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Since we're getting closer, I thought it was time already to open a thread about it. Italy: https://www.nss-sports.com/en/kits/41302/milan-cortina-2026-italy-armani Australia: https://www.paralympic.org.au/2025/10/australias-milano-cortina-uniform-launched-by-the-governor-general/ Austria https://www.reuters.com/sports/austria-hoping-milano-cortina-medal-haul-matches-beijing-total-2025-10-28/

Out of curiosity, I looked at Zohran Mamdani's platform on his website (translated into French, which is excellent). I saw the main points: rent freezes, free buses, free baby baskets... it's hilarious because many of these points are literally things that cities run by Greens/Socialists are implementing in France (and these aren't even the most "left-wing" parties), and probably in many European cities as well. So it always makes me laugh to see Mamdani portrayed as the evil socialist who's going to destroy everything, when here in Europe he'd just be some run-of-the-mill leftist. I couldn't say whether, legally, American cities have more limited powers than European cities (but I doubt it?), which would prevent Mamdani from implementing some of his measures. But his program doesn't seem shocking to me (in fact, it's almost the minimum I expect from a "left-wing" party in general, and the idea that even for many Democrats it's too extreme a program only confirms that for me, Democrats are obviously not left-wing).

France 🇫🇷 https://www.lecoqsportif.com/es-es/pages/jeux-dhiver-milan-cortina https://www.nordicmag.info/en/milan-cortina-2026-games-a-fusion-of-blue-white-and-red-inspired-by-paris-2024-discover-the-official-outfits-of-the-french-delegation-1029/

Finland's Milan-Cortina 2026 look, made by brand Luhta, maker of its Summer and Winter Olympic outfits since 2017. Inspired "by the nature, silence and blue moment of Finnish Lapland, when the last rays of the day paint the sky in natural blue tones." Finland's team's uniforms are designed to be worn on the road, at opening ceremonies, award ceremonies, representative events, and during free time. https://yle.fi/a/74-20191131

https://www.instagram.com/p/DQZhOVxiN_o/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Just came across a nice reminder of the games in a news story about this year’s NSW Schools Athletics Championships. Nice to see the podiums are still being used after all these years!

Yes it really should've been Utah for 30, simply because apart from places that have hosted too recently, it's easily the best placed candidate to host on short notice. It's like the winter version of a Melbourne or LA. Then 34 to a more plausible French proposal (yup I mean just Lyon/Rhone Alpes). Or failing that, grab a time machine to fix the error of doing the double award a Games late - when it should've been Milan 26, Stockholm 30. But then Tom wouldn't have been punishing Sweden

Games vision being announced on 3/12

It definitely got more visible as the runners continued outside, so it probably takes a moment to properly ignite or something

Are we really that habituated to him that a day after calling for the execution of a bunch of Democrats, we can talk about him mellowing??? Personally, I’ve still got my pool money on “Sending Troops into NYC” sometime between the release of the Epstein files and next year’s mid-terms.

They opened the closing ceremony with that.

I thought we would have waited a few more years, but Tony Estanguet just published a book in which he tells his story within the organization of the 2024 Games. https://www.amazon.com/amour-Documents-Actualités-Société-French-ebook/dp/B0G1G994HR

Interesting. Thanks. That sure led me down a rabbit hole. Like Rob, I couldn’t recall seeing anything like it either in London, but then looking in the official souvenir programme I did come across them, and also realised they were on the tickets. I certainly didn’t recall them from the signage. And nothing similar in the Sydney or Atlanta programmes or tickets. Still, those and Paris’ I’d classify as more functional, literal line drawings of the venues than as integrated parts of the “Look” or overall design, or even as pictograms. Whereas Milano’s certainly are - even if, as has been pointed out, they’re less functional. While down the rabbit hole, I had a vague memory of Mexico City having location-based pictograms. When it comes to discussing Olympic “Looks” and design, so many roads lead back to Mexico. And I found these, which were used during the games to illustrate their subway maps and stations with nearby landmarks.

