2006 Winter Olympics
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{{Olympics infobox|2006|Winter
|Name = XX Olympic Winter Games
|Logo = Torino 2006.svg
|Size = 200
|Optional caption = The emblem shows a stylized profile of the [[Mole Antonelliana]],<br>drawn in ice crystals in white and blue, signifying<br>the snow and the sky. The crystal web also portrays the web<br>of new technologies and the Olympic spirit of community.
|Host city = [[Turin]], [[Italy]]
|Nations participating = 80<ref name="Turin 2006 IOC">{{cite web |url=http://olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=2006 |title=Turin 2006—XXth Olympic Winter Games |publisher=[[International Olympic Committee]] |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref>
|Athletes participating = 2,508 (1,548 men; 960 women)<ref name="Turin 2006 IOC" />
|Events = 84 in 15 disciplines in 7 [[sport]]s<ref name="Events">{{cite web |type=pdf |url=http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_851.pdf |title=Factsheet—Olympic Winter Programme |date=[[2007-02-07]] |publisher=[[International Olympic Committee]] |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref>
|Officially opened by = [[Carlo Azeglio Ciampi]]<ref name="Relay-Opening">{{cite news |url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/torino/torch_relay/full_story_uk.asp?id=1670 |title=Torino 2006: Flame in the Tallest Cauldron |date=[[2006-02-11]] |publisher=[[International Olympic Committee]] |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref>
|Athlete's Oath = [[Giorgio Rocca]]<ref name="Oaths">{{cite news |url=http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=olymp/2006/archive/summary10.htm |title=Olympic Daily News |date=[[2006-02-10]] |publisher=The Sports Network |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref>
|Judge's Oath = [[Fabio Bianchetti]]<ref name="Oaths" />
|Olympic Torch = [[Stefania Belmondo]]<ref name="Relay-Opening" />
|Stadium = [[Stadio Olimpico (Turin)|Stadio Olimpico]]
}}
The '''2006 [[Winter Olympics]]''', officially known as the '''XX Olympic Winter Games''', were a [[winter]] [[multi-sport event]] which was celebrated in [[Turin]], [[Italy]] from [[February 10]], [[2006]], through [[February 26]], [[2006]]. This marked the second time [[Italy]] hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the [[1956 Winter Olympics|VII Olympic Winter Games]] in [[Cortina d'Ampezzo]] in 1956. Italy also hosted the [[1960 Summer Olympics|Games of the XVII Olympiad]] in [[Rome]] in 1960. Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 games in 1999.
The official logo displayed the name "Torino", the [[Italian language|Italian]] name of the city, but the city is known as "Turin" in both [[English language|English]] and the local traditional dialect, [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]], although having slightly different pronunciations.<ref name="Turin vs. Torino">{{cite news |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10896852/ |title=Turin or Torino? Depends on whom you ask |date=[[2006-02-09]] |accessdate=2007-04-18 |publisher=[[Associated Press]]/[[MSNBC]]}}</ref> The [[Olympic symbols|Olympic mascots]] of '''Torino 2006''' were Neve ("snow" in [[Italian language|Italian]]), a [[female]] [[snowball]], and Gliz, a [[male]] [[ice cube]].<ref name="Mascots">{{cite web |url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/torino/open_mascotte_uk.asp |title=Torino 2006 Mascots |publisher=[[International Olympic Committee]] |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref> The official motto of the XX Olympic Winter Games was "Passion lives here".<ref name="Motto">{{cite web |url=http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/bin/page/C_3_page_eng_283_paragraphs_paragrafo_0_attachments_allegato_7_object.pdf |title=Italian Passion in the Motto of Torino 2006 |type=pdf |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref>
Turin, with a metropolitan area of 1.7 million,<ref name="Turin metro">{{cite web |url=http://www.archaeolink.com/torino_turin_city_profile.htm |title=Torino - Turin Italy City Profile |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref> was the largest city to have ever hosted a Winter Olympics;<ref name="Turin largest">{{cite news |url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/torino/2006-01-19-gns-by-numbers_x.htm |title=Olympics by the numbers |date=[[2006-01-19]] |publisher=[[USA Today]] |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref>. The title will fall to [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]], (2.1 million) when that city hosts the [[2010 Winter Olympics|XXI Olympic Winter Games]].<ref name="Vancouver largest">{{cite news |url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webvancouver02&date=2003-07-02 |date=[[2003-07-02]] |title=Vancouver to host 2010 Winter Olympics |author=Judd, Ron C. |publisher=The Seattle Times |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref> The 2002 [[Salt Lake City]] games also claims this title because at the time of the Olympics its metropolitan population was 1,516,227<ref>[http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metropop/table06.csv Salt Lake population figures] by the [[United States Census]]</ref> and some events were held in the Provo metropolitan area of 400,209,<ref>[http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metropop/table01.csv Provo population figures] by the United States Census</ref> which the state of [[Utah]] calls a single metropolitan area of 1.9 million<ref>[http://www.governor.state.ut.us/dea/CCBrief3.pdf Utah remark page 10] by the state of Utah</ref> and the [[United States|U.S. government]] describes as two metropolitan areas in a single [[urban area]].
==Sports==
{{main|Events at the 2006 Winter Olympics}}
The Games featured 84 medal events in 15 disciplines grouped over 7 sports.<ref name="Turin 2006 IOC" /> Events that made Olympic debut in Turin included mass start biathlon, team sprint cross country skiing, snowboard cross and team pursuit speedskating.<ref name="Events">{{cite web |type=pdf |url=http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_851.pdf |title=Factsheet—Olympic Winter Programme |date=[[2007-02-07]] |publisher=[[International Olympic Committee]] |accessdate=2007-04-18}}</ref> The classical men's 50 km and women's 30 km distances, which were held at the [[2002 Winter Olympics|previous Winter Games]] in 2002, were not held in these Games, as these events were alternated with freestyle events of the same distances;<ref>''In the recent years, the Freestyle events and the Classic events have been switched each Olympic Games.''</ref> In fact, most of the cross country skiing events at these Games involved different distances from those in Salt Lake City.
