By Keith Weir, Elvira Pollina and Julien Pretot
MILAN/CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Italy launched the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday with a slick and colourful ceremony that celebrated the country’s history, arts and fashion but where global political tensions surfaced in the crowd reaction.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella formally declared the Games open at the main event in Milan’s San Siro stadium as part of an unprecedented show that also linked to celebrations in co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo, more than 400 km (250 miles) away in the Dolomites.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were among the crowd in the iconic soccer stadium for the performance entitled “Armonia” (Harmony) that lasted three and a half hours.
Vance, who has been strongly critical of Europe, drew jeers in the stadium when an image of him waving the U.S. flag appeared on a big screen.
The announcement of the Israeli team prompted some booing in Milan over the loud soundtrack, but there were cheers in Cortina. Israel has a team of 10 in Italy.
The group of five athletes from Ukraine in Milan drew huge cheers.
TWIN CAULDRONS LIT IN MILAN AND CORTINA
International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said the Games should bring people together.
“Let these Games be a celebration of what unites us – of everything that makes us human.”
“This is the magic of the Olympic Games: inspiring us all to be the best that we can be – together,” she added.
For the first time, two Olympic cauldrons, one of the symbols of the Games, were lit simultaneously and will burn throughout – one at Milan’s Arco della Pace (Peace Arch) and the other in Cortina’s Piazza Dibona.
Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, two of Italy’s most successful Alpine skiers who both won three Olympic gold medals, lit the cauldron at the 19th century Milan monument.
Sofia Goggia, one of Italy’s top medal hopes for these Games, did the honours in Cortina. She became the first Italian woman to win an Olympic downhill gold at the 2018 edition.
MARIAH CAREY GOT THE PARTY STARTED
U.S. pop diva Mariah Carey had got the party started in a unique opening ceremony combining elements from the co-hosts, seeking to reflect both city and mountain life.
Carey performed the 1950s Italian song “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” (“In the blue, painted in blue”) with its famous “Volare” (“To fly”) refrain to cheers in the stadium.
Mattarella had been introduced to the fans via a recorded video clip in which the 84-year-old was seen travelling through the city on one of Milan’s historic trams.
The show also included a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who made Milan his base and died last September.
The ceremony celebrated the diversity of Italian life, from fashionable Milan to the smaller mountain towns in the Alps that host the outdoor events at the Games, which run until February 22.
Athletes also paraded in the mountain venues of Livigno and Predazzo, in a Games spread over 22,000 square kilometres.
INITIAL CONFUSION IN CORTINA
There was some initial confusion over access in Cortina.
Loredana Vido, from Padova, owner of a second home in Cortina, was blocked at the start of Corso Italia, the town’s main street, and said: “We were not told that everything would be closed off. We were told it was free entry.”
But some competitors in Cortina were pleased to get a slice of the action without having to trek to Milan, and they mixed with one another after their parades.
“Do I wish I was at the full one? Kind of. Am I happy I don’t have to spend 10 hours on a bus that day? Yes,” said Austin Florian, part of the U.S. skeleton team.
In the outdoor event in Livigno, at the foot of the snowboard and freeski runs, a thin crowd of locals and tourists gathered to watch the main ceremony in Milan on screens, as athletes in the small Alpine town walked in the snow, in sync with delegations at the San Siro.
PROTESTS IN MILAN
A series of protests took place on Friday, with more planned over the weekend, in the Italian financial capital to oppose the presence of analysts from a department that falls under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Italy’s government has said the controversy is unfounded, with ICE personnel not on the streets during the Olympics and only operatives from its Homeland Security Investigations in Italy working out of U.S. diplomatic missions.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has also said no agents from ICE were providing security for Team USA.
More local issues such as the closure of schools and streets in the city have also irked some Milanese.
(Additonal reporting by Giselda Vagnoni in Milan and Mitch Phillips in Cortina;Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Toby Davis and Alison Williams)
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