Apparently not only disciplines have their dedicated pictograms but also every sport facility of these Games has one of its own whic are more artistry edgy than the previous ones. Here: Verona Tofane, Cortina San Siro (a great one picto!) Santa Giulia Arena, Milano Tesero Cross-Country Livigno SnowPark Bormio SkiCenter Predazzo, Ski Jumping Anterselva, Biathlon Graterr.. Livigno 🤠 Cortina, Curling Olympic Stadium Assago-Milano, Ice Skating Arena Rho-Milano Speed Skating/ Hockey Cortina Sliding Center

The Olympic Closing Ceremony is entitled Beauty in Action. The stage design was also revealed: The Ceremony will not be confined to just the Arena, either: https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/news/closing-ceremony-of-the-milano-cortina-2026-olympic-winter-games-to-be-a-tribute-to-beauty-in-action

I feel like Milan/Italy has started to really get its act together after a slightly concerning buildup & is now properly embracing the games? It's not quite been the excitement years in advance of Paris but it is now starting to feel like there's an Olympics just a few months away. Looking forward to it

Yes, it indeed was an cleaner use of Ai then most. But i feel that i have 2 cents to talk about it. If it was an small team using it with this purpose, it would be fine; i myself a'int a fan of the usual ethics, or more precisely the lack thereof, in AI art but in a limited size and budget, it makes sense even though i tend to think the entire process of doing art is part of the adventure. As you said, it was a legit use case of AI, refining the work of a real drawing. But we are talking about the Olympic Games. The IOC has money to pay an design agency to do a job of refinement. The mascot is fine, but was AI necessary when you have the means to don't need it? That the crux of the issue. However, that might not be the same situation of the organizing committee, who is the ones who usually take charge on doing the mascot work. Now i got myself thinking, if the organizing committee of a Olympic event needs to use IA to refine an drawing, even if just the Youth Olympics where the budget is intentionally lower, how the budget of this games are doing? It already was supposed to be held in 2022 but the pandemic pushed it to 2026... I wonder how the preparations are faring. And now i wish there was a senegalese poster here to help us. But as you said, yeah, let's not get hysterical. The mascot is fine, after all. Ayo being the "AI mascot" makes it interesting to talk about at the very least. And the IRL costume is actually a 10/10.

@ReiWhat type of pasta is this? Ziti, rigatoni?

I think LA28 will be in good hands for Ceremonies. While Rice and Winston (both Brits, I think?) are mostly TV execs, at least Givens has a solid Olympic ceremonies resume as good as Ballich and Birch. Besides, how could LA not work with Givens when he is a southern California fixture? He started in LA 1984 when he provided the color cards for that giant colored card stunt showing only 84 nations -- not all the 140 nations who participated then. So, in a way for him, it will be a homecoming. And he had a much larger portfolio with Salt Lake 2002 when he was in charge of all Imagery of 2002. I believe he came up with the design for the SLC 2002 medals; and it was Five Currents who connected George Tsypin with the Kremlin to do the Sochi Ceremonies. In 2006, Gavin Newsom had him head San Francisco's bid for the 2016 USA candidature. I remember visiting the early offices then. LA28 will be his crowning achievement. I hope they immediately sign Bad Bunny (over Snoop Dogg any day) to headline the Opening!! 🤪

Oh, I like that. Striking and modern but not over the top. Classy looking podium. Very Italian.

I'd happily buy 100 bags of those!

Probably the best news in recent Olympic history. Given the issues with India's NOC, and as other have mentioned, questionable outcomes of Hamburg, Berlin, and NRW's referendums, I wouldn't be surprised if Munich ends up with the 2036 games, or some sort of double awarding like they did with Paris and LA. I suppose I am biased and partial to Munich. Visited about a decade ago and it has remained one of my favorite cities in Europe next to Prague, and its Olympic Park impressed me. Having visited several more Olympic cities since, I would go so far as to say Munich's is the best maintained and utilized (next to Melbourne) of the 20th C. hosts.

