PICS | First medals up for grabs at Winter Olympics

Men’s downhill skiing tops the bill at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday, with the first medals to be handed out hours after the Games officially opened. The opening ceremony culminated in the lighting of two cauldrons, one at Milan’s Arch of Peace and one in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the chic resort 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Milan that is hosting the women’s alpine skiing. Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, two Italian skiing Olympic champions of the past, lit an intricate cauldron inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s knots at Milan’s Arch of Peace.

In the freezing mountain air of Cortina, the duty was performed by Sofia Goggia — an Italian former gold medallist who earlier Friday had taken part in a training run for the women’s downhill event. A number of sports started before the opening ceremony — curling, women’s ice hockey, figure skating and snowboarding. But all eyes will be trained on the blue riband alpine skiing event — the downhill in Bormio, where the top men will do battle.