The lighting of the Olympic cauldron has become an important part of every Olympic Games over the past century, serving as the symbolic home for the Olympic flame and a natural ending to the Olympic torch relay. The opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics made history in that regard, with two cauldrons lit to close out the festivities on Friday, Feb. 6 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Decorated former Italian Olympic alpine skiiers Alberto Tonga and Deborah Compagnoni used the Olympic torch to light the cauldron in Milan, while gold medal winner current Olympic downhill skiier Sofia Goggia of Italy simultaneously ignited the flame within the cauldron within the mountains of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The Olympic flame, after two months of an Olympic torch relay, fist appeared Milan’s San Siro Stadium towards the end of Friday’s opening ceremony at the Milan Cortina Games, accompanied by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli singing the opera song, ‘Nussun Dorma,’ backed by an orchestra. The drama built from there with an elaborate performance featuring Italian rapper Ghali and an appearance by actress Charlize Theron to present a message of peace.
There were two Olympic cauldrons lit simultaneously for the first time this year, with one at Arco della Pace in Milan and another in Piazza Dibona in Cortina d’Ampezzo, since the 2026 Winter Games are spread out across 16 venues in multiple areas of Northern Italy.
The custom design of the cauldrons ‘pay homage to the sun as the primary source of life, energy and renewal,’ according to Olympic organizers, and ‘the design draws inspiration from the genius of Leonardo da Vinci and his famous Knots, geometric interlacings that symbolize the harmony between nature and human ingenuity.’
The lead-up to the 2026 Winter Olympics torch relay began on Nov. 26, 2025 in Olympia, Greece with the lighting of the Olympic flame, which then arrived in Rome on Dec. 4. The torch relay started on Dec. 6 and arrived in Milan on Feb. 5 ahead of the opening ceremony. Snoop Dogg, the stars of HBO’s ‘Heated Rivalry,’ former AC Milan and Inter Milan soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic are among the more than 1,000 people to serve as 2026 Winter Olympics torchbearers over the past two months.
The Olympic flames within the two cauldrons will be extinguished as part of the closing ceremony on Feb. 22.