2006 Winter Olympics

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XX. winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics logo
Venue: Turin ( Italy )
Stadion: Olympic Stadium Turin
Opening ceremony: February 10, 2006
Closing ceremony: February 26, 2006
Opened by: Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (President)
Olympic oath : Giorgio Rocca (athlete)
Fabio Bianchetti (referee)
Disciplines: 15 (7 sports)
Competitions: 84
Countries: 80
Athletes: 2633 (1006 Venus symbol (female), 1657 Mars symbol (male))
← Salt Lake City 2002
Vancouver 2010 →
Medal table
space country G S. B. Ges.
1 GermanyGermany Germany 11 12 6th 29
2 United StatesUnited States United States 9 9 7th 25th
3 AustriaAustria Austria 9 7th 7th 23
4th RussiaRussia Russia 8th 6th 8th 22nd
5 CanadaCanada Canada 7th 10 7th 24
6th SwedenSweden Sweden 7th 2 5 14th
7th Korea SouthSouth Korea South Korea 6th 3 2 11
8th SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 5 4th 5 14th
9 ItalyItaly Italy 5 - 6th 11
10 FranceFrance France 3 2 4th 9
NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands 3 2 4th 9
Complete medal table

The 2006 Winter Olympics (also known as the XX Winter Olympics ) were held from February 10th to 26th, 2006 in Turin , the capital of the Italian region of Piedmont . After the Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956, the Olympic Winter Games were held in Italy for the second time. With 80 participating nations, the Turin Games also set a new participation record.

The most successful athlete of these Winter Games was the South Korean short track runner Ahn Hyun-soo with three gold medals and one bronze medal , the most successful participant was Jin Sun-yu, who also came from South Korea and started in the short track, with three Olympic victories.

Choice of venue

Turin prevailed against Sion as the venue for these Olympic Games at the 109th IOC session on June 19, 1999 in Seoul . After 1976 and 2002, Sion failed to apply for the third time. Since the defeat came as a surprise, it was suggested that the decision against Sion would be a revenge against the Swiss IOC member Marc Hodler , who had contributed significantly to the exposure of the corruption scandal in the award of the Games to Salt Lake City .

Result of the ballot:

place country Ballot
Turin ItalyItaly Italy 53
Sion SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 36

In the opinion of the Director General for the Sion application, Jean-Daniel Mudry, two things were decisive for the decision in favor of Turin. On the one hand, the global network of relationships and sympathy that the then Fiat President Giovanni Agnelli had been able to build up as an employer in many countries and, on the other hand, Switzerland with the image of the world banker was not just friends. On the other hand, Rome promised a deficit coverage guarantee that was ten times higher than that of Switzerland. Internationally, this was perceived as an uncompromising commitment by Italy to the Olympic Games.

The following other cities had also applied to host the event, but were not allowed to vote by the IOC: The Finnish capital Helsinki , the capital of the state of Carinthia in Austria Klagenfurt , the Slovak city of Poprad and the Polish winter sports center Zakopane .

Logo, mascot and slogan

The official logo shows the profile of the Mole Antonelliana above the Olympic rings and the words “Torino 2006” . This city landmark is depicted with white and blue ice crystals, which symbolize the snow and the sky. The crystal network also stands for the network of new technologies and the Olympic sense of community.

The official Olympic mascots are Neve and Gliz . The female Neve has a head in the shape of a snowball and the red body is made up of thin round shapes. Gliz is male and has an angular ice cube head and a blue angular body. Together with the mascot of the Winter Paralympics 2006 , Aster , Neve and Gliz form a trio, clearly recognizable by the very similar facial features of the three figures.

The motto of the Olympic Winter Games in Turin was: “Passion lives here”, which translated into German means “Passion lives here”. This motto was taken up several times in the opening ceremony in the form of the passion symbolized by the color red.

Torch relay

Olympic torch

In November 2005 the Olympic torch was lit in ancient Olympia . On December 8, 2005, the torch relay reached Italy. Pope Benedict XVI blessed the Olympic flame at a mass in St. Peter's Square .

The torch relay not only led through Greece and Italy, but also through San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland and France. At the Franco-Italian border, a demonstrator tried to extinguish the torch with a protest flag. The torch reached Turin the day before the games started.