The following are the disciplines that were contested at the games. The numbers in parentheses after each sport discipline indicate the number of events contested.
{{col-begin|width=105%}}
{{col-1-of-4}}
*[[Image:Alpine skiing pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Alpine skiing]] <small>(10)</small>
*[[Image:Biathlon pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Biathlon]] <small>(10)</small>
*[[Image:Bobsleigh pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Bobsleigh at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Bobsleigh]] <small>(3)</small>
*[[Image:Cross country skiing pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Cross-country skiing]] <small>(12)</small>
{{col-2-of-4}}
*[[Image:Curling pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Curling]] <small>(2)</small>
*[[Image:Figure skating pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Figure skating]] <small>(4)</small>
*[[Image:Freestyle skiing pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Freestyle skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Freestyle skiing]] <small>(4)</small>
*[[Image:Ice hockey pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Ice hockey]] <small>(2)</small>
{{col-3-of-4}}
*[[Image:Luge pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Luge at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Luge]] <small>(3)</small>
*[[Image:Nordic combined pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Nordic combined at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Nordic combined]] <small>(3)</small>
*[[Image:Short track speed skating pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Short track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Short track speed skating]] <small>(8)</small>
*[[Image:Skeleton pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Skeleton at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Skeleton]] <small>(2)</small>
{{col-4-of-4}}
*[[Image:Ski jumping pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Ski jumping at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Ski jumping]] <small>(3)</small>
*[[Image:Snowboarding pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Snowboarding at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Snowboarding]] <small>(6)</small>
*[[Image:Speed skating pictogram.svg|20px]] [[Speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Speed skating]] <small>(12)</small>
{{col-end}}
==Results==
===Medal table===
[[Image:PICT0089.JPG|thumb|250px|right|[[Gold medal]] and flower bouquet.]]
{{Main|2006 Winter Olympics medal count}}
{| {{RankedMedalTable}}
|-
|| 1 || align=left | {{flagIOC|GER|2006 Winter}} || 11 || 12 || 6 || 29
|-
|| 2 || align=left | {{flagIOC|USA|2006 Winter}} || 9 || 9 || 7 || 25
|-
|| 3 || align=left | {{flagIOC|AUT|2006 Winter}} || 9 || 7 || 7 || 23
|-
|| 4 || align=left | {{flagIOC|RUS|2006 Winter}} || 8 || 6 || 8 || 22
|-
|| 5 || align=left | {{flagIOC|CAN|2006 Winter}} || 7 || 10 || 7 || 24
|-
|| 6 || align=left | {{flagIOC|SWE|2006 Winter}} || 7 || 2 || 5 || 14
|-
|| 7 || align=left | {{flagIOC|KOR|2006 Winter}} || 6 || 3 || 2 || 11
|-
|| 8 || align=left | {{flagIOC|SUI|2006 Winter}} || 5 || 4 || 5 || 14
|- bgcolor=ccccff
|| 9 || align=left | {{flagIOC|ITA|2006 Winter}} (host nation) || 5 || 0 || 6 || 11
|-
| rowspan=2 | 10 || align=left | {{flagIOC|FRA|2006 Winter}} || 3 || 2 || 4 || 9
|-
| align=left | {{flagIOC|NED|2006 Winter}} || 3 || 2 || 4 || 9
|}
[[Image:Torino.jpg|thumb|250px|The 2006 Olympics logo on display in Turin]]
===Athletes with the most gold medals===
<!--NOTE: Please only list winners of 3 or more Gold medals from Turin. Thanks. -->
* {{flagIOCathlete|[[Michael Greis]]|GER|2006 Winter}} ([[Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Biathlon]]): 3 gold medals
* {{flagIOCathlete|[[Ahn Hyun Soo]]|KOR|2006 Winter}} ([[Short track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Short track speed skating]]): 3 gold medals
* {{flagIOCathlete|[[Jin Sun-Yu]]|KOR|2006 Winter}} ([[Short track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Short track speed skating]]): 3 gold medals
<!--NOTE: Please only list winners of 3 or more Gold medals from Turin. Thanks. -->
===Athletes with the most medals===
* {{flagIOCathlete|[[Cindy Klassen]]|CAN|2006 Winter}} ([[Speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Speed skating]]): 5 (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
* {{flagIOCathlete|[[Ahn Hyun Soo]]|KOR|2006 Winter}} ([[Short track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Short track speed skating]]): 4 (3 gold, 1 bronze)
===Nations with medals in most disciplines===
<!--NOTE: Please only list countries with medals in 7 or more disciplines from Turin. Thanks. -->
* {{flagIOC|CAN|2006 Winter}}: 10 disciplines, 21 events
* {{flagIOC|USA|2006 Winter}}: 9 disciplines, 21 events
* {{flagIOC|FIN|2006 Winter}}: 8 disciplines, 9 events
* {{flagIOC|GER|2006 Winter}}: 7 disciplines, 25 events
* {{flagIOC|RUS|2006 Winter}}: 7 disciplines, 21 events
* {{flagIOC|NOR|2006 Winter}}: 7 disciplines, 15 events
* {{flagIOC|SUI|2006 Winter}}: 7 disciplines, 13 events
<!--NOTE: Please only list countries with medals in 7 or more disciplines from Turin. Thanks. -->
===Medal sweep events===
* {{flagIOC|AUT|2006 Winter}}: 3/3 medals in [[Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Men's Slalom]]
* {{flagIOC|GER|2006 Winter}}: 3/3 medals in [[Luge at the 2006 Winter Olympics - Women's singles|Women's single luge]]
<!--NOTE: Please list only sweep events. Thanks. -->
For team sports, the following countries won a medal in both men's and women's events:
* {{flagIOC|CAN|2006 Winter}}: [[Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics|curling]]; [[Short track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|short track speed skating]] relay; [[Speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Speed skating]] team pursuit
* {{flagIOC|FRA|2006 Winter}}: [[Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics|biathlon]] relay
* {{flagIOC|GER|2006 Winter}}: [[Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics|biathlon]] relay; [[Cross country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Cross country skiing]] relay
* {{flagIOC|ITA|2006 Winter}}: [[Cross country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Cross country skiing]] relay
* {{flagIOC|KOR|2006 Winter}}: [[Short track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|short track speed skating]] relays
* {{flagIOC|RUS|2006 Winter}}: [[Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics|biathlon]] relay
* {{flagIOC|SWE|2006 Winter}}: [[Cross country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Cross country skiing]] team sprint; [[Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Ice hockey]]
The only occasions where both golds were won by the same country were {{flagIOC|KOR|2006 Winter}} in the [[Short track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics|short track speed skating]] relays and {{flagIOC|SWE|2006 Winter}} in [[Cross country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Cross country skiing]] team sprint.
