Verona, 23 February 2026 (dpa/MIA) - The "truly, truly magical" Milan/Cortina Winter Olympics closed on Sunday night in a ceremony highlighting Italian culture and handing over to the next snow and ice Games hosts, the French Alps in 2030.

The ceremony titled "Beauty in action" in the ancient Arena di Verona featured Italian opera with famous characters including Rigoletto, Aida and Madame Butterfly.

There were Venetian gondolas and modern dance, including an aerial performance by ballet dancer Roberto Bolle to a modern interpretation of the famous Italian song “Il Mondo” by Joan Thiele.

Italian medallists who managed a record haul of 10 golds and 30 medals overall got a special entry, and the Olympic flame was brought to the arena by the four cross country skiers who famously beat hosts Norway in the 1994 relay in Lillehammer.

Flagbearers for the teams include Johannes Høsflot Klæbo who rewrote the record books by sweeping all six cross country golds for a career tally of 11 golds for Norway which topped the medal table ahead of the United States with 41 medals including an all-time record 18 golds.

The athletes still present arrived all together accompanied by popular Italian tunes performed by alternative rockers Calibro 35, rapper Davide Shorty and singer Margherita Vicario.

There were also the final two medal ceremonies, for the 50km cross country races won on Saturday by Klæbo and earlier Sunday by Sweden's Ebba Andersson, conducted by International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry who oversaw her first Games.

Coventry named the Games "truly, truly magical" as she thanked the host nation, athletes, volunteers and organizers in a speech short of politics - which however overshadowed the Games for several days in the helmet row involving Ukrainian slider Vladyslav Heraskevych which Coventry could not even solve in a last-ditch personal meeting.

"You showed us what excellence, respect, and friendship look like in a world that sometimes forgets these values. You showed us that the Olympic Games are a place for everyone. A place where sport brings us together," she said in general terms.

Coventry added: "You delivered a new kind of Winter Games and set a new standard for the future."

Milan/Cortina saw the most spread out snow and ice Olympics ever which not all of the 2,900 athletes from 92 countries who competed for 116 gold medals in eight locations appreciated.

It will be very much the same 2030 as Coventry called on the athletes to convene in southern France after formally closing the Games.

Milan/Cortina were the first two hosts and 2030 French Alps takes it even further with no host city in the name and competition in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions.

The French brouhgt their triple biathlon gold medallists Julia Simon and Quentin Fillon Maillet and other French athletes to the stage and showcased their regions and winter sports there in a short video.

The extinguishing of the Olympic flame in Verona and the two cauldrons in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo came towards the end of the two-and-a-half hour show.

Milan and Cortina are not quite finished yet as they will welcome the world again in less than a fortnight for the Paralympics March 6-15.

The next Olympic Games are meanwhile the 2028 summer edition in Los Angeles.

Photo: EPA