2006 Winter Olympics

The 2006 Winter Olympics, also called Torino 2006, were a big winter sports event held in Turin, Italy, from February 10 to February 26. It was the second time Italy hosted the Winter Olympics, with the first happening in Cortina d'Ampezzo many years before.

These games brought together athletes from all over the world to compete in exciting winter sports like skiing, ice skating, and snowboarding. Many amazing records were set, and it was a celebration of sport and friendship.

Italy would host the Winter Olympics again much later in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Before that, Italy had also hosted the Summer Olympics in Rome back in 1960.

Host city selection

Main article: Bids for the 2006 Winter Olympics

Turin was chosen to host the 2006 Winter Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, on June 19, 1999. Many people thought the city of Sion would win instead. Only two cities made it to the final round: Sion and Turin. The other cities that tried were Helsinki in Finland; Poprad-Tatry in Slovakia; Zakopane in Poland; and Klagenfurt in Austria. In the end, Turin was chosen, which surprised many people because Sion is in Switzerland, where the Olympic organization has its office.

Cost and cost overrun

The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, cost about US$4.4 billion. This money was used to run the games and build places for athletes to compete. The final cost was 80% more than first planned. This is more than what was spent on the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but less than the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. On average, Winter Olympics games since 1960 have cost around US$3.1 billion, and costs often go higher than expected.

Sports

Main article: Events at the 2006 Winter Olympics

The 2006 Winter Olympics had many exciting sports! There were 84 events where athletes could win medals. These events were in 15 different winter sports.

Some new events were added, like a mass start race in biathlon and a team sprint in cross-country skiing.

The games included sports such as Alpine skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross-country skiing, Curling, Figure skating, Freestyle skiing, Ice hockey, Luge, Nordic combined, Short track speed skating, Skeleton, Ski jumping, Snowboarding, and Speed skating. Each sport had its own challenges for the athletes.

Calendar

All dates are in Central European Time (UTC+1)

Medal table

The top ten countries by the number of gold medals are shown here. The host country was Italy.

Podium sweeps

Highlights

Main article: Chronological summary of the 2006 Winter Olympics

Day 1 (Opening Ceremony)

Stefania Belmondo, a top cross-country skier, lit the Olympic Cauldron during the opening ceremony on 10 February. The ceremony showed the best of Italy and winter sports, including a part about the Alps. The ceremonies were made by the FilmMaster Group K-events.

Day 2

The first gold medal of the 2006 Games was awarded in the 20 kilometre biathlon, won by German Michael Greis on the first day of competition. Ice hockey began with the women's competition; Sweden defeated Russia in the first match while Canada's team won against the host Italians.

Day 3

On 12 February, Latvia won its first winter Olympic medal when Mārtiņš Rubenis took the bronze in the men's luge. Armin Zöggeler won in that event, giving Italy its first gold medal of the Games. In Alpine skiing, the men's downhill was won by Antoine Deneriaz of France.

Day 4

Chinese figure skating pair Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao tried a very difficult jump which had never been done before in competition. Zhang Dan fell and hurt her knee, but the pair finished their program and took the silver medal. Russia finished the third day of competition with two gold medals, as did the United States.

Day 5

The fourth day saw Evgeni Plushenko of Russia set a world record score in the men's figure skating short program. The men's combined alpine skiing had many disqualifications, including top racers Bode Miller and Benjamin Raich. American Ted Ligety won the event.

Day 6

Canada had a strong day on 15 February, setting new Olympic records in both men's and women's pursuit team speed skating events and winning the men's ice hockey competition against Italy. Italy also set a new Olympic record in men's pursuit team speed skating. China won its first gold of 2006 with Wang Meng's victory in the women's individual 500-metre short track speed skating. Austrian brothers Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger won the men's doubles luge while Michaela Dorfmeister gave the nation another championship in the women's downhill.

