By HOWARD FENDRICH, Related Press Nationwide Author
MILAN (AP) — An unprecedented four-site, dual-cauldron Winter Olympics opening ceremony replete with references to Italian icons and tradition — plus American pop diva Mariah Carey — was scheduled to formally begin the Milan Cortina Games on Friday because the sports activities spectacle returns to a nation that final hosted the occasion 20 years in the past.
That is the most spread-out Olympics — Summer season or Winter — in historical past, with competitors venues dotting an space of about 8,500 sq. miles, roughly the dimensions of your complete state of New Jersey.
The primary hub Friday is in Milan at San Siro soccer stadium, which is residence to Serie A titans AC Milan and Inter Milan, opened a century in the past and is because of be razed and changed within the subsequent few years. There additionally will probably be three different locations the place athletes can march, some carrying their nation’s flag: Cortina d’Ampezzo within the coronary heart of the Dolomite mountains; Livigno within the Alps; Predazzo within the autonomous province of Trento.
That enables up-in-the-mountains sports activities similar to Alpine skiing, bobsled, curling and snowboarding to be represented within the Parade of Nations while not having to make the several-hours-long trek to Milan, the nation’s monetary capital, and again.
For good measure, the Feb. 22 closing ceremony will probably be held in one more locale, Verona, the place Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” was set.
One other image of how far-flung issues are this time: As an alternative of the standard one cauldron that’s lit and burns all through the Olympics, there will probably be two, each meant as an homage to Leonardo da Vinci’s geometric research. One is in Milan, 2½ miles (4 kilometers) from San Siro, and the opposite goes to be 250 miles away in Cortina.
The folks given the dignity of lighting each was a carefully guarded secret, as is often the case at any Olympics. On the Turin Winter Video games in 2006, it was Italian cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo.
Different hyperlinks to Italy’s heritage scheduled to be part of Friday’s festivities embody a efficiency by tenor Andrea Bocelli; classically educated dancers from the academy of the famed Milan opera home, Teatro alla Scala; a tribute to the late dressmaker Giorgio Armani, who died last year at 91. Armani designed the Olympic and Paralympic uniforms for the Italian nationwide crew for many years, and was a private buddy of the previous president of the Italian Nationwide Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malagò.
A lot extra deliberate for Friday was being saved beneath wraps by organizers who stated they sought to convey themes of concord and peace, in search of to characterize the city-mountain dichotomy of the significantly uncommon setup for these Olympics whereas additionally making an attempt to attraction to a way of unity at a time of world tensions.
One other unknown: What kind of reception would greet U.S. Vice President JD Vance when he attended the ceremony in Milan? And what concerning the American athletes?
When new Worldwide Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry was requested this week what kind of greeting the U.S. delegation would get after they enter San Siro within the Parade of Nations, she replied: “I hope the opening ceremony is seen by everybody as a chance to be respectful.”
Related Press author Colleen Barry contributed to this report.
