Kingsbury, Thompson carry Canadian flag as Milan Cortina Olympics open across Italy

MILAN — Two freestyle skiers carried the flag and led the way for hundreds of Team Canada athletes Friday as the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics officially opened with a multi-site ceremony spread across northern Italy.

Moguls skier Mikaël Kingsbury, of Deux-Montagnes, Que., and ski cross racer Marielle Thompson, of Whistler, B.C., both Olympic gold-medallists, carried the Canadian flag in Livigno.

About 2,900 athletes from more than 90 countries are competing in this year’s Winter Games, including 206 Team Canada athletes.

Thompson said carrying the Canadian flag is “quite a responsibility” and said she felt honoured to share it with Kingsbury, calling him “an icon in Canada.”

“It’s really special to have two freestyle skiers holding the flag for Canada. I hope to do it justice,” said Thompson. “To see so many different sports all together as one team is spectacular. I’m really excited to be a part of it.”

It was an unusual opening ceremony, reflecting the most spread-out Olympics ever, with the main event in Milan and additional ceremonies and athlete parades in Predazzo, Livigno and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

This year’s opening ceremony is the first in Olympic history to feature a cauldron lit in two separate cities.

The ceremony saw musician Laura Pausini sing the Italian national anthem as the flag was raised simultaneously in Milan’s San Siro stadium and Cortina’s Piazza Dibona. That followed a tribute to the late Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani and a performance by American pop star Mariah Carey, who sang the 1958 Italian song “Nel blu, dipinto di blu.”

Canada’s women’s hockey team is staring at another disrupted start to the Olympics, with Switzerland isolating a day before its scheduled Saturday game against Canada after a positive norovirus test.

The Swiss Olympic Committee said a player tested positive for the stomach illness, prompting the entire team to enter isolation and skip Friday’s opening ceremony. The test came after Switzerland beat the Czech Republic 4-3 in a shootout earlier in the day.

Canada’s tournament was already delayed earlier this week when Thursday’s opening game against Finland was postponed after a norovirus outbreak sidelined much of the Finnish roster.

In other pre-ceremony competition Friday, Canada was fifth in the figure skating team event in Milan. Ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier scored a season-high 85.79 points in their rhythm dance to ‘Supermodel’ by RuPaul at Milano Ice Skating Arena, but were fourth.

Trennt Michaud and Lia Pereira — skating in place of former world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps — placed fourth in the pairs short program, while Madeline Schizas finished sixth in women’s singles for a total of 19 points in the standings.

The United States, led by three-time world ice dance champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates, topped the standings with 25 points, followed by Japan with 23 and Italy with 22.

“What’s so special about the team event is that everybody has a really important role,” Poirier said. “We had the pleasure of being in the team event last time, and we’re proud of the skate we put out today. We posted a very solid score, and we’ll be in a good placement for the ice dance.”

In Cortina, the Canadian mixed doubles curling team of Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman dropped a 7-5 decision to the American duo of Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse on Friday morning.

Dropkin made a double-takeout and stuck his shooter to set up a three-point seventh end that broke a 4-4 tie.

Canada was unable to generate any scoring opportunities in the eighth end and settled for a single, falling to 3-1 in round-robin play. The Americans improved to 3-0.

“We just didn’t really get a jump on the ice, and we were just on the heavy side on a few shots,” Gallant said.

Canada will face Britain and Estonia on Saturday. Britain’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds lead the standings at 5-0.

Canadian alpine skiers took part in downhill training, with the women in Cortina d’Ampezzo at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre and the men on the Stelvio Ski Centre course in Bormio.

Toronto’s James (Jack) Crawford was fastest in 1:54.95, while fellow Canadian Jeffrey Read of Canmore, Alta., was eighth at 1:58.01 heading into Saturday’s men’s race.

“It’s a crazy hill. Anything can happen,” Read said of the challenging Stelvio course. “I had a good first training run (Thursday). I was 10th there, so that brought some inspiration. Top 15 is the goal for me, as I’m back in the top 30 (starters) for tomorrow.

“But it’s one of those races where you don’t shy away from the medals. You’ve got to shoot your shot and give yourself a chance, and you never know what might happen.”

Only 22 of the 44 racers recorded a time, with Crawford one of the few racers who put in a full run. Some skipped the final run entirely, including Cameron Alexander of North Vancouver, B.C.

American Jacqueline Wiles led women’s downhill training in 1:38.94. Valérie Grenier of St-Isidore, Ont., was the top Canadian, finishing 14th in 1:40.83.

The women are scheduled for another training run Saturday ahead of Sunday’s final.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2026.