Every Olympic organising committee has to think about what they stand for. How do they want their Opening Ceremony, and by association their Olympics, to be remembered? How to best represent those most nebulous of things, the Olympic values? How to set the tone for the sporting extravaganza that is the next fortnight?
The most recent Opening Ceremony, in Paris 18 months ago, seemed to deliberately court controversy and want to split opinion – remember Marie-Antoinette being decapitated and the row over the ceremony being ‘ungodly’?
Milano-Cortina, by contrast, appears to have gone for a classy, prettily choreographed if perhaps not very memorable opener. An opening segment featured a beautiful balletic dance sequence with lifts that wouldn’t be out of place in an ice dance programme. Mariah Carey’s two minutes on stage were over blissfully quickly and replaced by Grammy-nominated singer Laura Pausini’s stunning rendition of the Italian anthem. Andrea Bocelli closed the show with another flawless performance, the whole stadium falling silent in awe.
And aside from an inexplicable – in true Olympic style – section featuring three enormous tubes of paint descending from the roof of the stadium, and hordes of people dressed as block colour coffee machines, the ceremony was largely tasteful. Pretty. All light and sparkle. Nothing, really, to see here.
And maybe that was intentional, with this Games dogged by political controversy despite the IOC doing its desperate best to avoid any sign of it. Old issues are still raging, like the thorny question of how to deal with Russia, which seems to be inexorably heading towards it being welcomed back, despite widespread opposition and the vast scale of death and destruction in Ukraine; equally there are questions over the continued participation of Israel. There’s the ongoing debate over the protection of the female category, with no verdict imminent on that front either, and age-old concerns over the environmental and economic impacts of hosting the Games.
But there are fresher concerns too, most obviously the backlash against the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and wider anger at the Trump administration’s remarkable efforts at destabilising world peace, from kidnapping the Venezuelan president to threatening to take over Greenland.
American athletes have headed to Milano-Cortina acutely conscious of their shifting place in the world as Europe begins to fear the US rather than shelter behind it. The brutality of ICE in places like Minneapolis has only intensified that feeling. The US ice sports even renamed their hospitality venue from the ‘Ice House’ to the ‘Winter House’ to avoid being associated with the agency.
Athletes like cross-country legend Jessie Diggins have sought to distance themselves, however subtly, from the administration: she said she would race for “an American people who stand for: love, for acceptance, for compassion, honesty and respect for others… For everyone out there caring for others, protecting their neighbours and meeting people with love – every single step is for you.” US-based British freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who competed for the US at two previous Olympics, went a step further, appearing to urinate the words ‘F*** ICE’ on snow in a social media post.
Protests have broken out across Milan this and last week over ICE’s presence in Milan; there are no agents physically on the streets, but them having a role in the policing operation at all has been met with fury. Hundreds of protesters gathered in the hours leading up to the Opening Ceremony to chant anti-ICE slogans and set off flares; other demonstrators marched in support of Palestinians, or argued against the Olympics being held here at all amid a cost of living crisis.
Italian interior minister Matteo Piantedosi dismissed the anti-ICE protests as politically motivated. But if it hasn’t occurred to him, everything about Olympic sport is political, starting with the official names of each country in the athletes’ parade. And there was a political message sent from the crowd, whether the IOC, or Trump’s administration, wanted to hear it or not.
US vice president JD Vance led an American delegation in Milan this week and was present at the Opening Ceremony. An enormous motorcade was seen ferrying dignitaries outside the stadium shortly before the ceremony began; he may have opted for the same understated entrance as he did at the ice hockey on Thursday night, slipping quietly into the posh seats alongside his security.
The thumping, interminable house music inside the San Siro turned up another couple of notches when Iran was announced, presumably to drown out any potential booing. But no volume increase could block out the definite booing and whistling that accompanied Israel walking out into the stadium, accompanied by a security detail. The loudest cheer of the night, by contrast, was a sustained roar of support for the Ukrainian delegation.
And when Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, were pictured briefly on screen gamely waving American flags as the US contingent walked in, there it was: the unmistakable sound of booing and jeering.
The pair kept their beatific smiles on for the brief few seconds the cameras remained on them, but the message was loud and clear. It was notable that no other visiting dignitary, save for Princess Anne, had the same acknowledgement by the broadcasters. Perhaps that acknowledgement, pandering to this US administration’s sense of self-importance ahead of LA 2028, was unwise.
Having overrun by about 40 minutes the Ceremony finally got to the suits, and IOC president Kirsty Coventry thanked everyone present and watching at home “for believing in the magic of the Olympic Games”.
“The spirit of the Olympic Games is about so much more than sport. It is about us – and what makes us human,” she continued. “Here, athletes from every corner of the world compete fiercely — but they also respect, support, and inspire one another. They remind us that we are all connected, that our strength comes from how we treat each other, and that the best of humanity is found in courage, compassion, and kindness.”
Wise words. It would be nice if the likes of Vance could heed them, too.
