of Tina the stoat, the Olympic mascot, and her brother Milo, the Paralympic mascot, were designed by students of the Istituto Comprensivo of Taverna, according to the Olympics. The adorable mascots embody "the Italian spirit that inspires them."

Tina and Milo are joined by six snowdrop flowers that the Olympics called "The Flo."

Read more about Tina and Milo here.

The 2026 Winter Olympics, officially the XXV Winter Olympic Games, will be co-hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in northern Italy. It is the first Olympic Games to be officially co-hosted by two cities.

Milan will primarily host the ice events, while the remaining events be hosted in clusters around Cortina and the Valtellina and Fiemme valleys. Milan and Cortina are about 250 miles apart by road, nearly a five-hour drive.

Italy first hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, followed by the 2006 Games in Turin. The country has also hosted the Summer Olympics once, in Rome in 1960.

The first Winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will run from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22, although a few events are being held before the official opening day. 

The Games will showcase 116 events on ice and snow, in eight sports and 16 disciplines, including alpine skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, and the debut of ski mountaineering, known as skimo.

The Paralympics will take place the following month, from March 6 to March 15.

The 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony will be broadcast in the U.S. on NBC. It will be streamed on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com at 2 p.m. ET. It will last about three hours.

The network says an enhanced encore presentation of the opening ceremony will be broadcast on NBC at 8 p.m. ET.

Read more here.