Highlights From the 2026 Olympics Opening Ceremony

 

“If God would have a singing voice, he must sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli.” –Mary Carillo

“It’s one of the only places where you really feel part of a team. Snowboarding is such an individual sport. You come out here, and you join Team USA, you run out in the parade, and you’ll never forget it.” – Shaun White on the Opening Ceremony

“Big expectations overall for this team this time around. In terms of an overseas Winter Olympics, this is maybe as good as it gets.” –Terry Gannon on Team USA

“I am grateful that you have brought us all along with you on this journey, so we get to watch you do this. I hope you have a wonderful Olympic Games.” –Taylor Swift in a pre-Ceremony message to the Olympic athletes

Opening Ceremony Primetime Show Begins at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Peacock

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 6, 2026 – NBCUniversal showcased the pageantry of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games from San Siro Stadium in Milan earlier today with its live presentation of the Opening Ceremony.

Veteran sports commentator Mary Carillo, in her 17^th Olympic assignment and 14^th with NBCUniversal, and NBC Sports’ critically acclaimed commentator Terry Gannon hosted the Opening Ceremony. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White joined them to provide commentary during the Parade of Athletes, which saw Olympic athletes march at four different locations: Milan, Livigno, Predazzo, and Cortina. Tonight’s coverage also featured global megastar Snoop Dogg stationed in Cortina, where he interviewed Team USA flag bearer Frank Del Duca and members of the Jamaican bobsledding team.

Britney Eurton (Cortina), Lewis Johnson (Milan), Tina Dixon (Livigno), and Nicole Auerbach (Predazzo) served as on-site reporters. Kathryn Tappen reported from the red carpet in Milan. The pre-ceremony coverage included a welcome message from Taylor Swift to Olympic athletes around the world.

The Opening Ceremony featured performances from two of the most well-known and best-selling singers in the world: Grammy Award-winner Mariah Carey and Italian icon and tenor Andrea Bocelli. Additional performances from actress Sabrina Impacciatore (NBCU’s The Paper) and renowned pianist Lang Lang were also part of the event.

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Following are highlights from today’s live coverage of the Milan Cortina Opening Ceremony on NBC and Peacock:

Taylor Swift’s message to Olympic athletes: “I just wanted to send a message to all the athletes that are competing in the Olympics. I just wanted to say thank you. Getting to learn your stories and see everything that you have sacrificed, all of your determination, hard work, and passion, everything that has gotten you to this point where you are so excellent at something, it’s just really inspiring. I am very grateful for everything you have done to get to this point in your life, and grateful that you have brought us all along with you on this journey, so we get to watch you do this. I hope you have a wonderful Olympic Games. Wishing you all the best of luck and a safe journey, and I hope this is an experience that you will cherish for the rest of your life.”

Gannon on Savannah Guthrie: “This is exactly what it takes for us to bring you the Olympics, a team. And we are certainly without a very important beloved member of our team tonight. Our friend and colleague, Savannah Guthrie, she is dearly missed by everyone here.”

Carillo on Savannah Guthrie: “Right now, Savannah and her family are in unspeakable, unfathomable pain. We know in the U.S. that her extended family is legion. Savannah, my friend, it’s the same way here.”

White on the Parade of Athletes spread across four locations: “I really applaud the Olympics. It’s one of those things where it’d be so unfortunate to miss your first Opening Ceremony, any Opening Ceremony, and the fact that they’ve split it up and given those athletes an opportunity to attend – I think that’s really great.”

Gannon on the historic size of Team USA: “232 athletes competing at the Olympics, the U.S.’s largest team ever in the Winter Olympics. Representing 32 states. Big expectations overall for this team this time around. In terms of an overseas Winter Olympics, this is maybe as good as it gets.”

White on being a part of Team USA at the Olympics: “It’s one of the only places where you really feel part of a team. Snowboarding is such an individual sport. You come out here, and you join Team USA, you run out in the parade, and you’ll never forget it.”

Gannon on Lindsey Vonn’s resiliency after injury: “Talk about playing hurt. She had a training run today. How do you take that physical setback and alchemize it? Turn the pain into purpose? It would only be something like the Olympics that would make someone like Lindsey Vonn, who leads with her chin up anyway.”