I'll scream it from the rooftops and make no apologies for that. The man this city just elected is an anti-semite. It shouldn't have to have been this choice, but here we are. I wish the best for Mamdani, but I will remain concerned for myself and my friends and family that this city just elected someone who doesn't reflect our values. And unlike a Trump election where the problem is hundreds if not thousands of miles away from us, this is our neighbors who made this decision. People who I'm sitting next to on the subway or the bus which maybe I won't need to pay for anymore. We'll see how it goes, but again, not looking forward to the inevitable battle royale that will happen between Mamdani and Trump. At least the pendulum swung a little bit towards the Democrats last night and I'm happy for that as at least a tiny repudiation against the first 9.5 months of Trump. Khan at least had more experience before he took the mayor's job. I know next to nothing about UK politics, but your assessment is likely spot on that an American mayor, especially in a city like New York, definitely has a lot of influence. Remains to be seen how much of Mamdani's campaign can (or should) be implemented. Considering the last 2 mayors of NYC haven't exactly been that popular, we'll see how that plays out, especially given who is in the White House. Wouldn't be the first time an American president has made threats to the city of New York

He seems like a good choice for somewhere like New York, at least from his campaign (how he governs is a harder question). And certainly, given who he was up against it seems like a no-brainer to have elected him. I have doubts it'd translate beyond the urban centres. Newsom seems like an oddball. The person who's been impressing me and whose politics feels more easily translatable is Pritzker...maybe? I don't know. Billionaires in politics is iffy, but I really like how he comes across. Frankly, I shouldn't know who any of these people are, but a) it's impossible to avoid seeing videos/posts even if you're not following American political accounts (which I'm mostly not) and b) it's good to see opposition to American branded fascism succeeding in whatever form it takes.

Biology might solve this before July 2028.

ill support it 🥹

I’m always a bit bemused how “socialism” is do often used as a performative in the US. It’s NOT the opposite of democracy. On the other hand, I see that California passed Proposition 50. Now THAT I have some misgivings about.

Good job, New York! Hopefully someone can step up here in LA so we can follow suit next year...