Several celebrities carried the fire through the city until the opening ceremony. These included Fabio Capello , the then football coach of Juventus Turin , and pole vaulter Serhij Bubka . By the time the Olympic flame was ignited, the flame had traveled 11,300 kilometers, carried by 10,001 torchbearers.

The Olympic flame was lit by the Italian cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo during the opening ceremony . She won a total of two gold, four silver and four bronze medals at the four Winter Olympics from 1992 to 2002.

Competition venues

The construction of sports facilities, Olympic villages and the road infrastructure cost the organizers around 1.5 billion euros. The competitions were held in four halls in Turin and in several locations in the province of Turin. Because of this one spoke of the Olympia of the long ways . It is due to this fact that three Olympic villages were established for the Olympic participants.

The largest Olympic village, Turin Village , was located in the Lingotto district and housed 2,500 athletes and their supervisors. The construction cost 137 million euros and this was where the ice hockey and curling teams, the speed and figure skaters and the short trackers were housed. The other Olympic villages in Sestriere Colle and Bardonecchia hosted 1700 and 700 athletes and coaches, respectively.

Competition venues in Turin

The "Torino Palavela"

In the Oval Lingotto , the competitions were in speed skating held. The hall is located in the southeast of the city near the Olympic village. It has an area of ​​26,500 m² and seats 8500 spectators. The construction of the hall, which works as a self-supporting structure without any pillars, began in 2002 and lasted until November 2005. The construction costs amounted to around 70 million euros.

In Torino Esposizioni and the Torino Palasport Olimpico which found ice hockey games take place. The Torino Esposizioni had space for 4,320 spectators and 27 of the 58 games were held there. The construction costs for the Torino Palasport Olimpico amounted to 90 million euros and the maximum capacity is 12,232 seats. Both halls are located in the southern Santa Rita district, right next to the Turin Olympic Stadium.

The figure skating and short track decisions could be seen in the Torino Palavela . The hall is located in the southeast of the city, close to the Lingotto Exhibition Center, the Oval Lingotto and the Olympic Village. It was completely renovated and redesigned in 2005 at a cost of 55 million euros. The capacity was 6600 spectators.

The Stadio Olimpico , the Olympic stadium in Turin, was the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies. It is located in the southern Santa Rita district, right next to the Torino Palasport Olimpico sports hall and the Torino Esposizioni exhibition center. Additional stands were built for the purpose of the celebrations, increasing the capacity from 26,000 to 35,000 spectators.

Competition venues in the province of Turin

Map of the province of Turin

In about 90 kilometers away from Turin and about 1312  m slm lying Bardonecchia found the snowboard competitions held. A skating rink for the competitions in bobsleigh , luge and skeleton was in 1354  m slm lying Cesana Torinese built. The track is 1435 meters long, has 19 curves and overcomes a difference in altitude of 114 meters. Top speeds of up to 130 km / h were reached during the competitions. In the district of San Sicario the Olympic biathlon competitions and several alpine ski races for women also took place.

The other alpine skiing decisions were made in the traditional alpine ski world cup location Sestriere . With a height of 2035  m slm it was the highest competition location . The curling decisions were made in the town of Pinerolo , while the small communities of Pragelato and Sauze d'Oulx hosted ski jumping , cross-country skiing and Nordic combined and freestyle competitions .

Attendees

Participating nations:
- Green: <10 participants;
- Blue: 10–50 participants;
- Orange: 50-100 participants;
- Red:> 100 participants.

With 80 registered nations, a new record was set in Turin. The African countries Ethiopia and Madagascar celebrated their premieres at the Winter Olympics. The Confederation of Serbia and Montenegro took part in winter games for the first and only time under this name before the part of Montenegro declared itself independent in June 2006.

Europe (1796 athletes from 47 nations)
America (443 athletes from 9 nations)
Asia (337 athletes from 16 nations)
Oceania (58 athletes from 2 nations)
Africa (9 athletes from 6 nations)
(Number of athletes) * Participation in winter games for the first time

Medals

At the Olympic Games in 1026 produced a total hand were gold , silver and bronze medals awarded. They each weighed 450 grams and were ring-shaped with a hole in the middle. The gold medal was made from silver with a 6 gram gold plating to minimize costs.

Due to their shape, the medals should represent a place where people meet and have contact with one another. The hole should also make the athlete part of the medal because you can see a piece of him through this hole when he wears the medal.

