MILAN/CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Italy launched the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday with a slick and colorful ceremony that celebrated the country’s history, arts and fashion but where global political tensions surfaced in the crowd reaction.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella formally declared the Games open at the main event in Milan’s San Siro stadium as part of an unprecedented show that also linked to celebrations in co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo, more than 250 miles away in the Dolomites.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were among the crowd in the iconic soccer stadium for the performance entitled “Armonia” (Harmony) that lasted three and a half hours.

Vance, who has been strongly critical of Europe, drew jeers in the stadium when an image of him waving the U.S. flag appeared on a big screen.

The announcement of the Israeli team prompted some booing in Milan over the loud soundtrack, but there were cheers in Cortina. Israel has a team of 10 in Italy.

The group of five athletes from Ukraine in Milan drew huge cheers.

TWIN CAULDRONS LIT IN MILAN AND CORTINA

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said the Games should bring people together.

“Let these Games be a celebration of what unites us — of everything that makes us human,” Coventry said.

“This is the magic of the Olympic Games: inspiring us all to be the best that we can be — together,” she added.

For the first time, two Olympic cauldrons, one of the symbols of the Games, were lit simultaneously and will burn throughout — one at Milan’s Arco della Pace (Peace Arch) and the other in Cortina’s Piazza Dibona.

Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, two of Italy’s most successful Alpine skiers who both won three Olympic gold medals, lit the cauldron at the 19th century Milan monument.

Sofia Goggia, one of Italy’s top medal hopes for these Games, did the honors in Cortina. She became the first Italian woman to win an Olympic downhill gold at the 2018 edition.

MARIAH CAREY GOT THE PARTY STARTED

U.S. pop diva Mariah Carey had gotten the party started in a unique opening ceremony combining elements from the co-hosts, seeking to reflect both city and mountain life.

Carey performed the 1950s Italian song “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” (“In the blue, painted in blue”) with its famous “Volare” (“To fly”) refrain to cheers in the stadium.

Mattarella had been introduced to the fans via a recorded video clip in which the 84-year-old was seen traveling through the city on one of Milan’s historic trams.

The show also included a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who made Milan his base and died last September.

The ceremony celebrated the diversity of Italian life, from fashionable Milan to the smaller mountain towns in the Alps that host the outdoor events at the Games, which run until Feb. 22.

Athletes also paraded in the mountain venues of Livigno and Predazzo, in a Games spread over 22,000 square kilometers.

INITIAL CONFUSION IN CORTINA

There was some initial confusion over access in Cortina.

Loredana Vido, from Padova, owner of a second home in Cortina, was blocked at the start of Corso Italia, the town’s main street, and said: “We were not told that everything would be closed off. We were told it was free entry.”

But some competitors in Cortina were pleased to get a slice of the action without having to trek to Milan, and they mixed with one another after their parades.

“Do I wish I was at the full one? Kind of. Am I happy I don’t have to spend 10 hours on a bus that day? Yes,” said Austin Florian, part of the U.S. skeleton team.

In the outdoor event in Livigno, at the foot of the snowboard and freeski runs, a thin crowd of locals and tourists gathered to watch the main ceremony in Milan on screens, as athletes in the small Alpine town walked in the snow, in sync with delegations at the San Siro.

PROTESTS IN MILAN

A series of protests took place on Friday, with more planned over the weekend, in the Italian financial capital to oppose the presence of analysts from a department that falls under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Italy’s government has said the controversy is unfounded, with ICE personnel not on the streets during the Olympics and only operatives from its Homeland Security Investigations in Italy working out of U.S. diplomatic missions.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has also said no agents from ICE were providing security for Team USA.

More local issues such as the closure of schools and streets in the city have also irked some Milanese.

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

The Orlando Magic took a step forward in their first of four consecutive home games against opponents with losing records.

After cruising to a wire-to-wire win Thursday, Orlando will look to author another dominating performance against a sub-.500 team Saturday when the struggling Utah Jazz pay a visit.

Desmond Bane scored 23 points, Paolo Banchero had 22 and Jalen Suggs recorded his first career triple-double in the Magic’s convincing 118-98 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Suggs finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to go along with a career-high four blocks and three steals.

