Guido Meda moved for Valentino Rossi: "He made me great"

Even Guido Meda was extasted in front of the TV during the Opening Ceremony of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, with the “his” Valentino Rossi driver of the streetcar that brought President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella to San Siro really moving him: “Perhaps the passing of time has an effect on the sensitivity of those who undergo it but I was really literally moved”.

Andrea Gussoni

“On an Olympic, elegant and special evening I saw again my past, the past of my best years – wrote on Facebook in the night – the one in which for work I followed the two legends, Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, who lit the brazier tonight. Today they are dear friends. And then the more recent and incredible past of Valentino Rossi (tagged, ed.) who made me great by telling and walking beside him. And let’s also add the powerful sobriety of President Mattarella who lent himself. These are the Olympics in my city, Milan, and outside of it in the most beautiful mountains we have. The race, mine too, continues. Happy Olympics and good luck to all. To those who compete and to those who work”.

Sofia Goggia in Cortina, Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni in Milan: the three blue legends of Alpine skiing had the honor of receiving, last, the Olympic flashlights designated to light the braziers placed in the two venues of the 25th Winter Games. The ceremony ended at around 11:30 p.m. and, as is tradition, the lighting of the braziers was scheduled at the conclusion of a long evening marked by the presence of many guests, even those far from the world of sports.

The ceremony was held at the end of the day.

After the official opening by President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, the Milan Cortina 2026 opening ceremony experienced the symbolic moment of the arrival of the Olympic torches while Andrea Bocelli sang Nessun Dorma: the Olympic flame passed into the hands of two icons of Italian soccer, Giuseppe Bergomi and Franco Baresi, who then handed it over to Anna Danesi, captain of the national volleyball team gold at Paris 2024, along with Paola Egonu and Carlotta Cambi, protagonists of the winning cycle that culminated in the 2025 World Cup.

The flame continued its journey in the hands of other great champions: in Milan it was received by Enrico Fabris, gold medalist in speed skating in Turin 2006, while in Cortina Gustav Thöni passed it to Sofia Goggia, Olympic champion in 2018. It was Goggia herself who was the last torchbearer in the Dolomite city, while in Milan the honor went to Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni.