'Magical' Italian Games close with celebration in ancient Verona Arena

Highlights:

• Cauldrons extinguished in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo
• Games hailed a success by IOC President Kirsty Coventry
• Italy hands over to France, next Winter Games host in 2030
• Small anti-Games protest held in Verona before ceremony

Italy said a fond farewell to the Winter Olympics on Sunday with an open-air ceremony in the ancient Verona Arena that celebrated art and sporting achievement at a Games lauded as a model for how to stage such events.

The Games, formally co-hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, have been spread across a large area of northern Italy and passed off smoothly, with Italy also bagging a record haul of 30 medals.

The baton now passes to the French Alps, which are expected to follow a similar blueprint of using multiple existing winter sports venues in 2030 to reduce the environmental impact.

"Grazie Italia per questi Giochi magici! (Thank you Italy, for these magical Games)," said International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry.

"You delivered a new kind of Winter Games and you set a very high standard for the future," added Coventry, overseeing her first Olympics.

The next Summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles in two years' time when the IOC will seek to develop a new business model and its efforts to separate sport and politics are likely to face a daunting challenge.

Meloni praises Italian achievements

The closing ceremony was entitled "Beauty in Action" and featured leading Italian ballet dancer Roberto Bolle who performed an aerial routine, as well as a tribute to opera and dance music from DJ/producer Gabry Ponte.

"The Olympics have given us unforgettable emotions and a sense of pride that will remain with Italy for a long time to come," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X, adding that the organisation had "brought prestige to the entire nation".

Meloni was among the crowd in the Roman amphitheatre renowned for staging opera and pop concerts in the heart of the northern Italian city made famous as the setting for William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet".

Security was tight around the 2,000-year-old Arena, in the heart of Verona, with barriers set up to limit access and a helicopter circling overhead. Some tourists were surprised to find access to the main Piazza Bra restricted.

Hundreds of people marched through Verona a few hours before the Olympics closing ceremony to protest against housing costs and environmental concerns linked to the Winter Games.

The "Olympics? No thanks" rally was organised by university groups and associations that oppose hosting an event they say disrupts forests, pours concrete onto fragile land and deepens social inequality.

Athletes let their hair down

However, with the Olympic medals won and lost, the tone of the closing ceremony in the Arena was relaxed and free-wheeling.

Tickets were priced from 950 euros ($1,120) to a top level of 2,900 euros. Many of the athletes were in attendance but some seats appeared to remain empty on a chilly but clear evening.

Damiano Tommasi, mayor of Verona, and a former Hellas Verona and AS Roma soccer player, said staging the ceremony in such a historic location was "something unprecedented in Olympic history".

"Personally, it motivates me to work towards planning a bid for the Summer Games in Italy, which have been missing for far too long," he added.

Rome hosted the Olympics in 1960 and the Italian capital dropped a bid for the 2024 Games which were held in Paris.