The Olympic flame has arrived in Milan ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Games, while US Vice President JD Vance arrived with a message of unity for the American team.

The most geographically dispersed Games in history officially start with a ceremony in the San Siro stadium in Milan on Friday that will also unfold in three other sites spread across the Dolomite mountains and Italian Alps.

A cauldron will be lit under the city's Arch of Peace at the end of the flame's journey through the streets of Milan.

A second Olympic cauldron will be lit in the chic resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites, where the women's alpine skiing events are being held.

US Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Milan to attend the ceremony, which will feature performances by singer Mariah Carey, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

Vance told Team USA athletes: "The whole country, Democrat, Republican, independent, we're all rooting for you, and we're cheering for you."

There has been anger in Italy in the build-up to Milan-Cortina after it emerged that agents from the US immigration enforcement agency ICE will have an "advisory" role at the Games. Rome has denied however that the agents will have any operational role on its soil.

One of the most prominent US athletes, reigning Olympic snowboard champion Chloe Kim, took apparent aim at President Donald Trump's divisive immigration crackdown.

In an Instagram post in which she announced her arrival, Kim said she was proud to represent a country that is "strongest when it embraces diversity, dignity, and hope".

"My parents left South Korea in search of a better future for their family. They left behind everything they knew so that my sisters and I could have the chance to one day live the American dream," she added.

The first day of the ice hockey competition suffered a setback when a women's game between defending champions Canada and Finland had to be postponed after Finnish players fell ill with norovirus. The game has been postponed until February 12, but other women's games went ahead. (AFP)