<!--NOTE: Please do not include team events that allowed more than one team from each nation to compete. Only include events in which both the men's and women's teams took a medal. -->
{{:2006 Winter Olympics calendar}}
==Highlights==
{{main|2006 Winter Olympics highlights}}
[[Image:Torino 2006 Jeremy Teela standing.jpg|thumb|left|300px|[[Jeremy Teela]] in the [[biathlon]]]]
===Opening Ceremony===
[[Stefania Belmondo]], a 10-time Olympic medalist in [[cross-country skiing]], lit the [[Olympic Flame]] during the [[2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony|opening ceremony]] on [[10 February]]. Before that, the ceremony celebrated the best of Italy and Sport including a segment honoring the [[Alps]].
===Day 1===
The first gold medal of the 2006 Games was awarded in the 20 kilometre [[biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics|biathlon]], won by [[Germany at the 2006 Winter Olympics|German]] [[Michael Greis]] on the first day of competition. Ice hockey began with the women's competition; [[Sweden at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Sweden]] defeated [[Russia at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Russia]] 3-1 in the first match while [[Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Canada]]'s team opened with the most lopsided win in Olympic history by beating the host [[Italy at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Italians]] 16-0.
===Day 2===
On [[12 February]], [[Latvia at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Latvia]] won its first winter Olympic medal when [[Mārtiņš Rubenis]] took the bronze in the men's luge. [[Armin Zöggeler]]'s win in that event gave Italy its first gold medal of the Games. Both the Canadian and [[United States at the 2006 Winter Olympics|American]] women's ice hockey teams posted their second straight shutout wins.
===Day 3===
[[China at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Chinese]] figure skating pair [[Zhang Dan]] and [[Zhang Hao]], trailing a dominant [[Russia at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Russian]] pair, attempted a throw quadruple [[salchow jump]]—an element which had never been successfully completed in competition. Zhang Dan fell, injuring her knee, but the pair finished their program to a standing ovation and took the silver medal. Russia finished the third day of competition with two gold medals, as did the United States.
===Day 4===
The fourth day saw the two North American women's hockey teams finish out pool play with their third win each. [[Evgeni Plushenko]] of Russia set a world record score in the men's figure skating short program; his 90.66 points was more 10 points better than the nearest opponent's score. The men's combined [[Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|alpine skiing]] was riddled with disqualifications, including front-runners [[Bode Miller]] and [[Benjamin Raich]]. American [[Ted Ligety]] won the event in what was considered an upset.
===Day 5===
Canada had another strong day on [[15 February]], setting new Olympic records in both men's and women's pursuit team speed skating events as well as opening the men's ice hockey competition with a win against Italy. Italy finished the day with the men's pursuit team Olympic record, however, after the [[Netherlands at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Netherlands]] bettered Canada's time only to have Italy improve upon theirs. China won its first gold of 2006 with [[Wang Meng (athlete)|Wang Meng]]'s victory in the women's individual 500 metre short track speed skating. A pair of [[Austria at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Austrian]] brothers won the men's doubles luge while [[Michaela Dorfmeister]] gave the nation another championship in the women's downhill.
===Day 6===
[[Kristina Šmigun]] won her second gold medal of the Games with a victory in the women's 10 kilometre classical [[Cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|cross-country skiing]] on [[16 February]], remaining the only [[Estonia at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Estonian]] to medal. In men's [[Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics|curling]] action, [[Great Britain at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Great Britain]] edged [[Germany at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Germany]] 7-6, [[Switzerland at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Switzerland]] kept [[New Zealand at the 2006 Winter Olympics|New Zealand]] winless by winning 9-7, [[Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Canada]] beat [[Norway at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Norway]] 7-6, and the [[United States at the 2006 Winter Olympics|United States]] defeated [[Sweden at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Sweden]], 10-6.
===Day 7===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Lindsey Jacobellis.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Poster of [[Lindsey Jacobellis]] in [[New York City]].{{puic|Image:Lindsey Jacobellis.jpg|log=2007 October 24}}]] -->
On [[February 17]], [[Tanja Frieden]] of [[Switzerland at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Switzerland]] took the gold in women's snowboard cross after [[Lindsey Jacobellis]] of the United States fell on the second-to-last jump while performing an unnecessary method grab. Jacobellis settled for silver, while [[Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Canada]]'s [[Dominique Maltais]] took bronze after recovering from a crash. [[Duff Gibson]] of [[Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Canada]] took gold in the [[Skeleton at the 2006 Winter Olympics|skeleton]] just ahead of fellow Canadian [[Jeff Pain]], becoming the oldest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympics history. In the women's ice hockey semifinals, the United States lost a shootout to Sweden, marking the first time in international competition that the United States had lost to anyone other than Canada (Canada's win maintained its record of never having lost to anyone other than the United States).
===Day 8===
[[Kjetil André Aamodt]] won gold for [[Norway at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Norway]] in the men's Super G on [[18 February]], beating [[Hermann Maier]] of [[Austria at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Austria]]. [[Germany at the 2006 Winter Olympics|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 did the same in men's ice hockey to put the Canadians on the wrong end of two major upsets in the same day. The United States men's ice hockey team suffered its first loss of the tournament as [[Slovakia at the 2006 Winter Olympics|Slovakia]] and Russia continue their dominance of the pool.
