About 2,900 athletes from 92 national Olympic committees competed for 166 gold medals across eight sports. The Games ended with the closing ceremony held in Italy’s Verona Arena on Feb. 23 (Korea time).
The event marked several firsts: Italy hosted the Winter Games for the first time in 20 years, and it was the first Olympics whose official name included two place names. With Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo about 400 kilometers (250 miles) apart, organizers operated four clusters and six athletes’ villages. The parade of athletes and the lighting of the cauldron were also staged simultaneously in two locations for the first time.
Verona, the site of the closing ceremony, is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Milan, where the opening ceremony, skating events and ice hockey were held. No competitions were staged in Verona. The 80,000-seat Verona Arena is an amphitheater completed in A.D. 30 during the Roman Empire, once used for gladiator contests and animal hunts. It will also host the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics, which begin March 6.
The closing ceremony opened with the story of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “La Traviata,” followed by a performance featuring characters from famous operas on a giant chandelier set. The Olympic flame arrived at the arena after being carried by former members of Italy’s team that won cross-country skiing gold at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, then was moved to a structure shaped like the Olympic rings.
South Korea sent 130 people, including 71 athletes, and finished 13th with three gold, four silver and three bronze medals. The team fell short of its top-10 goal but improved one place from the 2022 Beijing Games, where it placed 14th.
After a welcome performance for athletes, medals were presented for the women’s cross-country 50-kilometer mass start held on the final day. Sweden’s Ebba Andersson, who won in 2:16:28.2, received her gold medal at the closing ceremony.
South Korean bobsledder Won Yun-jong, elected to the International Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission, also appeared on the ceremony stage. He won the athletes’ vote among 11 candidates on Feb. 19. He spread his arms and pumped his fists, thanking athletes for their support, then presented bouquets to representatives of the Games’ volunteers before leaving the stage.
With attention turning to the next Games in four years, the two flames that lit Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo were gradually extinguished, bringing the 17-day competition to a close.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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