After the competitions, mostly only the flower ceremony was carried out, the official award ceremony with medals, however, took place as part of a larger event together with the winners of other disciplines. These events in the heart of Turin were also celebrated with a subsequent concert and fireworks. These celebrations took place in the "Medal Plaza", the Piazza Castello in front of the royal palace.

Sometimes, however, the medals were awarded immediately after the competitions. The ORF in particular criticized that these awards were less solemn and that different sports were presented differently. In addition, the ORF protested against the women's descent ceremony, as the Austrian anthem was drowned out by other music from the stadium.

The most successful nation was Germany with eleven gold, twelve silver and six bronze medals, followed by the United States and Austria . A total of 26 nations were able to win medals. Germany owed the upswing to biathlon, thanks in particular to five gold medals. In contrast, Norway experienced a memorable slump: After rank 1 four years ago, there were no gold medals in the Nordic parade disciplines, so Aamodt's Super G gold and the gold on the small ski jump through Lars Bystöl brought the only wins. Especially cross-country star and World Cup dominator Margit Björgen struggled with health problems. It was also bitter for the Norwegians that with the former head coach Inge Braten and the five-time Olympic champion Thomas Alsgaard, two former guarantors of success were involved in the upswing of their arch-rivals Sweden (3 times gold thanks to the sprint teams). - In biathlon everyone had expected a successful continuation of Ole Einar Björndalen's gold hunt, but after his one-man show in Salt Lake City (victories in all 4 disciplines) the Germans cleared away in San Sicario.

Competition program

84 competitions (45 for men, 37 for women and 2 mixed competitions) in 7 sports / 15 disciplines were held. That was 6 more competitions than in Salt Lake City in 2002 - the number of sports / disciplines stayed the same. The changes are detailed below:

  • In the biathlon , the 12.5 km mass start for women and the 15 km mass start for men expanded the program - for women, the 4 × 6 km relay replaced the 4 × 7.5 km relay.
  • In speed skating , the program was expanded to include a team pursuit for both men and women.
  • When cross-country skiing several competitions were replaced by others. For the men, the 30 km skiathlon and a team sprint were added - on the other hand, the 10/10 km pursuit race and the 30 km cross-country skiing were omitted. For women, the 15 km skiathlon and a team sprint were added - the 5/5 km pursuit race and the 15 km cross-country skiing were omitted.
  • In the Nordic Combined , the normal hill was replaced by the large hill at the team competition.
  • In snowboarding , the program was expanded to include skiboardcross for men and women.

Olympic sports / disciplines

Number of competitions in brackets

Time schedule

Time schedule
discipline Fr.
10.		 Sat
11.		 Sun.
12.		 Mon.
13.		 Tuesday
14		 Wed.
15.		 Thursday
16.		 Fri.
17.		 Sat
18.		 Sun.
19.		 Mon.
20.		 Tuesday
21		 Wed.
22.		 Thursday
23.		 Fri.
24.		 Sat.
25.		 Sun.
26.		 Decision-
disk-
applications
February
Olympic rings without rims.svg Opening ceremony
Biathlon pictogram.svg biathlon 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 10
bobsleigh
sport		 Bobsleigh pictogram.svg bob 1 1 1 3
Skeleton pictogram.svg skeleton 1 1 2
Curling pictogram.svg Curling 1 1 2
Ice hockey pictogram.svg ice Hockey 1 1 2
Ice skating Figure skating pictogram.svg figure skating 1 1 1 1 4th
Speed ​​skating pictogram.svg Speed ​​skating 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 12
Short track speed skating pictogram.svg Short track 1 1 2 1 3 8th
Luge pictogram.svg Luge 1 1 1 3
Skiing Freestyle skiing pictogram.svg Freestyle skiing 1 1 1 1 4th
Alpine skiing pictogram.svg Alpine skiing 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 10

Nordic skiing		 Nordic combined pictogram.svg Nordic combination 1 1 1 3
Cross country skiing pictogram.svg Cross-country skiing 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 12
Ski jumping pictogram.svg Ski jumping 1 1 1 3
Snowboarding pictogram.svg Snowboard 1 1 1 1 1 1 6th
Olympic rings without rims.svg Closing ceremony
decisions 4th 8th 4th 6th 4th 8th 3 9 3 5 4th 7th 5 4th 8th 2 84
Fr.
10.		 Sat
11.		 Sun.
12.		 Mon.
13.		 Tuesday
14		 Wed.
15.		 Thursday
16.		 Fri.
17.		 Sat
18.		 Sun.
19.		 Mon.
20.		 Tuesday
21		 Wed.
22.		 Thursday
23.		 Fri.
24.		 Sat.
25.		 Sun.
26.
February

