Closing Ceremony Olympics 2026: Bolle, U.S. Flagbearers and Fireworks Cap Games in Verona
The closing ceremony olympics 2026 unfolded in Verona on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, bringing performers, athletes and a carried Olympic flame to the Verona Arena. The sequence of arrivals, parades and performances culminated in a fireworks display over the city.
Closing Ceremony Olympics 2026 at Verona Arena
People arrived at the Verona Arena where the ceremony took place on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. The assembled crowd saw a series of staged performances and athlete parades staged inside the historic venue, and the evening’s program concluded with fireworks lighting up the sky above Verona.
Roberto Bolle performs onstage
Italian dancer Roberto Bolle performed during the ceremony, joining a roster of artists and performers who took the stage that night. An artist and several groups of artists and performers were shown in multiple moments of the program, contributing to a program that mixed individual acts and ensemble passages.
Hilary Knight and Evan Bates carry the U. S. flag
United States’ Hilary Knight and Evan Bates carried the U. S. flag during the parade of athletes. U. S. athletes paraded through the arena as part of the ceremony, a visible sign of the delegation’s presence alongside peers from other nations.
Athletes from Germany and the United States attend
Athletes from Germany attended the closing events, and athletes from the United States were present and photographed during the proceedings. The parades of competing nations were interwoven with performances, creating repeated moments in which athletes and artists shared the arena floor.
The Olympic flame and the fireworks display
The Olympic flame was carried during the ceremony, and fireworks lit up the night sky over Verona later in the program. Because the flame was carried through the arena and performers followed on stage, the sequence reinforced the ceremonial arc from athletic competition to artistic send-off, ending with a visual fireworks finale.
Photographers credited in images of the evening include Ashley Landis, Antonio Calanni, Natacha Pisarenko, Bernat Armangue and Francisco Seco. Their photos document people arriving at the Verona Arena, performers participating, an artist on stage, the carried Olympic flame, United States’ athletes parading and the fireworks that closed the night.
What makes this notable is the blending of athletic pageantry and staged performance in a single venue: athletes from multiple countries paraded in a setting where established artists, including Roberto Bolle, and ensembles performed, and the ceremony moved from arrival to parade to spectacle in a compact timeline on Feb. 22, 2026. The timing matters because the program moved from procession to performance to a fireworks close within the same evening, creating a clear progression that framed the end of the Games.
The closing ceremony olympics 2026 in Verona therefore presented a sequence of measurable elements — arrivals at the Verona Arena, the carrying of the Olympic flame, named flagbearers for the United States and a concluding fireworks display on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 — that together marked the formal end of the event.
