An important guest. The flame for the 2026 Winter Olympics finished its journey through Italy, arriving in Milan on Thursday, the day before the opening of the Milan Cortina Olympics. After traveling 12,000 km, the torch carried by star dancer Nicoletta Manni was acclaimed by thousands of people in front of the famous Duomo, after having toured the city in the afternoon.
A thousand people celebrated the flame closely, the rest of the spectators being kept at a distance by a large police force. The flame arrived an hour and a quarter late than the announced time, around 8:45 p.m., in light rain which had already complicated the rehearsal for the opening ceremony on Wednesday evening. This delay was “caused by the enthusiasm and the number of people present which slowed down the route”, indicated the organizers.
Demonstrations
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators displayed flags about thirty meters from the torch bearers, after a first action by Greenpeace Thursday morning on the same Dome Square against the energy company of the Games, the Italian Eni. Other demonstrators displayed banners in support of Palestine and against the sponsors of the Games near the Statale University, without disrupting the path of the flame, according to the daily Corriere della Sera.
The flame must resume its journey on Friday in the Lombard capital passing by the Sforza Castle and the San Siro stadium, where the opening ceremony will be held on Friday evening, before setting the cauldron ablaze under the Arch of Peace. For these “exploded” Olympic Games on seven sites throughout the north-east of Italy, a second Olympic cauldron will be set ablaze in the city center of Cortina d’Ampezzo, 400 km from Milan.