Color legend

  • Opening ceremony
  • Competition day (no decisions)
  • Competition day (x decisions)
  • Exhibition running (figure skating gala)
  • Closing ceremony

    • Ceremonies

    Opening ceremony

    6500 performers who had been rehearsing since September 2005 took part in the opening ceremony in the Turin Olympic Stadium . It was designed by Marco Balich , who has already planned concerts by world stars such as U2 , Pink Floyd and Whitney Houston . The almost three-hour opening ceremony began on February 10, 2006 at 8 p.m. The event was followed by 35,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium and around two billion people on television .

    The opening ceremony started with an anvil that was hit with a hammer by the Italian Olympic gymnastics champion Jury Chechi . This symbolized the industrial city of Turin, where many automobile brands are based. This appearance, as well as the rest of the event, was dominated by red as the color of passion. Roller skaters , skateboarders and breakdancers displayed blood and blood cells and at the end of this first part of the ceremony they formed a heart , which through their movement gave the impression that it was beating. This symbol should also mean a warm welcome to the spectators and athletes from all over the world.

    In the second part of the celebration, there was a change of subject to Alpine folklore . Seven alphorns should symbolize the seven Alpine countries. The presentation was exaggerated, as if it were the motif of a postcard. Clichés and prejudices about the tradition of this region were also taken up with the appearance of folklore groups. The first two show elements were followed by the first official part of the opening event. Carla Bruni , former top model and singer, brought the Italian flag to the Olympic Stadium, where it was hoisted by Carabinieri . The nine-year-old girl Eleonora Benetti sang Fratelli d'Italia , the Italian national anthem.

    Another show followed, in which several hundred participants formed two "Xs" to symbolize the twentieth Winter Olympics in Roman numerals . They then showed the sequence of movements of a ski jumper. The Olympic rings , accompanied by acrobats, were installed in the stadium using a scaffolding . They were the largest Olympic rings of all time, which corresponded to the motto citius, altius, fortius (higher, faster, further).

    The athletes and officials of the individual states marched into the stadium under the rings. The first nation was traditionally Greece with the standard bearer Lefteris Fafalis . In eighth place, the Austrians entered the stadium with flag bearer Renate Götschl , in place 31st came Germany with Kati Wilhelm . Host Italy was the last nation to enter the stadium, the flag bearer was the figure skater Carolina Kostner from South Tyrol . The invasion of the athletes had been brought forward compared to the previous Olympic Games so that the athletes did not have to wait so long in the cold and could see more of the event.

    Fireworks in the form of the Olympic rings during the opening ceremony in the Turin Olympic Stadium

    At this point, quotations from Dante Alighieri ( Divine Comedy ) were recited from an oversized book, which should once again admonish athletes to behave in a sporty and fair manner. The opening ceremony then went into Italian history and art history. Flag waving and courtly scenes from the 17th century as well as the re-enactment of the painting “The Birth of Venus” with Eva Herzigová symbolized the Renaissance , stilt walkers with huge hoop skirts symbolized the Baroque . Then the turn to modernity took place with the dancer Roberto Bolle and a replica of the sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in the room by Umberto Boccioni and a techno ballet choreographed by Enzo Cosimi . This was followed by the assembly of a Formula 1 racing car from Ferrari , which then, driven by Luca Badoer , did a lap in the stadium.

    The speeches of the OC President Valentino Castellani , who referred to the Olympic Peace, and the IOC President Jacques Rogge , who thanked the organizing committee and appealed to the athletes to practice clean sport, led the official opening of the Games by the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi one. The arrival of the Olympic flag followed to the sound of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida . For the first time in Olympic history, this was worn by well-known and committed women. They should symbolize all women in the world and stand for peace, understanding and communication between cultures. The eight flag bearers were the actresses Sophia Loren and Susan Sarandon , the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai , the writer Isabel Allende , the Olympic champions Nawal El Moutawakel , Maria de Lurdes Mutola and Manuela Di Centa and the activist Somaly Mam .

