News in Italy: Italian Olympic athletes to parade in Armani tricolour capes at opening ceremony.

Italy will be represented by 118 athletes at the Winter Olympics which gets underway in Beijing on Friday.

During the opening ceremony the Italian athletes will wear tricolour capes designed by Giorgio Armani, who was also behind the tracksuits for Italy's Olympic and Paralympic last summer.

Armani described the tricolour-inspired capes as a "a tribute to our flag and the high values it represents, and which our athletes embody".

Italian snowboarder Michela Moioli (pictured) will be the flag-bearer for Italy at the inauguration on Friday.

The Italian team is made up of 46 women and 72 men, reports news agency ANSA.

• Italy celebrates golden era of sport

The Beijing Olympics takes place under the shadow of covid which has already knocked out a number of international athletes along with Giovanni Malagò, president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).

Malagò, who tested positive on Tuesday and is in isolation, is completely asymptomatic, according to CONI.

Italy will be hoping to improve on the results of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018, when 112 Italian athletes took home 10 medals, three of which were gold.

Il tricolore.