===Day 9===
[[Lascelles Brown]] became the first [[Jamaica]]n-born competitor to win a medal at the Winter Olympics on [[19 February]], competing on the Canadian 2-man bobsleigh team which finished second in an extremely tight competition. The German pair was only .21 seconds ahead of the Canadians, themselves only .14 ahead of the Swiss team. Finland continued to be unbeaten in men's ice hockey, handing Canada its second loss.
The day also saw the most hyped event of these games, at least in Europe, as the Men's 10k Cross Country Relay was scheduled. The battle stemmed from the [[1994 Winter Olympics|Lillehammer]] games 12 years ago in which Italy out-dueled Norway in that very same event. To that extent, many Norwegians wanted to win this event in order to embarrass the Italians on their home turf, but it was not to be as Italy crushed the field winning over Germany by over 15 seconds to take their 5th straight gold in this event. Norway failed to medal for the first time since 1988.
===Day 10===
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 to take a 2-1 lead over the United States in all-time Olympic championships.
===Day 11===
Slovakia and Finland both won their final men's ice hockey games on [[21 February]] to win their respective pools with 5-0-0 records. [[Enrico Fabris]] gave the host nation another gold medal in speed skating by winning the men's 1500 metres.
===Day 12===
On [[22 February]], the twelfth day of competition, [[Anja Pärson]] won her first gold medal in the women's slalom; it was her fifth overall Olympic medal and third of the 2006 Games. [[Chandra Crawford]] took a quicker route to the top of the podium, winning the 1.1 kilometre cross-country sprint gold in her Olympic debut. In the men's ice hockey quarterfinals, the previously undefeated Slovakians lost to the Czech Republic while Russia, Finland, and Sweden eliminated Canada, the United States, and Switzerland, respectively. [[Philipp Schoch]] successfully defended his snowboarding giant slalom gold against his brother [[Simon Schoch|Simon]].
===Day 13===
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, winning the ladies' figure skating competition in part by being able to finish without falling, as [[Sasha Cohen]] and [[Irina Slutskaya]] both tumbled. Russia wrested the gold medal in women's team biathlon from two-time defending champions Germany.
===Day 14===
[[February 24]] 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 as Canada defeated Finland and the United States beat Great Britain for the second time. The figure skating gala was also held, with top placers in all of the events performing exhibitions. Sweden and Finland won their men's ice hockey semifinal games, defeating the Czech Republic and Russia.
===Day 15===
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 kilometre biathlon and the men's individual bobsleigh. [[Apolo Anton Ohno]] won his second short track speed skating gold medal, with only somewhat less controversy than his first 4 years earlier.
===Day 16===
The final day of competition and the [[2006 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony|closing ceremony]], were held on [[26 February]]. The Swedish men's ice hockey team handed Finland their first loss in the final to take the gold medal. In the closing ceremony, [[Manuela Di Centa]], a seven-time Olympic medalist from Italy and then-member of the [[International Olympic Committee]], was scheduled to present the medals for the men's 50 kilometre cross-country skiing event. This resulted in her presenting the gold medal to her own brother when [[Giorgio Di Centa]] won the event to take his second gold medal.
==Venues==
[[Image:TurinAlps L7 20010730.jpg|thumb|[[Landsat 7]] image of the Italian Alps with some of the venues marked.]]
===Olympic areas===
Olympic events were mainly held in Turin, but other events (namely skiing, snowboarding, and the track sports) were held in mountainous outlying villages for obvious reasons.
====Turin====
Many venues were located in the Olympic District in central Turin, including:
* [[Oval Lingotto]] - Speed skating
* [[Torino Esposizioni]] - Ice hockey
* [[Torino Palasport Olimpico|Palasport Olimpico]] - Ice hockey
* [[Stadio Olimpico (Turin)|Stadio Olimpico]] - [[2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony|Opening]] and closing ceremonies
* [[Torino Palavela|Palavela]] - Figure skating, short-track speed skating
* Olympic Village
====Other locations====
[[Image:Torino location map winter olympics.PNG|thumb|Location of Turin (Torino in Italian) and some other venues]]
*[[Bardonecchia]], located in [[Alta Val di Susa]], was the site of the [[Snowboarding at the 2006 Winter Olympics|snowboarding]] competitions. An Olympic Village is also located in Bardonecchia.
*[[Cesana Pariol]] was the competition site for [[Luge at the 2006 Winter Olympics|luge]], [[Bobsleigh at the 2006 Winter Olympics|bobsleigh]], and [[Skeleton at the 2006 Winter Olympics|skeleton]].
*[[Cesana-San Sicario]] was the site of [[Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics|biathlon]] and [[Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|alpine skiing]] events.
*[[Pinerolo]], a town of 35,000, located 50 km from Turin, was the host of [[Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics|curling]] events.
*[[Pragelato]] was the site of [[Cross country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|cross-country skiing]], [[Ski jumping at the 2006 Winter Olympics|ski jumping]], and [[Nordic combined at the 2006 Winter Olympics|nordic combined]] competitions.
*[[Sauze d'Oulx]], a resort located 80 km from Turin, was the host of the [[Freestyle skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|freestyle skiing]] events.
*[[Sestriere]], located 100 km from Turin, was the site of [[Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics|alpine skiing]] events. An Olympic village is also located in Sestriere.
===Olympic villages===
* [[Bardonecchia]]
* [[Sestriere]]
* [[Turin]]
===Official Olympic training sites===
* [[Chiomonte]]
* [[Via Lattea|Claviere]]
* [[Prali]]
* [[Alpe Lusentino - Domodossola]] (VB) (Alpine Skiing)
* [[Riale - Formazza]] (VB) (Nordic Skiing)
===Olympic mountain training site===
* [[Torre Pellice]]
==Participating NOCs==
A record of 80 [[National Olympic Committee]]s (NOCs) entered athletes at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. This was an increase of three from the 77 represented at the [[2002 Olympic Winter Games]]. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that NOC contributed.
<!--
The number of athletes listed here is 2633,
NOTE: which is different from the IOC's count of
2,508. This should be fixed, with good sources.
