The torches for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics were unveiled Monday in a synchronized showcase across Milan and Osaka, marking a milestone in the countdown to the Milan-Cortina Games.
Unveiled for the first time at Milan’s Triennale art and design museum and the Italian pavilion at Japan’s World Expo, the sleek torches – crafted from recycled aluminum – were designed by Carlo Ratti Associati, a Turin-based studio.
In Milan, Olympic cross-country skiing champion Stefania Belmondo and two-time Paralympic wheelchair fencing gold medalist Beatrice Vio had the honor of presenting the torches.
Paralympic champion Martina Caironi and Carolina Kostner, a figure skating bronze medalist at the 2014 Sochi Games, were in Osaka.
Weighing 1,060 grams and made in Italy, the Olympic torch is light blue while the Paralympic torch is bronze. The design allows both to be reused and refilled up to 10 times.
The torch’s burner will run on bio-LPG, a renewable liquid gas made mainly from waste – such as used cooking oil and animal fats – and its flute-like shape is designed to both highlight the flame and keep it away from the athletes.
Vio joked with the audience that the torches used for last year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris “practically went in my face.”
“Thanks for being concerned about people’s faces!” she said.
As per tradition, the Olympic torch will be lit at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece, on Nov. 26 before being taken to Athens for the handover ceremony, scheduled for Dec. 4.
The flame will begin its journey around Italy in Rome two days later, snaking across the country until it arrives in Milan on Feb. 5 – one day before the opening ceremony in the Mediterranean nation’s economic capital.
The opening ceremony will be held at the iconic San Siro stadium, which usually hosts matches for Italian soccer giants Inter Milan and AC Milan.
After the official kickoff, the Games will take place across a vast area of northern Italy stretching from Milan to the ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, near the border with Austria.