Day 7

Kristina Šmigun won her second gold medal of the Games in the women's 10 kilometre classical cross-country skiing on 16 February. In men's curling, Great Britain edged Germany, Switzerland beat New Zealand, Canada beat Norway, and the United States defeated Sweden. Evgeni Plushenko of Russia won the gold in the men's singles artistic skating.

Day 8

On 17 February, Tanja Frieden of Switzerland took the gold in women's snowboard cross after Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States fell near the end of her run. Jacobellis got silver, while Canada's Dominique Maltais took bronze. Duff Gibson of Canada took gold in the skeleton, becoming the oldest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympics history. In the women's ice hockey semifinals, the United States lost to Sweden. Canada's win kept their record of never losing to anyone except the United States.

Day 9

Kjetil André Aamodt won gold for Norway in the men's super-G on 18 February, beating Hermann Maier of Austria. Germans Kati Wilhelm and Martina Glagow finished first and second in the 10 kilometre biathlon pursuit. The host Italians defeated Canada in men's curling, while Switzerland beat Canada in men's ice hockey. The United States men's ice hockey team lost for the first time in the tournament.

Day 10

Lascelles Brown became the first Jamaican-born competitor to win a medal at the Winter Olympics on 19 February, competing on the Canadian 2-man bobsleigh team which came second. Finland continued to win in men's ice hockey, giving Canada its second loss.

The day also saw the Men's 10 km Cross Country Relay. Italy won over Germany to take their 5th straight gold in this event. Norway did not win a medal for the first time since 1988.

Day 11

The final day of curling pool play was 20 February; Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Canada advanced to the women's semifinals while Finland, Canada, the United States, and Great Britain qualified in the men's competition. Austria took their first team gold medal in ski jumping, while Canada took their second in women's ice hockey.

Day 12

Slovakia and Finland both won their final men's ice hockey games on 21 February. Enrico Fabris gave Italy another gold medal in speed skating by winning the men's 1500 metres.

Day 13

On 22 February, Anja Pärson won her first gold medal in the women's slalom. Chandra Crawford won the 1.1 kilometre cross-country sprint gold in her Olympic debut. In the men's ice hockey quarterfinals, the Slovaks lost to the Czech Republic while Russia, Finland, and Sweden eliminated Canada, the United States, and Switzerland. Philipp Schoch successfully defended his snowboarding giant slalom gold.

Day 14

Sweden took the women's championship in the curling finals held on 23 February. Shizuka Arakawa gave Japan its first gold medal of the Games and first figure skating gold medal. Russia won the gold medal in women's team biathlon.

Day 15

24 February was the day of the men's curling finals, in which Canada won its first gold medal and the United States won its first medal in the sport. Sweden and Finland won their men's ice hockey semifinal games.

Day 16

The Austrians swept the men's alpine slalom medals on 25 February, led by Benjamin Raich. Germany took gold medals in the men's 15 kilometer biathlon and the men's individual bobsleigh. Apolo Anton Ohno won his second short track speed skating gold medal. South Korea's Jin Sun-Yu wins her third gold of the Games in the women's 1000 m. Compatriot Ahn Hyun-Soo wins his third gold medal of the Games.

Day 17 (Closing ceremony)

The final day of competition and the closing ceremony were held during the Sunday Carnival on 26 February. The Swedish men's ice hockey team won the gold medal. In the closing ceremony, Manuela Di Centa, a top Olympic medalist from Italy, presented the medals for the men's 50-kilometre cross-country skiing event. She presented the gold medal to her own brother when Giorgio Di Centa won the event.

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics

Olympic events for the 2006 Winter Games were mostly held in Turin, Italy. Some events, like skiing and snowboarding, took place in nearby mountain villages.