    Giorgio Rocca took the Olympic oath for the athletes, Fabio Bianchetti did this for the judges. As a symbol of peace, acrobats depicted a flying dove of peace and Yoko Ono read a message of peace. The first real musical contribution so far was Imagine , sung by Peter Gabriel . The highlight of the opening ceremony was the lighting of the Olympic flame by Stefania Belmondo . It was the first time that the fire was lit with fireworks. At the end, Luciano Pavarotti sang the aria Nessun dorma from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot .

    Closing ceremony

    The approximately two and a half hour closing ceremony took place on February 26, 2006 at 8 p.m. The event was followed by 35,000 spectators in the Turin Olympic Stadium and more than a billion people on television . The event had the motto " Carnival and Circus " and the direction was Marco Balich .

    At the beginning, a clown rode into the stadium on a white horse that was supposed to represent freedom and victory. At the same time a mermaid appeared, who was supposed to symbolize the sea. Both the clown and all other actors wore original costumes from Federico Fellini's film The Clowns from 1970. Then acrobats and trapeze artists of the Cirque du Soleil performed program elements of the circus on vertical cloths on the big stage. At the same time, tire dancers appeared in the center of the stadium and actors in costumes from the Commedia dell'arte , the Italian impromptu comedy of the 16th century, marched in.

    The third part of the evening's program was the Viareggio Carnival . Pushed, fire-breathing cars and fire-breathers entered the stadium. In addition, actors with the original masks and costumes from Viareggio followed. Then tarot cards appeared , which have a long tradition in Piedmont. Together with the other actors they performed a dance of fate, in the course of which they formed a star and a triangle. A recurring element throughout the closing ceremony was the brief appearance of a rose seller, who was chased by guards in antique uniforms and later even by a small army. At the end of the celebration, this rose seller was accepted into the "family of clowns". The scene has its origins in the aversion of the director Marco Balich to rose sellers, who roam the restaurants in the evening and always disturb him with good food.

    This was followed by the award ceremony for the winners of the men's 50-kilometer cross-country skiing. It was carried out by IOC members Manuela Di Centa , a former Italian cross-country skier, and FIS President Gian Franco Kasper . The gold medal went to Giorgio Di Centa , which was presented to him by his sister. The silver medal was won by the Russian Evgeny Dementjew , the bronze medal by the Austrian Michail Botwinow . The flags were hoisted under the Olympic rings in the stadium.

    In the further course of the program, the fire walkers reappeared, who had already played a role in the opening ceremony. They were followed by a chapel made of Carabinieri , which also hoisted the Italian flag. Due to the fact that the winner of the 50-kilometer cross-country skiing was an Italian, the flag was hoisted twice in a row and the anthem played twice. Before the athletes marched in, the Greek anthem was traditionally played. Then the flag bearers of the nations marched into the stadium. Claudia Pechstein did this for Germany, Armin Zöggeler for Italy and Maya Pedersen-Bieri for Switzerland . They were followed by the athletes, who this time marched in mixed and not strictly according to nationality.

    Next, several Fiat 500 and Vespa drove into the stadium. Artists showed somersaults and twists on a 30 meter long trampoline track. Then artists hovered over a fan and performed tricks in the air. At the end of this performance, performers appeared in the interior of the stadium wearing wheels of fire or sparks spraying wings on their backs.

    This was followed by the official part of the graduation ceremony. IOC President Jacques Rogge and the President of the Organizing Committee Valentino Castellani were accompanied by Beckie Scott , who had been elected to the IOC Athletes Commission during the Games. Castellani was awarded the Olympic Order by the IOC President . In his speech, the OC President thanked the many volunteers and said goodbye on behalf of Turin. During his speech, however, he was interrupted by an interferer who tore off one of the microphones on the lectern. However, this was quickly taken into custody by the security forces.

    The Olympic flame of Turin

    After Castellani, Jacques Rogge gave a speech in which he certified Turin “great Olympic Games”. He also thanked the helpers and referred to the Paralympics taking place two weeks later . He encouraged the athletes to understand the IOC's tough crackdown on doping , because it tried to protect the athletes' health. At the end of his speech, Jacques Rogge declared the Turin Games over and invited the world's youth to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver . He thanked Italy and Turin for hosting the games.

