Get the latest information on the Winter Olympics 2026 opening ceremony, including who is set to perform, when it’s taking place, timing, how to watch and more.

The performance in Milan looked squarely at the past, both in substance and in style.

Three giant-headed figures danced at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Here's who they represented. (AP photo)

Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance were spotted at the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday night in Milan, Italy.

Marco Balich has helped design grand spectacles at more than half a dozen Olympics. On Friday, he’ll do it again, on home turf in Italy.

The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off with an opening ceremony on Friday that averaged 21.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

Young skaters in Billings brought the spirit of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina to their home rink.

In the last Olympics, the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, the U.S. went second-to-last as athletes paraded down the Seine River. The logic there was similar: Los Angeles is hosting the next summer Olympics in 2028.

Caleb Furnell, who attended Lee's Summit West High School, took the Opening Ceremony stage with Team USA as his mother and his former track and field coach watched proudly from Lee's Summit.

USA TODAY Sports tracked live scoring updates and highlights from Canada vs. France in the 2026 Olympics men's hockey game.