Olympic areas

Many places in central Turin were used, such as:

• Oval Lingotto – Speed skating
• Torino Esposizioni – Ice hockey
• Palasport Olimpico – Ice hockey (final)
• Stadio Olimpico – Opening and closing ceremonies
• Palavela – Figure skating, short-track speed skating
• Piazza Castello - awarding ceremonies
• Olympic Village

Other locations included:

• Bardonecchia – Snowboarding
• Cesana Pariol – Bobsleigh, Luge, Skeleton
• Cesana San Sicario – Biathlon
• Pinerolo – Curling
• Pragelato – Nordic combined (ski jumping), Ski jumping
• Pragelato Plan – Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing)
• San Sicario Fraiteve – Alpine skiing (women's combined (downhill), downhill, and super-g)
• Sauze d'Oulx – Freestyle skiing
• Sestriere Borgata – Alpine skiing (men's combined (downhill), downhill, super-g)
• Sestriere Colle – Alpine skiing (combined (slalom), giant slalom, slalom)

Olympic villages

• Bardonecchia
• Sestriere
• Turin

Official Olympic training sites

• Chiomonte
• Claviere
• Prali
• Alpe Lusentino - Domodossola (VB) (Alpine Skiing)
• Riale - Formazza (VB) (Nordic Skiing)

Olympic mountain training site

• Torre Pellice

Participating National Olympic Committees

A record 80 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) sent athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. This was two more than the 78 at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. It was the first time Albania, Ethiopia, and Madagascar took part. It was the only Winter Olympics for Serbia and Montenegro. Algeria returned after 14 years, Senegal after 12 years, and Luxembourg, North Korea, and Portugal after 8 years. Six countries that were at the 2002 Games—Cameroon, Fiji, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago—did not join in 2006.

2,494 athletes from 80 NOCs took part in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Organization

Many people helped make the 2006 Winter Olympics happen. Out of 40,000 people who wanted to help, 20,000 were chosen to support the athletes, fans, and news reporters.

For the Olympics, many new places were built, including special buildings for different sports and places for athletes to stay. These included a big stadium in Turin, halls for ice skating and hockey, and new ski lifts in the mountains. There were also new roads and a metro system to help everyone get around easily.

Marketing

Emblem and motto

The logo for the 2006 Winter Olympics showed the Mole Antonelliana building made from white and blue ice crystals. The crystals stood for snow and the sky. They also showed how new technology helps people connect. The motto for the games was "Passion lives here".

Mascots

The 2006 Olympic games had two mascots. Neve, which means "snow" in Italian, was a female snowball. Gliz was a male ice cube.

Sponsors

Broadcasting

About 40% of the TV coverage of the Olympics was shown in high definition.

The 2006 Winter Olympic Games were shown worldwide by many TV companies.

Controversies

The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, had some issues. The city had trouble paying for everything, and the group organizing the event almost had to stop because they didn’t get enough money from the Italian Government.

There were also concerns about doping, which means using special substances to improve sports performance. Italian police checked the rooms of some Austrian athletes because they thought some might be using banned substances. A coach was not allowed to compete in future Olympics. Some athletes tried to leave the country, and later, several Austrian athletes were not allowed to compete in future Olympics. Athletes from other countries also had problems for using banned substances.

Some events did not have many spectators, even though tickets were sold. Organizers said some seats were kept for sponsors who didn’t always come. In some places, people were less interested in watching the Olympics on TV because the events were shown many hours later than they happened.

Olympic legacy

The 2006 Winter Olympics helped change how people saw Turin, Italy. Before the Games, the city was mostly known for its industry. After the Olympics, people began to see Turin's culture and beautiful buildings. This made Turin a popular place for tourists and a key spot for sports in Europe.

Since the Olympics, a group called TOP, which stands for Torino Olympic Park, has taken care of the places where the Olympic events were held.

Security measures

Because of past events like the tragedy in Munich during the 1972 Summer Olympics and worries after the events of September 11, 2001, there were many security workers at the 2006 Winter Olympics to keep everyone safe. The organizers promised the Games would be safe, and they were. The Olympics ended with no big security problems.