The Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, at the end. Spectacular images from the closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games on Sunday 22 February 2026 in Verona. Credit: MATHIAS BERGELD / Bildbyran Photo Agency / Profimedia
The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics officially come to a close this evening with the ceremony held in Verona's historic Olympic Arena, which dates back to the 1st century AD. The show, entitled “Beauty in Action”, celebrates Italian art and sports performance, and the hosts of the 2026 edition formally hand over the baton to France, the country where the Games will be held in 2030.
The closing ceremony was held in an open-air Roman amphitheater famous for hosting opera and pop concerts. The 2,000-year-old arena is in the heart of Verona, a city in northern Italy and the setting for William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Reuters wrote.
Romania's flag bearer at the event is skater Julia Sauter, who took 17th place in the figure skating event.
The best result of our athletes was achieved by Mihai Tentea and George Iordache, who finished in 5th place in bob-2, the most important Romanian ranking at an edition of the Winter Games after Albertville 1992.
Romania, historic success at the Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina. The best result in the last half century
Ahead of the event, Verona's mayor told Reuters that Sunday night's spectacle, “a celebration for all the participating athletes”, “will certainly be something unprecedented in the history of the Olympic Games”.
“Personally, it motivates me to work on planning a bid to (hold) the Summer Games in Italy, which have been missing for far too long,” Mayor Damiano Tommasi, a former soccer player for Hellas Verona and AS Roma, told Reuters.
Rome hosted the Summer Games in 1960 and intended to bid for the 2024 edition, but abandoned the idea. The competition was eventually held in Paris.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry said the Games hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo were a success and the atmosphere reached new heights thanks to a record number of medals won by Italians.
Italy finished the competition 4th in the medal standings with 10 gold, six silver and 14 bronze. Only Norway (18-12-11), the United States (12-12-9) and the Netherlands (10-7-3) finished better than the host country.
“The Olympic Games gave us unforgettable emotions and a sense of pride that will remain with Italy for a long time to come,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote in a post on the X platform, adding that the good performance “brought prestige to the whole nation.”
Top 10 in the medal standings
- Norway – 18 gold – 12 silver – 11 bronze (41 in total)
- USA – 12 gold – 12 silver – 9 bronze (33 in total)
- Netherlands – 10 gold – 7 silver – 3 bronze (20 in total)
- Italy – 10 gold – 6 silver – 14 bronze (30 in total)
- Germany – 8 gold – 10 silver – 8 bronze (26 in total)
- France – 8 gold – 9 silver – 6 bronze (23 in total)
- Sweden – 8 gold – 6 silver – 4 bronze (18 in total)
- Switzerland – 6 gold – 9 silver – 8 bronze (23 in total)
- Austria – 5 gold – 8 silver – 5 bronze (18 in total)
- Japan – 5 gold – 7 silver – 12 bronze (24 in total)
