And with that, 60,000 spectators at the San Siro slip into the night.Time for me to go bed too.The games proper start tomorrow, with Great Britain taking on Canada at 9.05am in the mixed curling.Thanks for your messages during this long, whacky, but quite lovely opening ceremony.

Good night!The Italian night is kind – cold and dry,Ski-ing icon Gustav Thöni is one of the final flame carriers in Milan,The last torch bearers are raised up and finally the cauldron is alight at the Arco della Pace,The cauldron is based on drawings by Leonardo de Vinci, and is truly gorgeous,A few seconds later, the identical Cortina cauldron at Piazza Angelo Dibona is lit too.

The games are open!We’re killing time now for the flag to arrive at the Milan cauldron,A young girl gazes at a model of the solar system, only for a real life italian astronaut to tap her on the shoulder,More dancing,Lang Lang, all in white, plays on a white piano at the San Siro, as Olympic flags are raised in the stadium and in Cortina,Now the Olympic oath, in Italian.

The torch has gone, and will reappear near the cauldron outside the stadium,Milanese rapper Ghali performs Gianni Rodari’s Memorandum in four different languages,From nowhere, Charlize Theron, to read some words from Nelson Mandela,And now the slow approach of the Olympic flag carried by a selection of incredible humans,The torch makes its way round the stadium as Bocelli reaches a glorious crescendo.

Two of the bearers are the great Italian footballers Franco Baresi and Beppe Bergomi, both played at the San Siro and both captained Italy,“The IOC President is showing her stamina,” writes Simon Morris, “she’s been saying the same thing for the last 10 minutes at least,Sack her speech writer,”A fair comment,She’s done at last and hands over to the Italian president Sergio Mattarella.

The torch is on the way but while we wait for it a spot of Nessun Dorman from a black polo-necked Andrea Bocelli,It’s as spine tingling as ever,Now Kirsty Coventry, the first female IOC president, and only the second non European, the owner of seven Olympic medals and five times an Olympian,She addresses the athletes directly: “I know what it feels like, that mixture of excitement and nerves,Your whole life of early mornings, sacrifices, it all comes down to this.

So first of all, be proud and take it all in, enjoy every second.Over the next two weeks you’ll show us what it is to be human… that strength isn’t just about winnings, its about courage, empathy and heart.”Now to the speeches.First from the president of the Milano-Cortina organising committee, Giovanni Malagò These games are unique, he says: “pioneering, respecting of the environment, most gender-balanced ever, and with the spirit Italiano.Italian beauty does not belong to us but has been entrusted to us, it lives only if it is passed on…” He’s quite charming.

And a welcome email from Dan:“Pleased to say Hazel Irvine hasn’t forgotten her roots, name checking Dave Gilbert in the context of an Olympic opening ceremony.The Angry Farmer shares his walkon with a blistering figure skating routine apparently!“Class.Enjoy the games”Thank you Dan.You too.Lots of magnificent lighting, as orchestrated by Bruno Poet, and we’re back in 2026.

Quite a cute guide to Italian hand gestures, which doesn’t overstay its welcome, and here come the flags,And finally, magnificently clad in Armani, Italy,Very happy they look too,The athletes take their places, and are replaced by more dancers,This is a bit more straightforward for those of us who are a bit more basic.

We go back in time to the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924.A phone rings from the 1960s and the main character leaps forward in time.Now to the 1980s, complete with a giant walkman and lots of florescent ski suits.“How about a shout out for another of GB’s representatives this evening,” writes Edward Poet.“ The man behind the lighting design for the event.

”Edward, I’m sorry I don’t know how to link to the Instagram post – but huge congratulations to Bruno and his team.What a CV!“@Bruno_Poet_Lighting is an award-winning lighting designer with experience across theatre, concerts, opera, and large-scale events.His work includes Miss Saigon and TINA: The Tina Turner Musical (West End, Broadway, International Tours), Akhnaten at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and multiple UAE National Day ceremonies.”The biggest cheer of the night for the team from Ukraine.They are, of course, in yellow and blue.

The flag bearer, Vladyslav Heraskevych, has said that Ukrainian athletes may protest against the Russian and Belarusian Neutral Athletes during the games.Tiny Venezuela are followed by huge USA, 232 athletes in cream duffle coats.And there’s JD Vance and his wife.It sounds from here as if the team get a warm reception, but the BBC commentator says it is “mixed.”“Why,” asks Kurt Perleberg, “is the John Lennon peace anthem “Imagine” played every single Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games?” I don’t think it is, is it? Embarrassed to say I’ve missed it if it happened this time around.

