Olympics 2026: Meet the Team USA Athletes Going for Gold in the Milan Cortina Winter Games
The 2026 Winter Olympics is already one for the history books.
As the Milano Cortina Winter Games kicked off on Feb. 6, the honor guard marked a historic milestone by being the first-ever all-female group to introduce the host country’s national anthem at the Olympic Opening Ceremony.
The salute began with more than four dozen models clad in custom-made Giorgio Armani suits representing the colors of the Italian flag parading down a walkway at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.
As singer Laura Pausini began performing the Italian national anthem “Il Canto degli Italiani,” cameras cut to the scene at Cortina d’Ampezzo, the ski resort town co-hosting the Games. There, the all-female honor guard were presented with the Italian flag.
The flag was simultaneously raised in both Milan and Cortina, celebrating the fact that two different cities are co-hosting the Games for the first time in Olympic history.
But that wasn’t the only can’t-miss moment from the Opening Ceremony.