South Korea will march into the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan as the 22nd nation. The organizing committee unveiled the parade order on Thursday, positioning the country right after Colombia and before Croatia.
The Milan-Cortina Olympics organizing committee unveiled the parade order on Thursday for the opening ceremony set for the following day at Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium in northern Italy. By tradition, Greece will enter first as the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games, with host nation Italy closing the procession. France, set to host the next Winter Games in 2030, will be the penultimate entrant, and the remaining countries will follow in the alphabetical order of the host nation's language, Italian.
South Korea's official Italian name is "Repubblica di Corea," but it will proceed as "Corea" during the ceremony, immediately after Colombia and ahead of Croatia. The delegation will be led by co-flag bearers figure skater Cha Jun-hwan and short track speed skater Park Ji-woo. South Korea is sending 71 athletes across six sports, aiming to secure at least three gold medals—one more than the two won at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
"It's such a huge honor. I am very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this," Cha told reporters after a practice session at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Thursday. This marks Cha's third Olympics, though he missed the opening ceremonies at his previous two. "I want to feed off the positive energy of the opening ceremony," he added.
Preliminary mixed doubles curling action began on Wednesday, with more curling matches and the figure skating team event slated for Friday ahead of the ceremony. The first Winter Olympics in Italy in 20 years will wrap up on February 22.