The Canadian Olympic Committee and CBC/Radio-Canada marked the 100-day countdown in launching its second installment of the Brave Is Unbeatable in its first Winter Olympic campaign. 14 Team Canada winter athletes are involved as they showcase their journeys to Milan-Cortina 2026 https://olympic.ca/press/coc-and-cbc-radio-canada-mark-100-days-to-milano-cortina-2026-with-new-brave-is-unbeatable-campaign/ https://olympic.ca/braveisunbeatable/ RAI2's, RAI Sport's and RAI1's Milan-Cortina 2026 host nation broadcasting plans are starting to take shape along with the daily Milan-Cortina 2026 programming blocks as revealed in its RAI Milan-Cortina 2026 advertising e-press kit. Now we get to see what it got planned starting later this month with events leading up to the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics on the winter sports calendar. We got the daily Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic studio hosts named, but RAI has yet to announce who will host the Italian public broadcaster's presentation of the ceremonies, although I think Sabrina Gandolfi, Marco Lollobrigida, Tammaso Mecarozzi, Pietro Piller Cottrer, Paolo De Chiesa, Stefania Belmondo, and Giuliano Razzoli will be among the faves to do this. Nor do we know the sports' analysts and play-by-play personnel. CONI/Casa Italia will be involved in the broadcast Starting November 15th, every Saturday and Sunday until the end of March, Rai 2 will broadcast Rai Sport Live Weekend from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Italy time/CET. This segment will feature much of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, as well as other live broadcasts and highlights of sports featured at the Games, from Nordic skiing to skating and curling. This segment will also feature ongoing updates on the Olympic facilities, the progress of construction, the status of the athletes and the various teams currently training, and portraits of past champions and current athletes ahead of the great Winter Olympic event. Starting November 17th, a new weekly program, from 7:00 to 7:45 PM on Rai 2, it will air Road to Milano-Cortina, an overview of everything that happened over the weekend in winter sports and several Olympic highlights, with interviews, livestreams, and guests. Hosted by Sabrina Gandolfi. Rai 2 and Rai Sport HD, live commentary from Olympia, Greece for the torch lighting on November 26. On December 5th, live from the Quirinale on Rai 1, on the occasion of the beginning of the Italian journey of the torch in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic. From December 8th, from Monday to Friday, on Rai 2, a daily report of “the journey of the torch”. On February 5th, the eve of the opening ceremony, the curling tournament starts with the reigning Olympic champions Constantini-Mosaner will also be competing. On February 6, Rai 2 will become the Olympic Network, although the Opening Ceremony from the San Siro Stadium, starting at 8:00 pm, will be broadcast by Rai 1. Rai 2 will broadcast 13 hours of live programming daily. In the event of sports event clashes, the second live event will be shown on Rai Sport. A typical day: 8:45 a.m. on Rai 2, MATTINA OLIMPICA, broadcast from the outdoor studio in front of the Arco della Pace in Milan. In the background, the Olympic cauldron. Host Tommaso Mecarozzi, regular guest Pietro Piller Cottrer, one of the heroes of the Turin 2006 relay. From 9am Italy time/CET, live broadcasts from the Olympic competition venues carry on until the evening. There will be four editions of the Olympic News: 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. through the Olympic days. Starting February 7th at 11:30 p.m., again on Rai 2, OLYMPIC NOTTI will conclude the day with guests, commentary, and broadcasts from the various CONI Casa Italia offices (Milan/Cortina/Livigno). Hosted by Sabrina Gandolfi, with Paolo De Chiesa, Stefania Belmondo, Giuliano Razzoli, and other commentators. Marco Lollobrigida will be reporting from Casa Italia Milano (at the Triennale). On February 22, the Olympic Games will conclude around 5:00 p.m. with the final of the men's hockey tournament. Following this, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., definitely on Rai 2, OLYMPIC NOTTI (BEST OF) will be shown earlier and expanded to re-enact and comment on all the best of this edition of these Winter Olympic Games. The closing ceremony from the Verona Arena will take place live at 8:00 p.m. on Rai 2: https://www.corrieredellosport.it/news/olimpiadi-invernali/2025/10/29-144154647/il_palinsesto_delle_olimpiadi_la_rai_in_prima_fila Additional Olympic broadcasting personnel news can be found in Germany. What's interesting and important to know is that the large bulk of the shared ZDF-ARD Milan-Cortina 2026 coverage production will actually take place in Mainz, Germany due to the long distances in northern Italy, up to 400 kilometers between the sports venues, as opposed to what they usually be in the non-German host city. The broadcasters will share an Olympic studio in Mainz. Esther Sedlaczek and Stephanie Müller-Spirra will present the live coverage for ARD, while Katrin Müller-Hohenstein and Jochen Breyer will host ZDF's broadcasts. Mainz also houses the broadcast center, where, for example, internet streams are commentated and segments are edited. Even the great Katarina Witt will provide her figure skating thoughts and analysis back in Mainz and other insights as a general Olympic expert. ARD/Das Erste's opening ceremony broadcast will be handled with commentary by Tom Bartels. ARD presenter Alex Schlüter will also host an Olympic podcast. The ZDF-ARD teams on site are smaller because of the above: Reporters from Italy – such as Lea Wagner, Michael Antwerpes (both ARD), and Lena Kesting and Amelie Stiefvatter from