-->
{{col-begin|width=100%}}
{{col-1-of-4}}
*{{flagIOC|ALB|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|ALG|2006 Winter|2}}
*{{flagIOC|AND|2006 Winter|3}}
*{{flagIOC|ARG|2006 Winter|9}}
*{{flagIOC|ARM|2006 Winter|5}}
*{{flagIOC|AUS|2006 Winter|40}}
*{{flagIOC|AUT|2006 Winter|85}}
*{{flagIOC|AZE|2006 Winter|2}}
*{{flagIOC|BLR|2006 Winter|28}}
*{{flagIOC|BEL|2006 Winter|4}}
*{{flagIOC|BER|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|BIH|2006 Winter|6}}
*{{flagIOC|BRA|2006 Winter|10}}
*{{flagIOC|BUL|2006 Winter|21}}
*{{flagIOC|CAN|2006 Winter|196}}
*{{flagIOC|CHI|2006 Winter|9}}
*{{flagIOC|CHN|2006 Winter|78}}
*{{flagIOC|TPE|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|CRC|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|CRO|2006 Winter|24}}
{{col-2-of-4}}
*{{flagIOC|CYP|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|CZE|2006 Winter|85}}
*{{flagIOC|DEN|2006 Winter|5}}
*{{flagIOC|EST|2006 Winter|28}}
*{{flagIOC|ETH|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|FIN|2006 Winter|102}}
*{{flagIOC|FRA|2006 Winter|89}}
*{{flagIOC|MKD|2006 Winter|3}}
*{{flagIOC|GEO|2006 Winter|3}}
*{{flagIOC|GER|2006 Winter|164}}
*{{flagIOC|GBR|2006 Winter|40}}
*{{flagIOC|GRE|2006 Winter|5}}
*{{flagIOC|HKG|2006 Winter|1|name=Hong Kong, China }}
*{{flagIOC|HUN|2006 Winter|20}}
*{{flagIOC|ISL|2006 Winter|5}}
*{{flagIOC|IND|2006 Winter|4}}
*{{flagIOC|IRI|2006 Winter|2}}
*{{flagIOC|IRL|2006 Winter|4}}
*{{flagIOC|ISR|2006 Winter|5}}
*{{flagIOC|ITA|2006 Winter|184}}
{{col-3-of-4}}
*{{flagIOC|JPN|2006 Winter|112}}
*{{flagIOC|KAZ|2006 Winter|56}}
*{{flagIOC|KEN|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|PRK|2006 Winter|6}}
*{{flagIOC|KOR|2006 Winter|40}}
*{{flagIOC|KGZ|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|LAT|2006 Winter|58}}
*{{flagIOC|LIB|2006 Winter|3}}
*{{flagIOC|LIE|2006 Winter|6}}
*{{flagIOC|LTU|2006 Winter|7}}
*{{flagIOC|LUX|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|MAD|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|MDA|2006 Winter|7}}
*{{flagIOC|MON|2006 Winter|4}}
*{{flagIOC|MGL|2006 Winter|2}}
*{{flagIOC|NEP|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|NED|2006 Winter|35}}
*{{flagIOC|NZL|2006 Winter|18}}
*{{flagIOC|NOR|2006 Winter|81}}
*{{flagIOC|POL|2006 Winter|48}}
{{col-4-of-4}}
*{{flagIOC|POR|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|ROU|2006 Winter|25}}
*{{flagIOC|RUS|2006 Winter|178}}
*{{flagIOC|SMR|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|SEN|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|SCG|2006 Winter|6}}
*{{flagIOC|SVK|2006 Winter|62}}
*{{flagIOC|SLO|2006 Winter|42}}
*{{flagIOC|RSA|2006 Winter|3}}
*{{flagIOC|ESP|2006 Winter|16}}
*{{flagIOC|SWE|2006 Winter|112}}
*{{flagIOC|SUI|2006 Winter|143}}
*{{flagIOC|TJK|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|THA|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|TUR|2006 Winter|6}}
*{{flagIOC|UKR|2006 Winter|53}}
*{{flagIOC|USA|2006 Winter|211}}
*{{flagIOC|ISV|2006 Winter|1}}
*{{flagIOC|UZB|2006 Winter|4}}
*{{flagIOC|VEN|2006 Winter|1}}
{{col-end}}
[[Image:2006 Winter olympics team numbers.PNG|300px|thumb|right|Participating NOCs. Green: fewer than 10 athletes; blue: 10-49; orange: 50-99; red: 100 or more.]]
