Italy said a fond farewell to the Winter Olympics on Sunday with an open-air ceremony in the ancient Verona Arena that celebrated art and sporting achievement at a Games lauded as a model for how to stage such events.
The ceremony lasted about two and a half hours. The programme, titled 'Beauty in Action', blended sport with Italian music, opera and dance traditions, featuring performances by internationally known ballet dancer Roberto Bolle, singer Achille Lauro and DJ Gabry Ponte.
The event was held inside the first-century Roman amphitheatre originally built for gladiator contests and public spectacles. Today, the UNESCO-listed site is used for major cultural and cultural performances, including summer opera festivals.
Around 1,500 athletes took part in the parade of nations, entering behind flag bearers representing 92 participating countries.
Host nation representatives included biathlete Lisa Vittozzi and speed skater Davide Ghiotto, while gold medallists such as United States hockey player Hilary Knight and ice dancer Evan Bates also carried national flags.
The United States fielded its largest Winter Olympic delegation ever, with 232 athletes competing across all 16 sports disciplines alongside host Italy. The team set a national record by winning 12 gold medals at a single Winter Games.
U.S. Olympic officials said the result reflected long-term investment in winter sports, teamwork and competitive resilience.
More than 12,000 spectators attended the closing ceremony. The number was smaller than the opening ceremony inside Milan’s San Siro Stadium, which attracted more than 60,000 people and featured international music stars.
The closing event also included a remembrance segment for athletes who have died, using butterfly imagery as a symbolic tribute, though no individuals were specifically named.
Earlier in the Games, Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was removed from competition after refusing a request from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to remove a helmet design commemorating athletes killed in the war in Ukraine, citing rules against political messages on competition equipment. IOC President Kirsty Coventry later said the organisation respected the remembrance message but had to enforce regulations governing the field of play.
The closing ceremony was jointly overseen by Coventry and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, marking Coventry’s first Olympic Games as IOC president.
The Olympic flag was handed over to representatives of the French Alps 2030 Winter Olympics, the next host of the Games. The French national flag was raised during the ceremony as the national anthem was played, symbolising the transition of Olympic hosting responsibility.
The Milano-Cortina Games were staged across a vast alpine and urban region covering roughly 22,000 square kilometers (8,500 square miles), ranging from Milan’s ice sport venues to biathlon competitions in Anterselva near the Austrian border. Additional events were held in Valtellina near the Swiss border and the Val di Fiemme region north of Verona.
Organisers said the multi-location model helped limit construction costs and could influence the design of future Olympic Games.
A total of 116 medal events were contested across eight sports and 16 disciplines, including the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering.
The 2026 Paralympic Winter Games are scheduled to open in Verona on 6 March 2026 and run until 15 March 2026.
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