Hello from Milan and Cortina, the place Lindsey Vonn examined out her injured knee, the skating occasions picked up and three bobbleheaded Italian composers danced onstage.
That’s proper, the opening ceremony passed off right here Friday evening, and it featured a lot of tributes to Italy’s wealthy, artistic historical past, together with a panoramic efficiency from Andrea Bocelli.
More from the ceremony, and all of the motion on the ice, from our correspondents right here. Catch all of it streaming on Peacock.
Live from Milan Cortina
Before the opening ceremony, Friday’s motion started with blended doubles curling, the place the U.S. defeated Canada and Czechia to maneuver to 4-0 general. Perhaps they had been impressed by Snoop Dogg, Team USA’s honorary coach, who was there cheering them on.
American skier Lindsey Vonn went on a coaching run, testing out her knee after just lately tearing her ACL, simply forward of Sunday’s medal run within the ladies’s downhill.
Figure skating kicked off on Friday, too. Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, three-time world champions, competing in rhythm dance, proved why they’re the gold medal favorites with the highest qualifying rating of 91.06. Another set of Americans, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, competed in pair skating however completed fifth general in qualifying.
Alysa Liu, a 20-year-old medal favourite in ladies’s single skating, had an distinctive opening routine. She posted the second-highest rating, behind Kaori Sakamoto of Japan.
Behind the Scenes
No, you weren’t hallucinating. On Friday evening, right here on the San Siro stadium in Milan, three performers took the stage dressed as Italian composers, albeit with cartoonishly massive pretend heads. Later, large paint tubes had been suspended in midair, spilling out pretend paint, as multicolored performers danced beneath.
The Milan Cortina Olympic opening ceremony was definitely surreal. But it was additionally a celebration of Italy, a tribute to its historical past and impression on the world.
Everything had been thought out. Models wore Giorgio Armani fits within the colours of the Italian flag. Mariah Carey, clad in a glittering robe, sang a well-liked Fifties Italian music often called “Volare.” There had been homages to the Milan opera home Teatro alla Scala, and the Fellini movie “La Dolce Vita,” and people big-headed composers Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi and Gioachino Rossini. If solely they knew how they’d been immortalized. Later, Andrea Bocelli sang a transferring cowl of an aria from one in every of Puccini’s operas.
In the sector, not less than one vendor hawked Aperol spritzes. During breaks, VIPs retreated to heat lounges beneath the stands serving tiramisu and tartelletta alla marmellata.
Notably not current? Lots of the athletes themselves. The Milan Cortina Games are probably the most unfold out Olympics of all time, and plenty of athletes had been at their varied competitors websites. That made for an attention-grabbing entrance parade. Some athletes had been filmed strolling by way of Olympic rings at their respective websites and broadcast right here within the stadium in Milan.
Photo of the day
When to look at
The opening ceremony’s over and the motion is selecting up! The first medals might be awarded tomorrow and we’ll (hopefully) see Team USA once more in ladies’s hockey.
Here’s the information to what’s on tomorrow, all occasions Eastern. Potential medal occasions have an asterisk.
Saturday, Feb. 7
- 4:05 a.m.: curling, blended doubles round-robin (Great Britain vs. Canada, Switzerland vs. Sweden)
- 5:30 a.m.: Alpine snowboarding, males’s downhill*
- 6:10 a.m.: ladies’s hockey, pool play (Germany vs. Japan)
- 7 a.m.: ladies’s cross-country snowboarding, 10 kilometers + 10-kilometer skiathlon*
- 8 a.m.: freestyle snowboarding, males’s freeski slopestyle qualification
- 8:35 a.m.: curling, blended doubles round-robin (Estonia vs. Norway, Korea vs. Czechia, Sweden vs. Italy, USA vs. Great Britain)
- 8:40 a.m.: ladies’s hockey, pool play (Sweden vs. Italy)
- 10 a.m.: speedskating, ladies’s 3,000 meters*
- 10:40 a.m.: ladies’s hockey, pool play (USA vs. Finland)
- 11 a.m.: luge, males’s single run 1
- 12:32 p.m.: luge, males’s single run 2
- 12:45 p.m.: ski leaping, ladies’s regular hill particular person first spherical
- 1:05 p.m.: curling, blended doubles round-robin (Korea vs. USA, Canada vs. Estonia, Czechia vs. Switzerland, Norway vs. Italy)
- 1:30 p.m.: snowboard, males’s huge air ultimate*
- 1:45 p.m.: determine skating, crew occasion, males’s single
- 1:57 p.m.: ski leaping, ladies’s regular hill particular person, ultimate spherical*
- 3:10 p.m.: ladies’s hockey, pool play (Canada vs. Switzerland)
- 4:05 p.m.: determine skating, crew occasion, ice dance
That’s it for now! We’ll be again tomorrow.