Despite the overall increase of NOCs and number of athletes, the following NOCs which competed at the previous Winter Games did not participate in Turin:
*{{CMR}}
*{{FIJ}}
*{{JAM}}
*{{MEX}}
*{{PUR}}
*{{TRI}}
<br style="clear:all">
==Host selection process==
{{main|2006 Winter Olympics bids}}
Turin was chosen as the host of the Olympics in 1999 at [[Seoul]], [[Korea]] in the 109th [[IOC Session]].<ref name="Bid archives">{{cite web |url=http://www.gamesbids.com/english/archives/past.shtml |title=Olympic Bid Election History—Voting Records and Results |publisher=[[GamesBids]] |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref> This was just after the [[International Olympic Committee|IOC]] had adopted new election procedures during the 108th Extraordinary IOC Session in light of the corruption scandals surrounding the votes for the [[1998 Winter Olympics|1998]] and [[2002 Winter Olympics]].<ref name="Bid process">{{cite web |type=pdf |url=http://www.worldgames-iwga.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,1044-163474-180689-13798-0-file,00.pdf |title=World Games News |date=April 1999 |publisher=[[International World Games Association]] |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref> Since IOC members were forbidden to visit the candidate cities (in the interests of reducing bribery), the 109th IOC Session elected a special body, the Selection College, to choose finalist cities from the pool of candidate cities after each had made their final presentations to the full IOC Session; the full IOC Session then voted on the cities chosen as finalist cities by the Selection College. Although six cities launched candidacies and made presentations to the full IOC Session in [[Seoul]] in June 1999, the Selection College chose only two cities to go forward to be voted upon by the full IOC Session: [[Sion, Switzerland|Sion]] and [[Turin]].<ref name="Bid archives" /> The candidacies of [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]]; [[Poprad|Poprad-Tatry]], [[Slovakia]]; [[Zakopane]], [[Poland]]; and [[Klagenfurt]], [[Austria]] were dropped by the Selection College after all six candidate cities made their candidate presentations to the full session.<ref name="Election IOC">{{cite web |url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/torino/election_uk.asp |title=Turin 2006—Election |publisher=[[International Olympic Committee]] |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref>
The selection of Turin over Sion came as a surprise, since Sion was the overwhelming favorite.<ref name="Sion favorite">{{cite news |publisher=[[USA Today]] |url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2006-10-18-hodler-obit_x.htm |title=Olympic corruption whistle-blower Hodler dies |date=[[2006-10-18]] |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref> Media speculation was that the choice of Turin was due to the combination of four factors: Turin's overwhelming population size difference (Turin had a population 1.5 million, whilst Sion's was only 27,000),{{Fact|date=April 2007}} the skills of the Italian bid team,{{Fact|date=April 2007}} the IOC's desire to compensate Italy for the recent selection of Athens over Rome for the [[2004 Summer Olympics]],{{Fact|date=April 2007}} and finally a way to retaliate against Switzerland for the [[whistleblower]] role played by IOC member [[Marc Hodler]] in the revelation of the [[2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal|2002 corruption scandal]].<ref name="Whistleblower">{{cite news |publisher=[[Associated Press]]/[[ESPN]] |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter02/gen/news?id=1340126 |title=Italian city prepares for next Winter Olympics |date=[[2002-02-24]] |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref>
The information below comes from [http://www.aldaver.com/votes.html the International Olympic Committee Vote History] web page.
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
! colspan="6" | 2006 Winter Olympics Bidding Results
|-
| '''City'''
| '''NOC Name'''
| bgcolor=""|'''Round 1'''
|-
||[[Turin]]||{{ITA}}
||'''53'''
|-
||[[Sion, Switzerland|Sion]]||{{SUI}}
||36
|}
==Organization==
Out of 40,000 applicants, 20,000 volunteers were selected to help the athletes, spectators, and journalists, and to prepare the competition sites. They were selected by the recruiting program [[Noi2006]].<ref name="Volunteers">{{cite web |url=http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/spirito_olimpico/volontari.html |title=Noi2006 - The Volunteers Programme |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref>
===Construction===
[[Image:Palasport-Olimpico-Turin.jpg|thumb|"Palasport Olimpico"]]
Sixty-five sporting facilities, various infrastructures, sport villages for athletes and media, and transportation infrastructures were constructed for a total of 1.7 billion euros.<ref name="Construction">{{cite web |url=http://www.thechronicle.us/news.php?id=975 |title=Winter Olympics Return to Italy Opening Ceremonies Begin February 10 in Turin |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060208163059/http://www.thechronicle.us/news.php?id=975 |archivedate=2006-02-08 |author=Villani, Ron |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref>
Among the most important sporting facilities that were used:
* The [[Stadio Olimpico (Turin)]] (formerly known as Stadio Comunale);
* 5 sports halls (3 new, 2 rearranged): the "Palazzo a Vela" re-designed by Gae Aulenti (to host short track and ice skating), the [[Oval Lingotto]] (speed ice skating), [[Torino Esposizioni]] (ice hockey), the Ice stadium in corso Tazzoli, the [[Torino Palasport Olimpico|Palasport Olimpico]] designed by Arata Isozaki (ice hockey);
* The Olympic arch of Turin;
* Olympic villages of Turin, Bardonecchia and Sestriere;
* The ice stadium in Pinerolo, re-arranged and enlarged, to host the curling competition;
* A new stadium in Torre Pellice (ice hockey);
* 12 new intermediate-level ski lifts in Cesana Torinese, Cesana San Sicario, Sestriere, Bardonecchia, Claviere, Sauze d'Oulx, Pragelato;
* The tracks for bobsled, luge, and skeleton in Cesana (the second international track in Italy, along with the one in [[Cortina d'Ampezzo]]);
The most important transport infrastructure works were:
* The [[Metrotorino|Turin Metro]] ([[VAL]] system), which for the Olympic games connected [[Collegno]] to the [[railway station]] of [[Porta Susa]].
* The upgrade of 11 state roads and motorways connecting Turin with other Olympic sites.
In the city, from the urban point of view, the main developments were the [[Palafuksas]], a glass building designed by [[Massimiliano Fuksas]], the new civic library designed by Mario Bellini, the new Modern Art Gallery and the great project of the "Spina", that will provide urban regeneration over an area of 2 million square meters through the construction of an underground urban railway and the re-utilization of abandoned industrial areas.
==Broadcasting==
The 2006 Olympic Winter Games were broadcast worldwide by a number of television broadcasters:
*An extensive list of official broadcasters is found at [http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/gare_e_programma/tv_sport.html The Games on Television] section of the Torino Games official site.
*The [[BBC]] provided television and radio coverage of the winter Olympics in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] - the TV coverage was presented mainly by ''[[Grandstand (BBC)|Grandstand]]'' regulars such as [[Hazel Irvine]] and [[Clare Balding]]. Most of the coverage was shown on [[BBC Two]], with some on [[BBC One]], and there was also [[BBCi]] for [[Freeview (United Kingdom)|Freeview]], [[Satellite]] and [[cable television|Cable]] (digital TV) viewers. BBC also broadcasted many events live on the webcast [[Freeview (United Kingdom)|Freeview]] provides an extra two screens whereas all 3 interactive streams were available to UK users only on [[bbc.co.uk]] and Digital Satellite and Cable such as [[Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)|Sky Digital]].
*[[Eurosport]] also provided live coverage of events to viewers across the EU and Europe.
*[[American Forces Network]] rebroadcast some of this coverage for [[Military of the United States|military personnel]] serving outside the United States.
*[[Globosat|SportTV2]] broadcasted for the first time all days and all events in Brazil.
*[[Česká televize|ČT4 Sport]] was introduced on the occasion of the Olympic Games in the Czech Republic.