ZDF – will be joined by experts. These include Felix Neureuther (alpine skiing), Arnd Peiffer, Erik Lesser (both biathlon), and Sven Hannawald (ski jumping) for ARD. They will be joined by bobsleigh Olympic champion Mariama Jamanka. Rick Goldmann will cover ice hockey. Among those analyzing for ZDF are Denise Herrmann-Wick, Sven Fischer (both biathlon), Severin Freund (ski jumping) and Marco Büchel (alpine skiing). Volker Grube will continue to pair Neureuther. Katja Streso will alternate hosting afternoons with Muller-Hohenstein in the Mainz studio. Regarding Eurosport Germany, it has secured a renowned expert: German record Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger will provide expert analysis of the luge competitions in Cortina. With six Olympic gold medals, she is Germany's most successful female athlete at the Winter Games. Also on the Milan-Cortina 2026 Eurosport Germany expert team are Martin Schmitt (ski jumping), Viktoria Rebensburg (alpine skiing), and Anni Friesinger-Postma (speed skating). Olympic gymnastics champion Fabian Hambüchen, as reported earlier, will also be on hand as a reporter and expert. Unlike ARD and ZDF, Eurosport/HBO MAX/Discovery+, pursuing this differently, will be on-site and, patterned after Paris, is using a two-floor ski lodge-like studio in Cortina d'Azur, located in the breathtaking UNESCO World Heritage Site Dolomites, from which it will broadcast live race coverage and Olympic shows and will welcome numerous athletes, experts and former Olympic champions as well as other renowned guests during the Games and offer the best Olympic storytelling with its coverage. Birgit Nössing is the main presenter there for Eurosport Germany and continues to do so in this capacity since Pyeongchang 2018. It's a home game for her, as she is originally from South Tyrol (Völs am Schlern is deeply rooted in the Dolomites, to be exact) and a former competitive ski racer herself. Equipped with cutting-edge technologies, such as live windows from a large virtual studio and innovations in storytelling, will further enhance coverage of the Games and allow for even deeper analysis of the various sports. The unique studio set spans two floors and will support Eurosport's pan-European production with dedicated studios for Italy, Germany, Norway, and Poland to present programs in their respective national languages as a central production hub. For the first time, this Eurosport Germany Olympic Milan-Cortina 2026 live production will be transmitted to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein also on HBO MAX and Discovery+ : https://www.welt.de/sport/olympia/article6901e84972f1c438f34d033d/ard-zdf-eurosport-das-planen-die-tv-sender-fuer-olympia-und-diese-experten-sind-im-einsatz.html https://presse.wbd-deutschland.de/post/winter-wonderland-warner-bros-discovery-gibt-erste-details-zu-mi In a related bit, no doubt biathlete gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier's tragic death while rock climbing July 28th in the Karakoram Mountains in Pakistan was devastating. She was struck by a rockfall while descending Laila Peak in the Hushe Valley. It also impacted ZDF's biathlon sportscasting plans because of her death that had three people involved with Alexander Ruda and in sharing commentary duties with Denise Herrmann-Wick as Dahlmeier brought her immense knowledge and authenticity in her analysis (certainly would've been the case in Milan-Cortina had Dahlmeier lived). For ZDF's Milan-Cortina 2026 biathlon coverage, it's going to be solely Herrmann-Wick as an analyst there. But it comes with a complication: Herrmann-Wick gave birth to a son and a daughter in the past two years: https://www.welt.de/sport/wintersport/article68e4b46e1de834f4da2e144c/laura-dahlmeier-31-biathlon-im-tv-so-regelt-das-zdf-die-nachfolge-bei-experten-riege.html Check out this awesome France Televisions' Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic promo that it revealed at the 100-day mark that blends art and sports. Indeed it refers to that mark on it as a young woman observes and admires as the massive artwork literally comes to life with snow. This could easily be something like what we see as those OBS intros we look forward to seeing every two years with multiple sports showcased. No French narration promoting it either. Just let the Winter Olympic and Paralympic sports, the athletes, the Italian art sculptures, statues, and the ancient Roman times combining all speak for itself. Will it serve as an intro? Possibly. Directed by Quentin Deronzier (La\PAC): https://www.francetelevisions.fr/groupe/notre-actualite/france-televisions-devoile-a-j-100-son-clip-officiel-au-coeur-des-jeux-48587 Eurosport Poland, in cooperation with the Polish Olympic Committee, returns to the most beautiful moments of Polish performances at the Winter Olympic Games. In a series of videos posted on social media, all living Polish Winter Olympic medalists will relive their fond memories. Justyna Kowalczyk, Tomasz Sikora, Adam Małysz, Kamil Stoch, and Dawid Kubacki, among others, will discuss their medals. Eurosport Poland will also be covering the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games with outstanding athletes: Aleksandra Król-Walas, Natalia Maliszewska, Oskar Kwiatkowski, and Michał Niewiński as they're showcased there as the Polish faces of this edition of the Winter Olympic Games. Videos published on Eurosport's social media will be a great opportunity to learn more about some of Poland's greatest medal hopes and follow their preparations for the Games as Polish sports fans eagerly anticipate and await for the best potential performances of Poland's Winter Olympians: https://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/igrzyska-zimowe-eurosport-transmisja-milano-cortina-2026,7216130416667296a

