The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics closing ceremony.
Another high-octane Winter Olympics has reached its grand finale. On Sunday, from the 2,000-year-old Verona Arena, in Verona, Italy, the closing ceremony will officially mark the conclusion of the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.
Over 17 days, we saw dreams realized, hopes fulfilled and a few disappointments that led to new goals imagined for 2030’s showcase in France. These Olympics will leave a lasting legacy, from Lindsey Vonn to the Quad God, Mikaela Shiffrin’s and Alysa Liu’s redemptive golds, a pair of USA-Canada hockey finals and the agonizing hum of the fast-flying drone cameras.
How to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics closing ceremony
- Venue: Verona Arena — Verona, Italy
- Time: 2:30 p.m. ET, Sunday
- TV: NBC
- Streaming: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
An encore presentation will air at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
The closing ceremony aims to honor the spirit of the Games with a two-and-a-half-hour celebration titled “Beauty in Action.” Italian ballet star Roberto Bolle is among those performing, as are DJ Gabry Ponte, singer Achille Lauro and actress Benedetta Porcaroli.
Before the cauldrons are extinguished in Milan and Cortina, the Olympic flag will be handed over to a representative of the French Alps, the host region for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
NBC’s live broadcast of the closing ceremony will be hosted by Terry Gannon, Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir. Mike Tirico and reporters Andrea Joyce and Lewis Johnson will also contribute.
U.S. audiences will spot flag bearers Hilary Knight and Evan Bates among the crowd at the ceremony. Both come away from these Games having earned hard-fought spots on the podium.
Knight, the face of women’s hockey (and new fiancée of fellow Olympian Brittany Bowe), helped Team USA stave off an upset in the gold-medal game, scoring the tying goal with mere minutes left in regulation. In her final Games, she earned her second gold and fifth Olympic medal overall, and became the United States’ all-time leading goal scorer in Olympic history.
Bates will take home two medals from these Olympics, winning gold in the figure skating team event before securing silver in ice dance alongside partner and spouse Madison Chock. He is the first figure skater since Scott Hamilton in 1980 to be a flag bearer for the U.S.