At the opening ceremony of the 206 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, a parade of athletes took place, which is always one of the most popular parts of the show. Ukraine, which brought the 20th largest delegation to Italy - 46 athletes, came out at the end, but attracted attention with the brightness of its uniform.

At the San Siro, the Ukrainian flag was carried by Olympic debutante, short track speed skating representative Elizaveta Sidorko.

" I said that it’s unlikely, because there are biathletes, skeletonists, skiers, about whom Ukrainians have at least heard something. I am sure that he is proud of me and the fact that I am participating in the Olympic Games, and now also that I will carry the Ukrainian flag in my hands,” said NOC Sidyorko, whose father serves in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

And in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the blue and yellow flag proudly fluttered in the rivers of the first skeleton athlete of Ukraine Vladislav Geraskevich, for whom this is the third Olympics, and after fourth place at the 2025 World Championships, the Kiev resident is ready to fight for the highest positions.

" And since childhood I could not even imagine that I would one day be at the Olympic Games, when I watched them on TV, it was difficult to imagine that I would be here. And imagine that I will be a standard bearer at the adult Olympics. A dream that will happen live in a few hours,” Geraskevich was delighted in a comment to “Suspilny”.

True, on the eve of the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) once again demonstrated loyalty to the aggressor when it demanded that the leader of our skeleton team, Vladislav Geraskevich, not organize protests against the war in Ukraine and the Russians during the 2026 Olympics. And if he doesn’t listen, disciplinary sanctions may be applied against the 27-year-old Kiev resident.

Let us recall that at the 2022 Games in Beijing, Vladislav called for preventing Russia from invading Ukraine. That action of our athlete caused real hysteria in the State Duma.

Let us note that this year the opening ceremony will take place not only in Milan and Cortina, but also in the Livigno and Predazzo clusters, where athletes will march with signs of the names of countries. Ukraine will be represented there by a participant in five Olympics, snowboarder Annamarie Dancha and the country's record holder, ski jumper Evgeniy Marusyak.