So then it was done after all. After three and a half hours of tough program, the Olympic flame finally burned in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. For a long time now, not all of the 67,000 people present at the start in Milan’s San Siro Stadium were Italy’s ski heroines Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni lit the fire in Milan.
In Cortina, wo die alpine Speedspezialistin Sofia Goggia carried the last torch, there were only a few Olympic fans left on the street. In Predazzo and Livigno, the other two places where the athletes held their parade, the show was already over at half past twelve.
It is certainly not easy to convey an Olympic atmosphere in this experiment that is currently taking place in Italy. The competitions are from Milan to the entire Italian Alpine region. In Milan the athletes went to the stadium and in Cortina, Predazzo and Livigno through the towns. That just took time.
City and mountains should accommodate the world in harmony. “Armonia”, that was the title of the opening show that the experienced opening ceremony designer Marco Balich brought to the stadium and the three Alpine resorts. Of course, a peace dove shouldn’t be missing. It was drawn with their bodies on the floor by the dancers at La Scala towards the end of the show.
Then star actress spoke Charlize Theron in her role as UN Messenger of Peace the world’s conscience by her compatriot Nelson Mandela quoted. “Peace is not just the absence of conflict; peace is the creation of an environment in which all people can flourish regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, class, caste or other social distinctions.”
So now sport, which IOC President Kristy Coventry would like to see as completely detached from politics, is supposed to bring peace to the world? It would be nice.
Protests before the celebration
But the games cannot even create cohesion in the host cities. Two hours before the opening ceremony, a good 300 left-wing activists gathered not far from the stadium to draw attention to environmental destruction, gentrification and the displacement of the traditional population for new Olympic construction projects. The presence of the US militia ICE in the city was also criticized in chants. The US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance brought them with them to Italy to ensure security.
His appearance doesn’t fit with the Olympic peace messages at all. A majority of the middle-class Olympic fans in the stadium were also of the same opinion. When the vice president appeared on the stadium screen as the US team entered, whistles echoed through the arena. The whistle was even louder when the team from Israel made the rounds of the stadium.
On the other hand, the sporting representatives of true rogue states such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the People’s Republic of China were politely applauded. At least the crowd seemed to agree that the team from Ukraine deserved a lot of support. There was only more and louder clapping when the Italian team entered the athletes’ catwalk.
This is how the warlike world portrayed itself at the Olympic peace show. In it, Italy presented itself as a pop culture superpower. The great classical composers Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini danced to the worst Italian disco pop, Andrea Bocelli showed how far his voice can still carry and Mariah Carey showed that even as a world star you can’t avoid Italianitá.
The most attractive models in the country carried the Italian flag to the mast in Armani clothes and of course the typical moka pot was also paid homage. It was all pleasantly cheerful. The ponchos in the design of sleeping bags that were worn over the German team’s shoulders when they entered the arena were, thankfully, unable to cause any major damage given the overall very attractive production.