Interview with Marco Balich where he gives some more hints of what to expect in February. https://www.instagram.com/milanocortina2026/reel/DQmhsKtAnJw/ I took these from the videos. 👀

Hmmmm. I get as annoyed, and sometimes taken in, by AI slop flooding social media and elsewhere as anybody. And I do share misgivings and alarm about it replacing human creativity and plagiarising human artistry. But in this case, it was clearly used to refine an original human idea as you showed from the original sketches. It didn’t come from a computer aggregating from cartoon lions found on the internet. And the animation itself is just streamlining much as CGI originally streamlined traditional cell animation. It’s the latest step in a technique that has already been heavily automated. There’s a lot to be concerned about with AI, but let’s not get too hysterical about it being used legitimately as just another tool to simplify base-level processes. I’m more surprised no critique’s been made of the fact it’s a single, male (it has a mane) figure. Not that it bothers me at all. But in these days of gender sensitivity, Oly mascots have long been either gender-indeterminate or come in boy and girl pairs. I think if it was a senior games, more might have been made if that.

I guess you can call It 5 Rings cause that's what It looks alike? But do not expect finding some at the supermarket in anytime..

I had to go and hunt it up. Is this the video causing the fuss? I can’t see the big deal - it’s just a video animation. Not like it’s trying to be a photo realistic deepfake.

just more garbage. 🙄

The mascot has been revealed... Meet Ayo! A young lion wearing a tingandé, a traditional hat worn by the Fula people. It's name means "joy" in Yoruba. Unfortunately, the video that the mascot was shown in was AI generated... I guess this means Ayo has the title of being the first (?) AI generated Olympic mascot.

Whoa there, watch out for blasphemy, you risk quickly getting a severe reprimand from the chief inquisitor of the IOC!

Yeah, the classic Saudi playbook. Talk about creating a massive conflict of interest. There’s surely no way the whole Olympic esports venture can continue under the Bach blueprint. It needs a whole new rethink and rebrand if they ever want to try it again. Oh well. Kirsty gets to demonstrate her dynamism by “pressing pause” again.

Or maybe it was the IOC drawing the curtains and shredding the evidence on the corruption claims that were implicating a few high ranking IOCers, including Kirsty’s husband. There’s been a bit of a lingering smell bedevilling the whole sorry operation. Olympic esports corruption: minutes expose IOC propaganda and incriminate Ser Miang Ng and his family business Corruption complaint against senior IOC member Ser Miang Ng: "prevent any further significant breaches from occurring before it is too late" …The case of Ser Miang Ng and his children's businesses and companies raises further interesting questions. Some of these revolve around the Global Esports Federation (GEF), also based in Singapore, whose board includes Ser Mian Ng's son Chong Geng Ng and which is headed by Paul Foster, former chief of protocol at the IOC. During the founding phase of the GEF, which was always viewed with suspicion by many experts and was the subject of business intelligence investigations on more than one occasion, a certain Tyrone Seward was also a member of the board for several years. Mr Seward is from Zimbabwe. He is the husband of IOC President Kirsty Coventry…

https://www.instagram.com/p/DQZtkBoiEXi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Japan.

