ROME (AP) — Host nation Italy is set to make history at the upcoming Milan-Cortina Olympics by featuring an unprecedented four flag bearers during the opening ceremonies.
While the main opening is scheduled for the San Siro soccer stadium in Milan on February 6, a smaller event will simultaneously take place that Friday evening in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
“There will be two flag bearers in Milan and simultaneously two in Cortina,” Italian Olympic Committee president Luciano Buonfiglio told RAI state radio on Monday. He added that each location will have both male and female flag bearers. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Kirsty Coventry, approved the idea during a recent meeting in Switzerland.
Buonfiglio has not yet announced the names of the flag bearers, stating he needs to consult with various sports federations and committee officials first.
### Olympic Flame and Cauldrons
The Olympic flame will be lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece, on November 26. It will arrive in Rome on December 4 and will begin its journey across Italy two days later.
For the first time in Olympic history, there will be two Olympic cauldrons: one in Milan at the Arco della Pace — a triumphal arch built downtown in the 19th century — and another in Cortina’s central Piazza Dibona.
This will mark the second time Cortina hosts an Olympic cauldron, 70 years after the Alpine village hosted the 1956 Winter Games.
The 2026 Winter Games will be held across a vast region of northern Italy, featuring multiple venue clusters. Besides Milan and Cortina, ceremonies and athlete parades will also take place on opening night in Predazzo and Livigno.
### Russia and Israel in Focus
Buonfiglio expressed surprise at the International Paralympic Committee’s recent decision to lift the partial suspensions of Russia and Belarus, noting that the Olympics and Paralympics “usually travel in the same direction.”
“I’m not saying it’s right or it’s wrong,” he said. “I’m saying that the way it was handled deserved more respect and should have been communicated more effectively.”
The Milan-Cortina Paralympics will be held in March 2026.
The IOC confirmed it will follow the system used at the Paris Games last year, allowing Russian athletes to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes, using the French acronym AIN.
Russia and its ally Belarus were banned from international sporting events following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“We all want sports to remain separate from politics,” Buonfiglio said, days after millions of Italians took to the streets in pro-Palestinian protests that approached the country’s national soccer team training center.
“We’re seeing what’s happening in Gaza… But we will respect the rules. Italy respects the rules.”
The IOC recently stated it has never discussed banning Israel.
### Leadership Changes
Luciano Buonfiglio was elected in June to succeed outgoing Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president Giovanni Malagò, who still leads the Milan-Cortina organizing committee.
https://wgntv.com/sports/italy-olympics/host-italy-to-have-unprecedented-4-flag-bearers-at-milan-cortina-olympics-opening-ceremonies/
