Olympian2004

They have a venue there, namely the Curling Olympic Stadium which will even host the Paralympic closing ceremony. So it could have been done, maybe with some tweaks in order to not disturb the curling events there too much. Or they could have simply used the streets of Cortina, just like for the Olympic parade of athletes.

Apart from the shambolic parade of nations, it was an "okay" ceremony. I liked the Italian flag segment, the Italian anthem and the "Volare" performance at the end. The virtual flame in Verona was also quite nicely done. But all in all, it was a rather forgettable ceremony, just like both its Olympic counterparts.

Probably like at the Olympic closing ceremony? They will have a symbolic "flame" in Verona and then show how the cauldrons in Milan and Cortina are being lit?

That's true. For those small stage performances, they sure didn't need that big arena in Verona.

In German media, it was reported that it was a maximum. Here is a report in English confirming this: Paralympics: House of Switzerland instead of amphitheater in Verona | blue News "For logistical reasons - due to the long journey and because only two athletes and two staff members per nation were allowed to attend - Swiss Paralympic had already decided long before the start of the Paralympics not to make the trip to the amphitheater in Verona."

Or they simply decided "Oh, f... it" when they saw how many nations were boycotting the ceremony or simply not sending any athletes. Maybe they were glad, in the end, about every team member that even bothered to show up.

Those were probably officials. Two athletes and two officials per team were allowed. See here: Athletes participating in the Paralympic Opening Ceremony Parade

Yes, each team (besides Italy) was limited to two athletes max.

And to top it all off, Team Italy was allowed to participate in the parade with as many athletes as they liked - something that was denied to the athletes from other nations. What a trainwreck of a parade. It would have been better if they had skipped it entirely.

That must be the lamest assignment ever for those volunteers who have to dance during the parade of the few athletes... And by the way, I would love to see ceremonies again without the use of such "cheerleaders". If the athletes want to celebrate and dance, they will figure it out also without those people dancing around them.

The German commentator clearly is not a fan of the idea of having the athletes in the ceremony only through videos... And I have to agree. Would it really have killed the organisers to at have a parade of nations at least in Milan and Cortina this time as well? It must give the Paralympic athletes the feeling that they are not worth the same kind of financial or logistical investment as Olympic athletes.

Slow and reflective indeed, but beautiful - including the arrangement for the national anthem.

I agree. I am afraid that the decision of Team Germany and other teams to stay out of the opening ceremony will be empty symbolism in the end - especially because the organizers have planned for an opening ceremony without athletes anyway, due to the large distances between Verona and the actual Paralympic clusters. So these Paralympics, sadly, start with a big shadow hanging over them. I will watch the opening ceremony anyway, but I would be lying if I said that I am looking forward to it, especially not to the flags of Belarus and Russia re-appearing.

Correction: "who, as we have now learned, *almost lost her leg after her awful fall in the women's downhill"

Milano Cortina 2026, at least when it comes to the Olympic Winter Games, has been history for two days now. And I am happy to report that the usual post-Olympic blues has not set in for me. On the other hand, that proves for me what @Sir Rols already stated: The Olympic Games are an old friend and once again, I was happy to watch as much of them as possible, but I was not really gripped by this edition of the Games either. Sure, it was very nice to see the Winter Games return to a traditional winter sports region, and the Alps, the blue Italian skies and the occasional snowfalls provided a beautiful setting which actually couldn't have been better. Italy did a good job as hosts, the competitions went smoothly, despite the huge distances, I did not see or hear any reports about transportation issues, and while the Italian people were not exactly enthusiastic in the lead-up to these Games, they proved to be warm and cheerful hosts in the course of the past two-and-a-half weeks. So what is it what kept me from fully enjoying these Games? Was it the struggle of the German Olympic Team, which is practically reduced to being a powerhouse in the sledding events but has great difficulties winning medals in all other winter sports? Was it the scandal that the IOC created around Vladislav Heraskevych's helmet that led to his absolutely exaggerated disqualification and the odd tears by the IOC president herself? Was it because I have turned way too cynical towards the Olympic Games in recent years, despite the wonderful Games of Paris? Or was it simply because, just like Roland, I am more interested in summer than in winter sports? Maybe it was a combination of all of these factors. Even the athletic performances failed to dazzle me, at least once in a while. Mixed with some truly wonderful performances, we saw overambition as in the case of Lindsey Vonn (who, as we have now learned, already lost her leg after her awful fall in the women's downhill), overhype as in the case of Ilia Malinin whose nerves failed under the (also self-created) pressure to prove his dominance also on the Olympic stage, and overdominance as in the case of Johannes Høsflot Klæbo who won every event in the men's cross-country skiing and shattered all medal records in Olympic Winter Games history. At the same time, we saw wonderful comebacks like that of Federica Brignone, interesting new athletes with lots of potential like Emma Aicher or great Olympic stories like that of Brazil's first-ever Winter Olympic medal, namely the gold of Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, or Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov surprisingly winning the men's figure skating gold against a nervous bunch of competitors. So it was a mix of great or at least pleasant moments on the one hand and appalling or highly disappointing moments on the other. So Olympic Games are a wonderful distraction from everyday life, but in the end, they prove to be just as much of a mixed bag as everyday life itself. This is nothing new actually, but as I said, maybe I have become too cynical after all the bad things that happened in the IOC, the Olympic Games and the entire world in recent years to ignore it as successfully as I did when I was younger. This is not Milano's and Cortina's fault, and there is actually not much that they could have done better - besides maybe the ceremonies that ranged from "good, but fairly forgettable" to "tedious and particularly forgettable" and the lack of Olympic atmosphere that was reported from athletes and officials in Bormio. At the same time, I would always defend the organizers' decision to spread out the events across such a huge area - for better or worse, this is the reality we have to deal with in times of climate change and an increased emphasis on sustainability. Milano and Cortina did a very important service to the future of the Olympic Games in using so many existing venues. So these 25th Olympic Winter Games deserve a ranking among the better ones, even if they were not as magical and unforgettable as Lillehammer 1994, Salt Lake 2002 or Vancouver 2010. Italy can be proud of what it achieved, also in terms of medals, and can look forward to being a Olympic host again. In these times of climate change, it could happen sooner than later.