As the Milan Cortina Games get underway, locals are getting together across the D.C. region to celebrate what The Games have in store.
The Olympic opening ceremony for the Milan Cortina Games is over and the torches in the Arco della Pace in Milan and the Piazza Angelo Dibona in Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo are lit.
Athletes from around the world will be competing for 195 medals across 16 different disciplines, including ski mountaineering, which makes its debut this year.
While the opening ceremony aired on a tape delay on local broadcaster NBC4, some around the D.C. region couldn’t wait and headed over to watch it live Friday afternoon at The Midlands Beer Garden on Georgia Avenue for a viewing party.
Gabrielle Cascio traveled in from Baltimore to join friends for the watch party.
“I’m sure not all of us engage with a lot of these sports on the day to day,” Cascio told WTOP. “It’s just like something fun and new to get obsessed with.”
Some were dressed for the festive event, including Katie Kula, who was wearing a sweatshirt from the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
“This is a bright spot of patriotism in an otherwise maybe difficult time to be patriotic,” Kula said.
A lot of viewers at the D.C. sports bar were excited for both the men’s and women’s hockey, along with figure skating.
For Scott Benson, his focus is on Ilia Malinin, the 21-year-old figure skater from Northern Virginia who is popularly known as the “Quad God.”
The two-time consecutive world champion is the only skater to land a quadruple axel in competition.
Benson said it’s easy to explain why the Winter Games are so popular. “We can all run around a track, but, we can’t all jump off this, like, 100-foot ski jump,” he said.
For those looking to watch coverage of The Games, viewing parties are being hosted throughout the D.C. area. Some establishments include Buddy’s in Columbia Heights, Shaw’s Tavern on Florida Avenue and Pitchers in Adams Morgan.
Olympics coverage will also be aired on massive 360-degree TVs at the National Harbor and Navy Yard locations of Tom’s Watch Bar. Virginia residents can also watch the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat on the big screen at the AMC Tyson’s Corner theater.
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