Milan Cortina Olympics close at Verona Arena as Olympic flag passes to France

The Milan Cortina Winter Games conclude with a 2½-hour closing ceremony at Verona Arena featuring Italian performers and about 1,500 athletes, and the Olympic flag will be handed to France for the next Winter Games.

The Milan Cortina Winter Games will conclude with a closing ceremony Sunday inside the ancient Verona Arena. The 2½-hour program highlights Italian music and dance and features ballet dancer Roberto Bolle, singer Achille Lauro and DJ Gaby Ponte. Organizers expect about 1,500 athletes and roughly 12,000 spectators at the stone amphitheater. The ceremony includes the handover of the Olympic flag to France and will be overseen by IOC president Kirsty Coventry and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Key details: - The ceremony takes place inside Verona Arena, an ancient stone amphitheater that hosts summer opera and dance festivals. - The program celebrates Italian lyric opera (recognized by UNESCO) alongside contemporary Italian music and dance. - About 1,500 Olympians are expected to enter behind two flag bearers from each of 92 participating nations, with athletes and officials present. - The Olympic flag will be passed to France and its flag will be raised next to Italy's and Greece's. - The Milan Cortina Games spanned roughly 22,000 square kilometers, with 116 medal events across eight sports and the debut of ski mountaineering. - The Olympic flame will be extinguished at two cauldrons in Milan and Cortina and shown via video link; a light show will replace fireworks in Verona to avoid disturbing animals. Summary: The closing ceremony provides a smaller, culturally focused finale to the geographically wide-ranging Milan Cortina Games and formally hands the Winter Games to France. The Paralympics opening ceremony is scheduled for March 6 in the same Verona Arena, and preparations for the next host arrangements are the next formal steps.