Be Inspired: The Magic of the Games Lights Milano

A lights, music and sport show was held at Allianz Cloud with athletes and ambassadors before thousands of fans, partners and stakeholders.

Beauty, Passion, Change, without ever forgetting that we can only win Together. Four key words to represent how sport inspires millions of people every day. With ‘Be Inspired’, Milano Cortina 2026 brought a pinch of the magic to Milan that we will experience with the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. A show of lights, music and sport was staged in front of thousands of people who filled the Allianz Cloud. A way to give the city, sports fans, partners and stakeholders present and those who experienced the event through the digital story on @milanocortina2026's social channels, the emotions of the Olympics and Paralympics, one more step towards Milano Cortina 2026.

Be Inspired, was born from a creative idea of the Events Team of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, which involved Creative Director Marco Boarino, with executive production by Guido Bagatta and Paolo Boccotti and the participation of Giulia Mancini as Advisor. The show was the final moment of "Meet Milano Cortina 2026", a two-day event in which the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 meets partners and stakeholders every year to discuss and talk about projects and initiatives on the road to the Games.

Be Inspired by Beauty, Passion, Change, Together 

The "Be Inspired" event was structured in four acts and saw the participation of athletes from today and yesterday. The four chapters of the event, respectively called Beauty, Passion, Change, Together, will represent the path towards the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Milano Cortina 2026. For 90 minutes, on an ice rink that served as a stage, a show was staged in the name of beauty, passion, change and being together. The stage as a canvas, the voices and faces of the athletes as brushes and colours, in a mix of elements that will draw magnificent sporting stories.

‘Be Inspired's’ athletes and great guests

Two wheelchair curling athletes, Giuliana Turra and Emanuele Spelorzi started ‘Be Inspired’. A stone thrown on the ice started the show. Many athletes were involved, both from winter and summer sports. Among them, the Italian skaters Matteo Rizzo, Lara Naki Guttmann, Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini, Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise, Giorgia Galimberti and Matteo Mandelli. There were also the athletes from the Italian Short Track National Team and biathlete Nicole Gontier. Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini, Olympic Rowing Champions joined in, as did the Olympic Karate Champion Luigi Busà. Also participating in Be Inspired were Milano Cortina 2026 Ambassadors Bebe Vio, who inspired the audience with a monologue on the power of Inspiration in sport and life, and Carolina Kostner with a video projected on ice that recounted how skating has changed her life since she was a child.

A show that tells the story of the Italian spirit

The initiative, curated by creative director Marco Boarino, recounted all the magic of the Italian Spirit: vibrant, dynamic and contemporary. Ice and snow and the other natural elements of the Winter Games will come alive, transforming themselves into matter and scenic action, thanks to a multidisciplinary, immersive and three-dimensional creative approach. The narration of the evening will be enriched by live music specific to the various clusters, audio montages that will introduce the performances on the ice, visuals and kinetic spheres with ad hoc programming and audiovisual content. Among these are video contributions from the Short Track Champion Arianna Fontana and the Paralympic Alpine Ski Champion Renè de Silvestro.

The Creative Team 

A leading creative team for the event organised by Milano Cortina 2026 which, together with the artistic director and director Marco Boarino, sees the involvement of Guido Bagatta and Paolo Boccotti (Executive Producers), Giulia Mancini (Advisor), Davide Tappero Merlo (Author), Lorenzo Zambelli Hosmer (Creative Manager & Artistic Producer), Andrea Minetto (Project Consultant), Mamakass (Music), Diana De Paolis (Show & Visual Designer), Massimo Furlanetto (3D Artist & Visual Motion Designer), Alessio De Simone (Lighting & Kinetics), Laurent Tobel (Choreographer) and Sara Fanucci (Showcaller).

Exploring the concept of Inspiration, Be Inspired recounted the Olympic and Paralympic values and the elements of an Italian Spirit far from rhetoric. One more step towards Milano Cortina 2026.