Another feather (boa) in the cap… Australia Is Officially Hosting The 2030 Gay Games

I don’t often post on thus thread, but just came across a nice clip from the IOC’s channel - the Mexico City 68 closing ceremony

Whew!! Thanks, AK, for that very detailed explanation. And I thought judging a triple salchow and GOE was difficult!! What if the ISU's computers overload the weekend before Milano opens?? 😀

What a sad legacy from Paris 2024 - considering they had to wait 100 years to host again, and the medals are supposed to be the longest lasting material legacy. I don't know how Chaumet got the commission. From glory to disgrace: Paris 2024 medal scandal rocks IOC Hope they learn for 2030!!

Lesson for LA28 and all future COJOS, test the bronze medals first, even 18 months before. Since that will have the cheapest metal content, a longer testing period will save future embarrassment like this. And don't even reveal the designs yet. Just test fake design replicas to see if they will be subject to the stresses that the Monnaie failed to subject their 2024 bronze medals to.

You’re being absolutely silly. Yes, the Olympics are an event “involving” nearly 200 different NOC’s. But guess what? Not “every” single one of those NOC’s will get to host the Olympic Games. It’s just not feasibly possible. For starters, in the history of the Olympic Games, there have been ONLY 24 different countries to have hosted the Olympics (both summer & winter). That should tell you something right there. Also, another aspect to keep in mind, is that the Olympic Games are actually a LUXURY, & not some entitled right like you’re painting it out to be. Not every single one of those involved countries in the Olympic family are viable options. When the IOC feels comfortable enough to take the plunge to a new territory, they do it. At other times, though, they don’t. But it has NOTHING to do with being that “type of person/G7” nonsense that you’re trying to spew here.

I feel like the bold should go without saying, but also seems like that needs to be made clear. What you think the ceremony "needs" is based on your personal interpretation. The people running the Olympics know who their audience is. Suffice it to say, they likely don't think like you. So lets break this down point by point... The last daytime ceremony was Nagano in 1998 and that was for the benefit of American TV. Ditto with Seoul in 1988. Sunshine is friendlier for the crowd in the stands. But this is very much a TV event those days. The visuals look better at night which is why nearly every ceremony in the last 35 years has been after dark. Bear makes a good point that the 2028 opening will likely start during the day to suit NBC. It will without the slightest doubt end after sunset. The visual from 1984 of the flame making its way up to the cauldron would have been 100 times more dramatic if it was dark out. The flaming arrow in Barcelona. Cathy Freeman in Sydney. Li Ning in Beijing. All work so much better at night. We may never see a daytime ceremony again in our lifetimes. We'll see what tricks they have with the roof at SoFi. They'll make it work. Vancouver 2010 was in an enclosed stadium. Sochi 2014 had a roof. It's not as big a deal as you want it to be. The flagpoles.. seriously? There might not be another person on the planet who thinks that's something worth thinking about. The doves are a relic of the past. Watch animal rights groups get in a tizzy if that's suggsted. Not worth the trouble. The Olympic Hymn isn't herioc enough for you? LOL And Bear said it well.. if a choir makes sense, then sure. It is not a "need" Not to rehash what Rols said, but you could be a lot more well-received here if you didn't come off as some sort of spamming troll. Having a strong opinion about something like flagpoles all well and good. But try engaging in discussion rather than just making the same point over and over again and then dropping YouTube clips as if we have enough time on our hands to indulge your whims

I loved it during Wednesday's dress rehearsal and it was even better on TV. My only demerits are: O Canada: HORRIBLE version The cauldron cock-up (of course; Atkins is 0/0 at OG when it comes to cauldrons) Half th e final torchbearers Where was Cindy Klassen? Why does Marc Gagnon get blanked again and again? He's the most successful male Canadian Olympian athlete EVER! Gretzy never got a medal; neither did Nash. How about Cassie Campbell--a hockey player with 2 gold and a silver medal? Things they nailed: Canada's story The Aboriginal parts--substantive, not superficial All the songs except O Canada The visuals Olympic flag bearers And the highlight...the spoken word poem! Canada is the WHAT in what's new! But really, I'm pleased and proud!