“To be honest, I don’t even get into individual accomplishments and stuff like that,” Suggs said, per the Orlando Sentinel.

Said Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley of Suggs: “He was great tonight. His energy, his poise, his focus on the defensive end … It was beautiful basketball.”

So beautiful, in fact, that Suggs played a significant role in Orlando amassing a comfortable 23-point lead in the third quarter. The team put it on cruise control from there and snapped its minor two-game losing streak.

“I thought they did a great job of starting the game off holding them to 19 points in the first quarter, knowing that we set the tone with our defense and that’s what these guys did,” Mosley said. “There was a seriousness to them, a level of focus knowing what we needed to do because we’ve been with this team before and we’ve had big leads and we’ve given them away.”

The Magic, who will also host the underachieving Milwaukee Bucks on both Monday and Wednesday, shot 53.7% from the floor and enjoyed a 64-40 edge in points in the paint.

Bane capped a 32-point performance by making a layup with 0.9 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Orlando to a 128-127 victory the last time the Magic played Utah on Dec. 20.

Banchero collected 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in that game, and Anthony Black added 20, six and five, respectively.

Keyonte George, who recorded 27 points in that game for the Jazz, sat out his third consecutive contest Thursday with a left ankle sprain. He’s listed as questionable for the Orlando game.

Utah also played without recent trade acquisition Jaren Jackson Jr., who has yet to arrive from the Memphis Grizzlies.

The end result for the undermanned Jazz was their 17th loss in 21 games, courtesy of a 121-119 decision to the Atlanta Hawks.

Isaiah Collier followed up his 17-point, career-best 22-assist performance in Tuesday’s 131-122 win over the Indiana Pacers with a career-high 25 points and 11 assists versus the Hawks. He logged 48 minutes in both games.

“I’ve talked a lot about him playing off two feet, I think it’s allowed his decision making to be a lot cleaner,” Will Hardy said of Collier, per the Salt Lake Tribune. “Getting all the way to the rim in the half court in the NBA is hard to do. His decision-making has really improved since he started playing off two feet in the paint more. I also think that his general understanding of our team, our offense, where his moments are to be aggressive has improved as well.”

Hardy said he’s hopeful Jackson and the other players acquired in the deal will make their team debuts in Saturday’s game.

–Field Level Media

Both Georgia and LSU have a lot of catching up to do as they begin the second half of the Southeastern Conference season against each other Saturday in Baton Rouge, La.

The Bulldogs (16-6, 4-5 SEC) have fallen to 11th in the conference after losing three straight games. The Tigers (14-8, 2-7) are in 14th place, but they got a win in their last game, beating South Carolina 92-87 in overtime on Jan. 31.

Georgia hopes to end its losing streak just as LSU ended a three-game skid when it beat the Gamecocks.

“Our guys are resilient,” Bulldogs head coach Mike White said. “We’ve got to clean up details, but this team really works. We’ll accept messages, we’ll learn from the film, we’ll have good practices.”

White is looking for his team to start better than they did in the last game. Georgia fell behind by as many as 20 points in the first half and lost to visiting Texas A&M 92-77. White called it “the worst start we’ve gotten off to in a long, long time.”

The Bulldogs shot 7 of 28 on 3-pointers, but guard Blue Cain didn’t dwell on just the outside shooting.

“We have a bunch of issues we have to address besides that,” he said.

LSU got off to a much better start than Georgia did in its last game, leading for all but 26 seconds in the first half, eventually prevailing in the extra period.

“We were ready to go from the opening jump,” head coach Matt McMahon said, adding that the Tigers “responded the right way” to “the poor performance” in an 80-66 home loss to Mississippi State three days earlier.

LSU managed without starting point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., who has been in and out of the lineup due to a lower leg injury. The week off between games could give him time to return against Georgia, though his replacement, Rashad King, played well against South Carolina, and the Tigers finished with 23 assists on 31 baskets.

“I loved our unselfishness,” McMahon said. “I thought the ball moved. That’s how we need to play moving forward.”

–Field Level Media