“Harmony” is the official theme of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. These Olympic Games are inviting people around the world into an experience that’s designed to bring them together in harmony. The thousands of athletes, coaches, staff, volunteers, journalists, and spectators who will be part of the 2026 Winter Olympics are a widely diverse group of people who will travel from most of the nations on our planet to Italy, where the Olympic competitions will take place in various locations, like the city of Milan (sports like figure skating, speed skating, and hockey) and the mountains of Cortina d’Ampezzo and other nearby towns (sports like skiing, snowboarding, and bobsledding). Worldwide, millions of people will watch the Olympic broadcasts. Organizers hope the theme of harmony will come through well. Marco Balich, Creative Lead of the Opening Ceremony, explained the intent behind choosing harmony as a theme while speaking at an Olympic presentation event at the Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium: “Because there are two cities, Milan and Cortina, city and mountain, the harmony between man and nature, between cultures, people and different ways of thinking… It is very meaningful and beautiful.”
Harmony is all about different elements moving together to connect and create something whole. That idea is at the heart of Jesus’ prayer for his followers in John chapter 17. John 17:21-23 reports that on the night before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed: “That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” Jesus knew that unity among believers would not come easily, given all the differences between people. Yet Jesus prayed for harmony because he knew that people could learn from each other and complement each other through their differences. Jesus also knew that when God’s diverse global family comes together in harmony, it can be one of our greatest witnesses to the world.
As we look toward the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, here are 7 ways the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics can inspire God’s people to live out the harmony Jesus prayed for.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Emanuele Cremaschi / Contributor
