MILAN (AP) — An unprecedented four-site, dual-cauldron Winter Olympics opening ceremony replete with references to Italian icons and culture — plus American pop diva Mariah Carey — was scheduled to officially start the Milan Cortina Games on Friday as the sports spectacle returns to a nation that last hosted the event 20 years ago.
This is the most spread-out Olympics — Summer or Winter — in history, with competition venues dotting an area of about 8,500 square miles (more than 22,000 square kilometers), roughly the size of the entire state of New Jersey.
The main hub Friday is in Milan at San Siro soccer stadium, which is home to Serie A titans AC Milan and Inter Milan, opened a century ago and is due to be razed and replaced in the next few years. There also will be three other places where athletes can march, some carrying their country's flag: Cortina d'Ampezzo in the heart of the Dolomite mountains; Livigno in the Alps; Predazzo in the autonomous province of Trento.
That allows up-in-the-mountains sports such as Alpine skiing, bobsled, curling and snowboarding to be represented in the Parade of Nations without needing to make the several-hours-long trek to Milan, the country's financial capital, and back.
For good measure, the Feb. 22 closing ceremony will be held in yet another locale, Verona, where Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” was set.
Another symbol of how far-flung things are this time: Instead of the usual one cauldron that is lit and burns throughout the Olympics, there will be two, both intended as an homage to Leonardo da Vinci’s geometric studies. One is in Milan, 2½ miles (4 kilometers) from San Siro, and the other is going to be 250 miles (400 kilometers) away in Cortina.
The people given the honor of lighting both was a closely guarded secret, as is usually the case at any Olympics. At the Turin Winter Games in 2006, it was Italian cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo.
Other links to Italy's heritage scheduled to be a part of Friday's festivities include a performance by tenor Andrea Bocelli; classically trained dancers from the academy of the famed Milan opera house, Teatro alla Scala; a tribute to the late fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died last year at 91. Armani designed the Olympic and Paralympic uniforms for the Italian national team for decades, and was a personal friend of the former president of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malagò.
Plenty more planned for Friday was being kept under wraps by organizers who said they sought to convey themes of harmony and peace, seeking to represent the city-mountain dichotomy of the particularly unusual setup for these Olympics while also trying to appeal to a sense of unity at a time of global tensions.
Another unknown: What sort of reception would greet U.S. Vice President JD Vance when he attended the ceremony in Milan? And what about the American athletes?
When new International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry was asked this week what sort of greeting the U.S. delegation would get when they enter San Siro in the Parade of Nations, she replied: “I hope the opening ceremony is seen by everyone as an opportunity to be respectful.”
Associated Press writer Colleen Barry contributed to this report.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
USA's Matthew Greiner slides down the track during a men's Luge training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Workers drive a golf buggy outside a compound next to the San Siro Stadium during rehearsals for the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, at , in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
United States' Erin Jackson warms up during a speedskating training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
BOURJ HAMMOUD, Lebanon (AP) — Tiny Lebanon sits on one of the largest gold reserves in the Middle East and its government is weighing whether it can use that stockpile to restore a crippled economy while its citizens are looking at gold as a way to protect their battered assets.
Lebanon’s economy hobbled into 2026 with ongoing inflation and state decay and no reforms to combat corruption in sight. Its banks collapsed in late 2019 in a crippling fiscal crisis that evaporated depositors’ savings and plunged about half its population of 6.5 million into poverty, after decades of rampant corruption, waste, and mismanagement. The country suffered some $70 billion in losses in its financial sector, further compounded by about $11 billion in the 2024 war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
The price of gold recently soared to an all-time high of $5,354, before dropping back below $5,000, sparked by geopolitical instability and questions surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to lower interest rates that would ultimately devalue the dollar. Global central banks have been among the most avid buyers. Silver prices meanwhile have also surged due to industrial demand and the attractiveness of a much cheaper price than gold.
The central bank in Beirut has maintained a reserve of 286 tons of gold - some nine million ounces - since the 1960s. Only Saudi Arabia’s central bank holds more in the region.