White on Lindsey Vonn’s legacy: “She’s a legend in the sport, and she has nothing to prove, but I just love the fact that she’s bringing that intensity to potentially her last Olympics. If anyone can do it, I feel like it’s Lindsey Vonn.”

Carillo on Andrea Bocelli’s performance: “If God would have a singing voice, he must sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli.”

Gannon on Bocelli’s performance: “That moment is something that people will remember for a long time.”

Gannon on Ukrainian athletes while entering the Parade of Athletes: “For the Ukrainian athletes, just to get to this point and make it to the Olympics. There’s scarcely been a day since 2022 in Beijing that Ukraine hasn’t been in the news. Russia invaded four days after the end of those Winter Olympics. Think about what they did at the Paris Olympics. They won 12 medals.”

Carillo on Vladyslav Heraskevych competing for Ukraine: “As for the afflicted athletes competing in these games, the skeleton pilot and Flag Bearer, Vladyslav Heraskevych. In March, he said, ‘I think every one of us has lost some friends at this point. My classmate was killed by a rocket. Every hour, every minute, every alarm, my family is at a big risk.’ Spare a thought for Vladyslav Heraskevych.”

White on two-time Olympic halfpipe gold medalist Chloe Kim’s return from injury: “I spoke with her on the phone, and she’s concerned about what to expect because she knows I have my share of crashes. I told her you’ve just got to stay the course. This Olympics is not like any other Olympics. You can’t compare it to others. You’ve got to take things as they come and push through, and she is doing just that.”

Chloe Kim to Kira K. Dixon on competing in her third Olympics: “It’s really cool to kind of compare the first finals run I did at my first Olympics and now look at what I’m hoping to do at this one. It’s been quite the journey.”

Erin Jackson (Speedskating) to Lewis Johnson on being honored as a Flag Bearer for Team USA: “It was a big surprise, and it was great that we could do it at practice so I could be with my team. No better way to do it… It’s going to be awesome today and we’re going to carry that energy right onto the track.”

Snoop Dogg to Team USA Flag Bearer Frank Del Duca, who is of Italian descent: “So where should I get me some spaghetti and meatballs?”

Del Duca: “You can’t really go wrong here.”

Snoop Dogg: “What about your family?”

Del Duca: “Oh, from me? Frank’s Bar and Grille in Newry (Maine).”

Del Duca on what it means to be a Flag Bearer for Team USA: “It’s been amazing, being here with Team USA. Getting ready to lead them into the Opening Ceremony as a group, it’s been a wonderful experience.”

White on returning to Italy for the Olympics: “I was so thrilled to hear that Italy was taking on this Olympics, just because I had such an incredible time in (in 2006) and I knew this would deliver on that magnitude. To be back here 20 years later is just incredible.”

White on Snoop Dogg bringing energy to the Olympics following his interview with the Jamaican bobsledding team: “I love how he has really adopted the Olympics. He has come in with a little flavor, giving it some more excitement. What a personality.”

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Following are highlights from today’s coverage of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on the platforms of NBCUniversal:

Tracy Wilson on the strength of the U.S. ice dance team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates: “They keep getting better, they bring new material, and they reinvent themselves. Their greatest strength is their lack of weakness. The unison, the detail of their choreography, they’re so tough to beat and they are super consistent.”

U.S. figure skating star Alysa Liu to Andrea Joyce after competing in the pairs short program portion of the team event: “I still did almost cry at the end. I was for real tearing up because you know, I’m back at the Olympics. I never thought that I would be back honestly, so it’s kind of surreal…I am sure the emotions are going to manifest a little bit more later on.”

Tara Lipinski on Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto’s performance during the women’s short program: “She is truly the overall package. The way she moves across the ice is quite in a different league than anyone else.”

Kevin Martin on Team USA’s mixed doubles curling pair of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin: “Cory Thiesse is just putting on a show and Korey Dropkin is making every important shot…There’s just no way you’re going to beat a team playing that well.”

Dropkin to Kira K. Dixon on Snoop Dogg sitting next to his mom in the crowd: “I have no idea [what my mom was saying to Snoop Dogg]. I don’t even know if my mom knows Snoop, but she does now. I just looked over and I saw him smiling at me, and then he put his arm around my mom and I’m like, oh, get out of here. It was really fun to see. And yeah, Snoop said she was telling him all about curling, all the tricks. So, it’s pretty cool to see that.”