The opening ceremonies of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will take place on Friday, 6 February. The celebrations will be held exceptionally across multiple locations at the same time. The main opening ceremony will be staged at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, while athletes and team officials will also take part in accompanying opening events at other competition venues.

Finland’s flag at the opening ceremony will be carried by cross-country skier Krista Pärmäkoski and ice hockey player Mikko Lehtonen. Five-time Olympic medallist Pärmäkoski is delighted by the honour.

– It has been a big dream of mine ever since I was a young athlete to serve as a flag bearer at the Olympic opening ceremony. I didn’t have to think long when I was asked. This is a great honour, and I will proudly carry Finland’s flag. These will be the final major championships of my career, and I feel grateful to have been given this honour.

Pärmäkoski will compete at the Milano Cortina Games in her fifth Olympic Games.

Olympic champion and world champion ice hockey player Mikko Lehtonen also says he greatly appreciates the role of flag bearer.

– Just looking at the names of those who have carried Finland’s flag at previous Games shows what a special honour this is. It’s a great privilege to be chosen, and I am proud to represent Finland at the Olympics. Let’s hope for success for the entire team, Lehtonen says.

For Lehtonen, the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will be the third Olympic Games of his career.

Head of the Finnish Olympic Team and Director of High Performance at the Finnish Olympic Committee, Janne Hänninen, says that this time the flag bearers were chosen from among the more experienced athletes on the team.

– We selected outstanding elite athletes who, through their own example, have shown how dreams can become goals and goals can become reality.

At the opening ceremony, the flag bearers and the rest of the Finnish team will wear Luhta outfits inspired by the nature of Lapland and its unique blue moment.

Competition events at the Winter Olympics will begin even before the opening ceremony. Finnish athletes will start competing on Thursday, 5 February, with the men’s snowboard big air qualification and the women’s ice hockey preliminary round match between Finland and Canada.

Further information:
Head of the Finnish Olympic Team, Janne Hänninen, +358 40 553 3388.