Italy launched the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday (February 6) with a slick and colourful ceremony that celebrated the country's history, arts and fashion, Reuters reports.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella formally declared the Games open at the main event in Milan's San Siro stadium as part of an unprecedented show that also linked to celebrations in co-host Cortina d'Ampezzo, more than 400 km (250 miles) away in the Dolomites.
For the first time, two Olympic cauldrons, one of the symbols of the Games, were lit simultaneously and will burn throughout - one at Milan's Arco della Pace (Peace Arch) and the other in Cortina's Piazza Dibona.
Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, two of Italy's most successful Alpine skiers who both won three Olympic gold medals, lit the cauldron at the 19th century Milan monument.
Sofia Goggia, one of Italy’s top medal hopes for these Games, did the honours in Cortina. She became the first Italian woman to win an Olympic downhill gold at the 2018 edition.
U.S. pop diva Mariah Carey had got the party started in a unique opening ceremony combining elements from the co-hosts, seeking to reflect both city and mountain life.
Carey performed the 1950s Italian song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" ("In the blue, painted in blue") with its famous "Volare" ("To fly") refrain to cheers in the stadium.
Mattarella had been introduced to the fans via a recorded video clip in which the 84-year-old was seen travelling through the city on one of Milan's historic trams.
The show also included a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who made Milan his base and died last September.
The ceremony celebrated the diversity of Italian life, from fashionable Milan to the smaller mountain towns in the Alps that host the outdoor events at the Games, which run until February 22.
Athletes also paraded in the mountain venues of Livigno and Predazzo, in a Games spread over 22,000 square kilometres.
