Ping Huang

So he's designed ceremonies for over a dozen Olympics, but this one was special because it was in his hometown of Milan.

There were nods to opera, to neoclassical sculpture.

There was a tribute to the late designer Giorgio Armani.

There were models who walked down a catwalk in the colors of the Italian flag.

The whole thing was very chic, it was very elegant, and it was centered around the theme of bringing different people, different things together in harmony.

The biathlon events will take place in Antolz-Anterselva near the border with Austria.

Deidre Irwin, America's top female biathlete, says the U.S.

has an advantage here.

Irwin is among many U.S.

winter athletes who regularly train and compete in the mountains of northern Italy.

The cross-country skiing stadium in Val di Fiamme is an annual stop on the racing circuit.

Many of the sites in Cortina harken back to the 1956 winter games there, such as the Olimpia della Tofane, an iconic run for women's alpine skiing.

Ping Huang, NPR News, Milan.

On Wall Street, in pre-market trading, Dow and Nasdaq futures are higher.

A preliminary women's hockey match between Finland and Canada got pushed back a week after players on Team Finland caught norovirus.

It's a highly contagious virus.

the culprit behind most cases of food poisoning, and it causes vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration.

Most people get better in a few days.

Respiratory viruses and stomach bugs are common, but can seriously hamper the performance of athletes who've been training for years for a very time-specific event.

Sports officials say they have protocols at the Olympic Village to help mitigate outbreaks, such as on-site testing and restrictions on who can enter athletes' rooms.