{"id":50581,"date":"2026-02-22T22:25:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=50581"},"modified":"2026-02-22T22:25:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:25:59","slug":"cgl5z5xg303oat_mediumrssat_campaignrss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/02\/22\/cgl5z5xg303oat_mediumrssat_campaignrss\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony: Milan-Cortina concludes in Verona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">The Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics have officially ended following the closing ceremony in northern Italy.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It took place at Verona Olympic Arena, despite none of the sporting events happening in the city, which is 75 miles from Milan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">After beginning with a tribute to classic Italian opera, flagbearers representing the 92 competing nations entered the stadium through large props from Aida and accompanied by a tribute to Italian film music.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The &#8216;Drop of Fire&#8217; \u2013 the Olympic flame carried in a small glass vessel \u2013 was brought into the ancient arena to light up the rings before the parade of athletes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">While athletes are supposed to come in all mixed together, here they were still largely in national groups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The final medals from Milan-Cortina 2026 were awarded in the women&#8217;s and men&#8217;s 50km mass start cross-country skiing events, before a tribute to the Games volunteers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The ceremony finished with performances from popular Italian musicians Major Lazer and singer-songwriter Achille Lauro.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In her speech to close the Games, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry said: &#8220;You have been incredible \u2013 every one of you. Brave. Fearless. Full of heart and passion. You left it all on the snow and ice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Two unforgettable weeks, living every moment to the fullest. You gave everything \u2013 and you shared it with all of us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;This is the true Olympic spirit: competing, embracing, lifting each other up, whatever the result. You showed us what excellence, respect, and friendship look like in a world that sometimes forgets these values.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;You showed us that the Olympic Games are a place for everyone. A place where sport brings us together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It ended a Games which saw 116 medal events, and historic sporting success for several of the competing nations \u2013 including Great Britain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Team GB won five medals, including three golds, to finish 15th in the table. Britain has never previously won more than one gold at a Games before.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Matt Weston, the male flagbearer, won two golds in skeleton \u2013 the men&#8217;s event and the team competition with Tabby Stoeker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The female GB flagbearer was Charlotte Bankes, who won gold in the team snowboard cross with Huw Nightingale; it was the first Olympic event on snow won by British athletes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Team GB also won silver in the men&#8217;s curling, while Zoe Atkin claimed bronze in women&#8217;s ski halfpipe on the final day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Brazil&#8217;s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen took the men&#8217;s giant slalom title to register a first Winter Olympic gold won by a South American nation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Winter #Olympics #Closing #Ceremony #MilanCortina #concludes #Verona<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics have officially ended following the closing ceremony in northern Italy. It took place at Verona&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50583,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50581\/revisions\/50583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}