The 2026 Winter Olympics are officially underway after Friday's Opening Ceremony festivities at Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy.
The Opening Ceremony featured the expected Italian flair, with performances highlighting Italian culture and the nation's impacts on the world of music, art, theater and fashion. The likes of Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli and Charlize Theron brought ample star power to the proceedings, with a message of unity and a call for peace as a through line of the evening.
There was also the traditional Parade of Athletes, featuring thousands of competitors in this year's Games from the 92 National Olympic Committees getting to walk under their nation's flag to celebrate their appearance at the Olympics. In a unique twist for this year's games, athletes walked out in all four cities hosting events so that those competing outside Milan could still participate.
Here are the highlights and best moments from the 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Those that stuck around to nearly the three-hour mark of the Opening Ceremony were treated to a truly spectacular performance from legendary Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. He produced a stirring rendition of the iconic aria "Nessun Dorma" from the opera Turandot, earning a rousing ovation from the crowd in Milan and providing quite the soundtrack for the arrival of the Olympic torch to the San Siro.
Twenty years after Luciano Pavarotti performed the same song at the Closing Ceremony for the 2006 Torino Olympics, in what was his final public performance, Bocelli offered his own version to go down in Olympics lore.
As is always the case at the Opening Ceremony, each nation's delegation of athletes were adorned in their country's specially designed outfits, and some of the 'fits at the 2026 Olympics were incredible and worthy of an Olympics taking place in a city as fashionable as Milan.
The best outfits tend to be the ones that bring a unique flair from that country, and we saw a number that stood out on Friday. My personal favorite was Colombia's incredibly lively parka and hat combo.
Haiti's athletes wore phenomenal painted snowsuits that paid tribute to revolutionary Toussaint Louverture and the Édouard Duval-Carrié's painting of him riding a red horse to victory.
Mongolia had perhaps the most elegant look of the evening with their sensational cashmere outfits.
Germany brought one of the most unique looks with their giant parka ponchos.
And Brazil brought an incredible contrast with their athletes in black puffers, but the flag bearers wore incredible white puffer coats with an interior lining of the Brazilian flag.
To help open the night, Mariah Carey performed her song "Nothing Is Impossible" in both Italian and English, earning a huge pop from the crowd when she emerged on stage at the San Siro.
The first 15 minutes featured an incredible performance paying tribute to the Italian arts. It featured orchestral performances of works by Italy's most famous composers while dancers dressed in different colors created the color wheel in a nod to Italy's incredible impact on art and models walked the runway in green, red and white Georgio Armani suits to pay tribute to the legendary fashion designer from Milan.
Team USA's 232 athletes were on hand for the Parade of Athletes, led out by flag bearers Erin Jackson and Frank Del Duca. The American delegation had athletes in all four locations for the Opening Ceremony, as they get set to try and climb towards the top of the medal stand and best their 2022 medal count of 25 (with nine golds).
The torch lighting is now complete in two locations for the 2026 Winter Olympics -- one in the mountains of Cortina and the other in MIlan. The Milan Games feature a unique spherical cauldron, hanging in Milan within the Porta Sempione in spectacular fashion.
With the cauldrons lit, the 2026 Olympics are now officially underway.
As the Olympic torch arrived in the San Siro, the legendary tenor helped cap off the night with a stunning performance of 'Nessun Dorma'. On a night with a number of performances across the three-hour spectacle, Bocelli stole the show with a flawless performance that earned a well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd in Milan.
