VERONA, Italy -- Italian President Sergio Mattarella declared the Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games open here on Friday evening.

Themed "Life in Motion," the opening ceremony was held in the 2,000-year-old Verona Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The event highlighted contemporary art, including video design, music and choreography.

This edition marks 50 years since the Winter Paralympics made its debut in 1976, and the first time it has returned to Italy since Turin 2006.

As the first-ever dispersed Winter Paralympics in history, the athletes' parade was also presented in a dispersed format, with live-streaming showing athletes attending the event in other competition clusters such as Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Five countries, namely El Salvador, Haiti, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Portugal, are making their Winter Paralympic debuts, and a record 160 female athletes will take part.

China has sent 70 athletes to compete in 71 events across six sports, marking the country's largest overseas Winter Paralympic delegation and its widest participation in events.

Giovanni Malago, president of the Milan-Cortina 2026 organizing committee, welcomed the athletes in his speech, saying that the Games is taking place "in a deeply divided world."

"For this very reason, the message of peace, inclusion and solidarity at the heart of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement is more meaningful and more important than ever," he noted.

"From humble beginnings to a global platform showcasing human endeavor and achievement, today the Paralympic Games are the most transformational sports event on earth," said International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons.

Parsons said the Paralympians will remind the world that disability is not itself a limitation, but an incredible dimension of human diversity that inspires people everywhere, whether in the venues or watching at home.

After Mattarella officially opened the Games, the ceremony presented a modern dance inspired by William Shakespeare's renowned "Romeo and Juliet," which was set in Verona and made it the "City of Love." The performance, incorporating demanding aerial choreography, told a story of love overcoming difference and turning conflict into embrace.

The lighting of the cauldron also followed a dispersed concept. Two torchbearers lit flames in Milan's Arco della Pace and Piazza Angelo Dibona in Cortina d'Ampezzo simultaneously, which was shown live on the broadcast screen. In the Verona Arena, the flame was relayed to the stage, "igniting" a towering installation of light and micro-elements that turned the entire arena into a giant Paralympic cauldron.

The braziers will remain lit throughout the Games and will be extinguished on March 15 during the closing ceremony in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics features 79 events across six sports - Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon, Para cross-country skiing, Para ice hockey, Para snowboard and wheelchair curling.