{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align:left; margin-right:50px; font-size:100%"
|-
! align=center | Country
! align=center | Broadcasting organisation
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Australia}} || [[Seven Network]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Austria}} || [[ORF]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="2" | {{flag|Belgium}} || [[Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep|VRT]]
|-
| [[RTBF]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Brazil}} || [[Globosat|SportTV2]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="4" | {{flag|Canada}} || [[CBC Television|CBC]]
|-
| [[The Sports Network|TSN]]
|-
| [[Réseau des sports|RDS]]
|-
| [[Television de Radio-Canada|TRC]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|China}} || [[CCTV-5]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Croatia}} || [[Croatian Radiotelevision|HRT]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="2" | {{flag|Czech Republic}} || [[Česká televize|ČT]]
|-
| [[Česká televize|ČT4 Sport]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Denmark}} || [[TV 2 (Denmark)|TV2]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Estonia}} || [[ETV (Estonia)|ETV]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Finland}} || [[Yleisradio|YLE]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="2" | {{flag|France}} || [[France 2]]
|-
| [[France 3]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="2" | {{flag|Germany}} || [[ARD]]
|-
| [[ZDF]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Greece}} || [[Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi|ERT]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Iceland}} || [[RÚV]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Ireland}} || [[Radio Telefís Éireann|RTÉ]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Israel}} || [[Arutz 2]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Italy}} || [[RAI]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Latvia}} || [[LTV7]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Luxembourg}} || [[RTL Group|RTL]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Japan}} || [[NHK]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Malaysia}} || [[Astro (satellite TV)|Astro]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="2" | {{flag|Mexico}} || [[Televisa]]
|-
| [[TV Azteca]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Montenegro}} || [[RTCG 1]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="2" | {{flag|Netherlands}} || [[NOS]]
|-
| [[Nederland 2]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|New Zealand}} || [[TVNZ]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="2" | {{flag|Norway}} || [[NRK]]
|-
| [[SportN]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Poland}} || [[Telewizja Polska|TVP]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Romania}} || [[Televiziunea Română|TVR]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="2" | {{flag|Russia}} || [[Channel One (Russia)|C1R]]
|-
| [[Russia TV Channel|RTR]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Serbia}} || [[Radio Television of Serbia|RTS]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Singapore}} || [[MediaCorp TV Channel 5|MediaCorp 5]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="3" | {{flag|South Korea}} || [[Korean Broadcasting System|KBS]]
|-
| [[Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation|MBC]]
|-
| [[Seoul Broadcasting System|SBS]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Spain}} || [[TVE]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Sweden}} || [[SVT]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="2" | {{flag|Switzerland}} || [[SF DRS|SSR]]
|-
| [[Télévision Suisse Romande|TSR]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Turkey}} || [[Turkish Radio and Television Corporation|TRT]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|Ukraine}} || [[National Television Company of Ukraine|NTU]]
|-
| align=left | {{flag|United Kingdom}} || [[BBC]]
|-
| align=left rowspan="6" | {{flag|United States}} || [[NBC]]
|-
| [[CNBC]]
|-
| [[MSNBC]]
|-
| [[USA Network]]
|-
| [[Telemundo]]
|-
| [[Universal HD]]
|}
==Olympic problems==
The Games had several problems, including possible bankruptcy, doping, and poor ratings.
===Bankruptcy threats===
The financial situation of the Organizing Committee has gradually become more and more difficult. The latest development was a 64 million euro financial shortfall appearing at the end of 2005, mainly due to the fact that Italy's draft budget for 2006 did not include the government's promised final 40 million euro allocation to Olympic organizers. This shortfall could have led the Torino 2006 Games to declare [[bankruptcy]]. The concerns went as far as starting to define the first step of a bankruptcy procedure for Torino 2006, which could have happened if the organizing committee had failed to approve its budget at a [[January 20]], [[2006]] board meeting. Finally, the Italian Government promised to cover the shortfall.
===Metro===
The [[metro]] was finally opened to the public on [[February 4]], 2006 after a 45 day delay. It operated on a shorter stretch (''XVIII Dicembre'' (Porta Susa) to ''Fermi'' - 11 stations) than originally forecast; it finally reached the main railway station (''Porta Nuova'') and the rest of the city centre more than one year after the Games, in October 2007. For the duration of the Games, a single ticket (5 euros) covered use of both the metro and other means of public transportation for a whole day. However, during the Games, metro service stopped at 6:00 pm, making it impractical for spectators of evening events. Furthermore, the metro did not reach any of the Olympic venues. On the other hand, the bus service was heavily improved for the Games, although still inadequate at night hours.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}<!-- citation needed, although is a personal opinion -->
===Weather===
A number of Alpine competitions were delayed because of low visibility caused by snowfall. Despite these events being postponed, most were later held in better weather without any problems.
===Doping===
Italian police raided the Austrian athletes' quarter in search of evidence of doping. The raid was conducted due to suspicions over the presence of biathlon coach [[Walter Mayer]], who had been banned from all Olympic events up to and including the [[2010 Winter Olympics|Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010]] due to previous doping convictions. Around the time of the raid Mayer and two Austrian biathletes, Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann, tried to escape and fled back to Austria. Later, the Austrian ski federation president said that the two athletes told him they "may have used illegal methods."<ref name="Steroid">{{cite news |url=http://www.steroid.com/sitenews/?EC=ReadArticle&ArticleID=17 |title=Italians take hard line against steroids |author=Couch, Greg |date=[[2006-02-24]] |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref> After some days the results of the tests of all 10 tested Austrian athletes were presented and were all negative.
List of athletes with doping convictions in these Games:
*Russian [[Olga Pyleva]] was stripped of her silver medal in 15 km biathlon event after testing positive for [[carphedon]].
*Brazilian bobsled athlete [[Armando dos Santos]], ejected from the Games after a preventive antidoping test came positive (the results were from a test conducted in Brazil).
===Ratings and attendance===
A number of events reported low spectator attendance despite having acceptable ticket sales. Preliminary competition and locally less popular sports failed to attract capacity crowd as expected. Organizers explained this was because blocks of seats were reserved or purchased by sponsors and partners who later did not show up at the events.
