The XXV Winter Olympic Games of Milan/Cortina were officially closed. Unlike the opening ceremony hosted by Milan’s San Siro Olympic Stadium, the hosts opted for the closing ceremony at the ancient Roman amphitheater – the Arena di Verona. The Italians, in this way, emphasized the historical heritage of the country.
The distinctive introduction to the closing ceremony was Verona’s Arena di Verona, behind the scenes or fragments of the opera performance brought to life on the grand stage.
The closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics was a more impressive opera setting – with large-scale choreographic numbers, visually striking spectacles that intertwined with costume art, music, large-scale projections on the walls of the ancient arena, and modern lighting systems.
The organizers also lit the Olympic flame in the ancient arena and thus shared the Verona Olympic Games (meaning that there were no Olympic competitions in Verona).
A traditional parade of Olympic delegations, bringing flags, was held. The participants from Georgia were mountaineer and skier Nino Tsiklauri – the first Georgian athlete among men and women in winter sports, who participated in the fifth Olympic Games, and skater Luka Berulava – the first representative of Georgia in the history of Georgian sports, who won a silver medal at the Winter Olympic Games with Anastasia Metelkina.
Norwegians won with a big advantage in the overall medal count: 18 gold, 12 silver, 11 bronze. Team USA is in second place (12 gold, 12 silver, 9 bronze), in third – the Netherlands (10 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze).
The Georgian team took 25th place with 1 silver medal. Of the 92 countries participating in the games, only 29 countries’ representatives were able to get medals. At the closing ceremony, the winners of the 50 km ski race, both in women’s and men’s, were awarded.
The official part of the closing ceremony is here: the ceremony of handing over the Olympic flag for the French Alps, host of the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Giovanni Malago, head of the organizing committee of the games, and Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), spoke.
The President of the IOC declared the XXV Winter Olympic Games closed at the end of his speech: “Dear friends, I announce the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo closed.” According to tradition, I urge the youth of the world to gather in the French Alps after four years to celebrate the XXVI Olympic Games together. See you in 2030. “
In Milan, at the “Arc of Peace”, accompanied by Gloria Campanelli’s music, the Olympic flame, which had been burning for 16 days, was extinguished. This symbolically ended the four-year main competition.
