Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics set for lavish opening ceremony

The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics officially open with a star-studded opening ceremony at the San Siro Stadium on Friday.

The most geographically dispersed Games in history will start in Italy's economic capital at 1900 GMT with a three-hour extravaganza that takes in the three other sites spread across the Alps and the Dolomites.

While details of the ceremony remain secret, the theme of harmony runs through it, threading together different elements from the financial hub of Milan to the snow-capped mountains of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

And for the first time the 2,900 athletes will parade in the venues closest to where they will compete, in a bid to minimise travel. They will be in Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo.

The opening ceremony is expected to draw a global audience of hundreds of millions and offers "a unique platform to convey positive messages, not divisive ones", creative director Marco Balich promised.

Balich, who also directed the Turin Winter Games curtain-raiser in 2006, intends to pay tribute to Italian design and fashion, with a special nod to the designer Giorgio Armani, who passed away last year.

He said the ceremony "will tell the story of a young and modern Italy, looking towards the future, without indulging in the Dolce Vita".

American singer Mariah Carey, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and Chinese pianist Lang Lang are to perform.

Dozens of dignitaries will attend, including US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

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Vance met International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry, who is overseeing her first Games since her election in March, at a dinner for heads of state on Thursday.

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