Several news organizations reported that many Americans are not as interested in the Olympics as in years past.<ref name="Interest">{{cite news |title=Ciao to the Winter Games |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022600137_pf.html |date=[[2006-02-26]] |author=Shipley, Amy |publisher=[[Washington Post]] |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref> It has been suggested that reasons for this disinterest include the [[tape delay]]ed coverage, which showed events in [[prime-time]] as much as 18 hours later in the [[Western United States|West]], and also due to the lack of success achieved by big-name American athletes.<ref name="Ratings">{{cite news |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter06/columns/story?id=2345588 |title=The best, and real, drama is always at Olympics |date=[[2006-02-26]] |publisher=[[ESPN]] |author=Caple, Jim |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref>
In Canada, CBC's coverage has also posted disappointing numbers, which were reduced as the Canadian men's hockey team was eliminated early in the competition. Primetime ratings reached only as high as #7 in the weekly ratings. However, ratings for live, afternoon coverage have attracted 300,000 more viewers than the taped, primetime coverage. Overall, only primetime coverage has suffered, dropping 45% from the 2002 Games, with the entire coverage being 52% ahead from 2002.<ref name="Canada ratings">{{cite news |url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2006/02/23/1457768.html |title=Olympics lose against fake games |author=Brioux, Bill |date=[[2006-02-23]] |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref><ref name="Canada ratings 2">{{cite news |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060223.wxolyblues0223_3/BNStory/Torino2006/home |title=Olympic hockey loss misses the net for CBC ratings |author=McArthur, Keith; Robertson, Grant |date=[[2006-02-23]] |accessdate=2007-04-19}}</ref> Meanwhile on [[The Sports Network|TSN]], the numbers for its live curling coverage (which aired as early as 3:00am EST) were between 300,000 and 500,000 viewers.
The Olympics' main threat in the USA was the [[American Idol (season 5)|2006 season]] of ''[[American Idol]]''.<ref name="Idol">{{cite web |url=http://calsun.canoe.ca/Sports/2006Games/2006/02/18/1449801-sun.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060221171246/http://calsun.canoe.ca/Sports/2006Games/2006/02/18/1449801-sun.html |date=[[2006-02-18]] |archivedate=2006-02-21 |title=Curling is making waves |accessdate=2007-04-19 |author=Jones, Terry}}</ref> One night of interest was [[23 February]] in which the first results show of the season went head to head with that night's coverage which included the Women's Free Skate in Figure Skating.
==Security measures==
As with every Olympics since the [[1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Olympics in Munich]] and increasingly since the [[2002 Winter Olympics]], there was heavy security due to fears of terrorism.
The organizers further increased security measures [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/06/AR2006020600655.html] in connection with the [[Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy]] and insisted that the Olympic Games were going to be safe, which they were; the Olympics concluded without a major breach of security occurring.
==See also==
{{portalpar|Olympics}}
* [[:Category:Competitors at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
* [[2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony]]
* [[2006 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony]]
* [[2006 Winter Paralympics]]
* [[List of IOC country codes]]
* [[Neve and Gliz]]
==External links==
{{Commonscat|2006 Winter Olympics}}
{{Wikinewsportal|Olympics}}
===Official websites===
* [http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=2006 International Olympic Committee's Turin Page]
*City of Turin - [http://www.comune.torino.it/canaleturismo/en/ English]
===Other sites===
*[http://dmoz.org/Sports/Events/Olympics/Winter_Games/2006_-_Torino/ Open Directory category]
===Official broadcasters===
{{col-begin|width=}}
{{col-break}}
*[http://sport.ard.de/spe/turin/ ARD]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/winter_sports/default.stm BBC]
*[http://etvsport.ee/torino/ ETV]
*[http://sport.hrt.hr/htvsport/zoi06/ HRT]
{{col-break}}
*[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9134568/ MSNBC]
*[http://www.nos.nl/winterspelen2006/voorpagina/index.html NOS]
*[http://www.nrk.no/sport/meisterskap/torino_2006/ NRK]
*[http://sport.orf.at/spiele06/ ORF]
{{col-break}}
*[http://www.rai.it/torino2006/ RAI]
*[http://www.sf.tv/sfsport/index.php?catid=sportolympischespieletorinox SF]
*[http://www.radio-canada.ca/sports/Jeux-Olympiques/ SRC]
*[http://www.esmas.com/deportes/turin2006/ Televisa]
{{col-break}}
*[http://www.tsr.ch/tsr/index.html?siteSect=860000 TSR]
*[http://ww6.tvp.pl/5759.dzialy TVP]
*[http://www.yle.fi/urheilu/torino/index.html YLE]
*[http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/16/0,1872,2250512,00.html ZDF]
{{col-end}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
{{Olympic_Games}}
[[Category:2006 in Italy|W]]
[[Category:2006 Winter Olympics|*]]
{{link FA|it}}
<!-- interwiki -->
[[ar:ألعاب أولمبية شتوية 2006]]
[[bs:XX Zimske olimpijske igre - Torino 2006.]]
[[br:C'hoarioù olimpek goañv 2006]]
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[[cv:Хĕллехи XX-мĕш олимп вăййи]]
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[[el:Χειμερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2006]]
[[es:Juegos Olímpicos de Turín 2006]]
[[eo:Vintra Olimpiko 2006]]
[[fr:Jeux Olympiques d'hiver de 2006]]
[[ko:2006년 동계 올림픽]]
[[hr:XX. Zimske olimpijske igre - Torino 2006.]]
[[id:Olimpiade Musim Dingin 2006]]
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[[la:2006 Olympia Hiemalia]]
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[[lt:2006 m. žiemos olimpinės žaidynės]]
[[hu:2006. évi téli olimpiai játékok]]
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[[ro:Jocurile Olimpice de iarnă din 2006]]
[[ru:Зимние Олимпийские игры 2006]]
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[[tr:2006 Kış Olimpiyatları]]
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[[zh:2006年冬季奥林匹克运动会]]