Torch arrives in Milan to cheers and protests

MILAN -- The Olympic torch arrived in front of Milan's giant gothic cathedral on Thursday amid cheers and protests in the city on the eve of the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Winter Games.

Nicoletta Manni, a leading ballet dancer at the nearby La Scala theater, carried the flame on to a platform in the shadow of the cathedral where it was used to light a brazier.

Most of those packing the Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) in light rain and along the route had cheered the torch's passage and snapped photos with their smartphones. The torch was brought into the square through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele arcade.

A small group of demonstrators flew Palestinian flags on the edge of the square in solidarity with the citizens of Gaza. There were also pro-Palestinian protests near the city's university earlier in the evening.

Israel has a group of 10 athletes competing at the Games.

On Thursday morning, environmental group Greenpeace staged a protest in front of the cathedral, protesting the role of Italian oil major Eni ENI.MI as a sponsor of these Games.

An installation depicted the Olympic rings dripping black oil, a visual denunciation of companies it accuses of contributing to global warming and threatening winter sports dependent on cold conditions.

"Kick polluters out of the Games," read one of the banners.

In a statement, Eni said it "shares the importance of addressing climate change" and would continue investing in the energy transition as part of its plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The flame began its journey across Italy in December after being lit in Rome and has traveled through all 110 Italian provinces. It called in on Games co-host Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites last month.

The Games are due to open officially on Friday evening, with an opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro soccer stadium, twinned with a celebration in Cortina.

Italian Olympic ski champions Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni will have the honor of lighting the cauldrons for the Games on Friday, Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Wednesday.

--Reuters, special to Field Level Media