The government is considering using some of its gold reserves to bail out the banks and pay back depositors who got wiped out. But doing so would not only go against historical precedent, but also violate a 1980s-era law. Meanwhile, those depositors would like to make up some of their losses by buying gold and silver, hoping that prices will bounce back from the downturn of recent days and hit new highs.
At one point the value of Lebanon’s gold reserves reached $50 billion — over double Lebanon’s own GDP. After years of economic crisis, and pushback against meaningful reforms to make the country viable again, some are again raising a sensitive question: Is it finally time to dig into this goldmine?
A senior banking official told The Associated Press that some banks are proposing to dig into the gold reserves to help pay back depositors whose money was lost during the country’s currency crisis, essentially partially bailing out the banks with the country’s only viable public asset. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Lebanon banned the sale of its gold in 1986 in the middle of the country's civil war to protect state assets during a time of extreme instability. The gold reserves have never been touched -- not after 15-year civil war in 1990, and not after multiple wars with Israel.
Some economists have proposed using a small percentage of the gold, in tandem with wholesale reforms, to fix Lebanon’s ailing electricity sector or to breathe life back into the country’s devastated education and healthcare system for the public good.
Parliament would have to vote to allow the use of the gold reserves in any capacity. It’s a largely unpopular move that is not expected to be made anytime soon, especially months before general elections. When gold was brought up in a session last week, Speaker Nabih Berri quickly interjected to shut down the conversation. “Not feasible,” he said sternly.
A draft fiscal gap law that offers a framework of returning some depositors’ losses is languishing in parliament amid a debate over who would absorb the losses: Lebanon’s battered banks, largely reluctant to hold themselves accountable, or an indebted and wasteful state.
Most Lebanese distrust the authorities, who for years have dodged implementing meaningful reforms to fight corruption, reduce waste, and improve public services. Given that track record, many say the gold should remain untouched for future generations.
While authorities debate the future of the country’s gold, many Lebanese depositors who lost most of their savings in the banks are now turning to gold and silver to own something more tangible while hoping it might even make up for some of their losses.
Crowds of people were lined up outside of Lebanon’s key metals trader on the northern outskirts of Beirut on a recent day, desperate to get inside and buy gold and silver coins, medallions, and bars.
They no longer trust the banks and are trying to get by in the middle of a messy cash economy beset with uncontrollable inflation and no meaningful reforms on the horizon.
“For those making up for losses, gold is not a safe haven — it’s the only haven,” said Chris Boghos, the managing director of Boghos SAL Precious Metals. Business is booming, as customers are now paying in advance to get their metal months later due to high demand.
Lebanon has had a troubled history in a volatile region, with numerous conflicts and economic shocks, and little trust that the structural issues will change.
“There has always been this propensity for the Lebanese people to go buy up gold in order to hedge against possible inflation, because this is a country that has seen multiple episodes of hyperinflation during its history,” said Sami Zoughaib, an economist at Beirut-based think tank The Policy Initiative.
Zoughaib says it’s an easy shift as well, given the long-tradition in the region of a groom or his family giving gold jewelry to the bride ahead of marriage as her own wealth, even among lower-income families. That tradition still largely continues even as many women have entered the workforce.
Outside one of Beirut’s gold markets Alia Shehade strolls along some of the storefronts. She says as a woman, her gold jewelry collection has made her feel safe in the middle of the financial crisis, referring to an Arabic saying that translates to “an adornment and treasure.”
“If a woman is in a tough situation ... she can sell her gold. And when gold prices go up, then she’s the winner,” she said. But she refuses to sell any of hers.
When looking at the reluctancy to sell gold among both the citizens and the authorities, Zoughaib said, “I think this just tells us just how important that gold is in the psychology of people."
"They are not even able to imagine a use case for it beyond being a hedge,” he said.
A vendor is seen through the window of a gold shop in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A couple check out pieces of gold at a shop in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Women look at the storefront of a jewelry shop in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People wait in line to buy gold and silver ounces at a gold and silver trader in the Beirut suburb of Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A Lebanese jeweler arranges gold ornaments at his shop's storefront in the Beirut suburb of Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