Ah, Google tells me that it is often played – presumably to encourage peace and harmony,The Pope echoed similar sentiments in a letter: ““In a world thirsting for peace,” he wrote, “I wholeheartedly encourage all nations to rediscover and respect this instrument of hope that is the Olympic Truce, a symbol and promise of a reconciled world,”Three Serbian skiers are followed by a lone young athlete from Singapore, and a large contingent of smiling Slovakians,The flag bearer for Spain is British-born Olivia Smart, who swapped allegiances in 2017, and also won Dancing on Ice in 2023,And huge cheer for Italy’s neighbours Switzerland, who had their best Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The Mongolian outfits are as magnificent as promised,Narnia meets the east Asian plains,“What we carried through winter, we carry to the world,”“Hi Tanya,On the other side of the stadium to you guys, but team GB look like walking piano accordions from up here.

”Hello Jnorring! I wish I was the other side of the stadium, but unfortunately I’m on my sofa in Manchester,The Olympic and Paralympic winter games mascots are Tina and Milo, a pair of stoats,Actually, they’re very cute ,but nothing can beat 2012’s Wenlock and Mandeville,Very keen on the stitching on the Mexican jackets,And Norway’s jumpers are on point.

A small group of athletes from Israel enter, without any noticeable reaction from the crowd in any way, and then Kazakhstan, the largest landlocked country in the world,We must be about half way through now,Enter Iceland, closely followed by an email from Kari Tulinius,“How is Iceland bad at winter sports? The two main reasons are, one, there’s not that many of us, and two, the weather’s not good for winter sports,The island regularly gets battered by storms coming up the Gulf Stream from the south, and the warm air and rain melts ice and snow.

But oh hey! There’s our people! I’ll be cheering them on,” I am educated, thank you!Enter 53-man/woman strong-team GB, dressed by Ben Sherman,The dominant sartorial items here are big scarves emblazoned with GREAT BRITAIN,Princess Anne and her husband smile – not grin - from the stands, wearing the same scarves,Tiny Lilah Fear carries the flag.

The multi gold-winning German squad look great in poncho-type drapes.Their specialism? Sliding events.Dynamic luge duo Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt are on the hunt for their seventh and eighth gold medals this GamesJamaica’s heirs to Cool Runnings dance into the arena, while we are told that 70 percent of Japan’s team are Gen Z.Lots of bouncing Danes, in practical beige jackets are followed by a small team from equatorial Ecuador, all in black.As are the UAE, Winter Olympic debutants, as Kari said.

“Hello Tanya,” hello Kari Tulinius!“It’s always thrilling to see countries debut at the Winter Olympics, like Benin now.It’s been really heartening to see winter sports spread further afield.Apparently Guinea-Bissau and the United Arab Emirates are the other debutants this time around.Anyway, back to waiting for Iceland’s contestants.We suck at winter sports, incidentally, despite what Hollywood will tell you.

”But Kári – how?A large Chinese contingent are also busy with flags – the men are in royal blue puffas, the women, ice blue,While Colombia’s jackets rock – long and yellow with huge red pockets,The Czechs, in geometric jumpers, culottes and long socks, are very enthusiastic flag wearers,While Chile wear delicious long navy tail coats with brass buttons,There are a lot of Canadians, 207 to be precise, and 109 of them are Olympic debutants.

They are extremely enthusiastic in enormous puffas, decorated with half a Maple leaf on either of the zip.They’re great actually.“Hopefully Danny Boyle got royalties,” writes William M Gilmore.Brazil, incidentally, are in blow up bin bags.I am enjoying Belgium’s yellow tracksuits, think lego people.

Next is Benin, who are one of eight African countries represented in these Olympics.To add to the confusion, those athletes in the mountains are emerging from different venues than the San Siro.Which means that in some cases countries are represented only by a model in an enormous silver reflective robe and wraparound sunglasss.Albania sport long grey puffas, Andorra zebra-striped tracksuits, while Saudi Arabia’s team of three are in traditional robes.Australia bounce in the usual green and gold but with white mittens.

I’m not exactly sure how, but the five rings have come congregated in Olympic formation and sparkle above everyone’s heads.And everyone is welcomed to the first wide-spread Winter Olympic games – taking place over a large area of north Italy.Now, the main business of the evening, the athletes’ parade.Dancers in moss green congregate around a giant roll of Sellotape, two giant rolls of Sellotape – ah the Sellotapes become two of the Olympic rings.Up they go into the Milan sky, while harmony appears to have setlled on earth, at least for the next minute.

The flag slides up the pole and obediently billows in the (artificial?) wind,The anthem is sung,While over in Cortina, a violinist is in conversation with the mountain,Back at the San Siro, a poem gets a huge roar, as we enter a section that questions how to balance human ambition and the natural world,Be nice if they could work that out over the next couple of weeks