    Now the official transition to Vancouver followed. The paraplegic Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan came on stage. The Canadian flag was hoisted and a Canadian star tenor sang the Canada's anthem. The Mayor of Turin, Sergio Chiamparino , presented the Olympic flag to Sam Sullivan. The flag was attached to his wheelchair so that he could wave it. A video clip that showed the flight over snow-capped mountains and a frozen river was the transition to a group of native Canadian people. A performer drilled a hole in a symbolized ice surface, as in ice fishing , and thereby broke it open. At the same time, other actors built an Inuksuk , a stone figure of the Inuit in the shape of a human, which is the official logo of the Vancouver Games. The host country of the next Winter Olympics was represented vocally by Avril Lavigne . An ice hockey game was re-enacted on rollerblades for the duration of the song. At the end of the transition to Vancouver, a clip was shown, which introduced the motto “Come Play With Us” and the Olympic flag was lowered. It was carried out of the stadium by Nino Benvenuti , Klaus Dibiasi , Gianluca Vialli , Sara Simeoni , Gustav Thöni , Novella Calligaris , Livio Berruti and Mario Cipollini .

    The artistic framework program continued with the invasion of a small army, which was to commemorate a military victory of Savoy over France 300 years ago, the Battle of Turin . A fire-breathing harp was also set up in the middle of the stadium. A performer was playing on her and in the same rhythm as her bursts of fire there were flames all over the stadium. When Andrea Bocelli started singing, 380 brides came to the stadium. They first formed a dove of peace and then the logo of the Turin Winter Olympics. When the former Italian ski star Isolde Kostner also entered the stadium in a wedding dress, the Olympic flame went out at 10:07 p.m. without causing a stir.

    During the closing fireworks that followed, the Italian Elisa Toffoli , who sang the Italian anthem at the closing ceremony in Salt Lake City, sang the song “Luce” and Ricky Martin sang the song “I don't care” and his 1998 hit, “La Copa de la Vida ”. At the end of the graduation ceremony, a DJ played , whose turntables were on the anvil from the opening ceremony.

    Competitions

    biathlon

    Mass start 15 kilometers for men

    In biathlon , five competitions each for women and men were held, these took place in San Sicario . The mass start race has been added to the program; for the women this led over a distance of 12.5 kilometers, for the men over 15 kilometers.

    In the men's races, the athletes from Germany dominated: On February 11th in the 20-kilometer individual, the German Michael Greis became the first Olympic champion of these games. He also won the 15-kilometer mass start race and the relay race and was the most successful biathlete in the Olympics. Sven Fischer won another individual gold medal in the sprint race. Vincent Defrasne won the 12.5 kilometer pursuit and was the only Olympic champion who did not come from Germany. The outstanding biathlete of previous years Ole Einar Bjørndalen , who was four times Olympic champion at the 2002 Winter Olympics and had to be satisfied with two silver medals and one bronze medal in 2006, fell short of his own expectations and those of the public .

    In the women's races, the four individual Olympic champions came from four different countries, Germany ( Kati Wilhelm ), Russia ( Swetlana Ischmuratowa ), France ( Florence Baverel-Robert ) and Sweden ( Anna Carin Olofsson ). The most successful teams were the German, which won a total of six medals, and the Russian, which won the relay race and thus a second gold medal and three other bronze medals. The most successful biathletes were Swetlana Ischmuratowa with two Olympic victories, Albina Achatowa with a total of three medals and Anna Carin Olofsson, who won a gold and a silver medal in individual races.

    In the women's 15-kilometer individual, the Russian Swetlana Ischmuratowa crossed the finish line ahead of Olga Pyljowa and Martina Glagow . The runner-up, however, tested positive for taking the doping agent Carphedon after the competition , whereupon she had to surrender her silver medal. Glagow won silver and the Russian Albina Achatowa bronze. In the 12.5 kilometer mass start, Uschi Disl contested her last Olympic race and won her ninth Olympic medal.

    Overall, the German athletes dominated the biathlon competitions. They won five gold, four silver and two bronze medals. Athletes from Russia and France won two competitions each, while Swedes won one.

    Bobsleigh

    Three bobsleigh competitions took place on the Pariol bobsleigh and toboggan run in Cesana Torinese . Germany proved to be the dominant nation, with the athletes winning all three gold medals. André Lange and Kevin Kuske , who come from Thuringia , were successful in the two-man and four-man bobsleigh, and René Hoppe and Martin Putze in the four-man bobsleigh . Sandra Kiriasis and Anja Schneiderheinze won the two-man bobsleigh competition for women . The Swiss bobsleigh drivers Martin Annen and Beat Hefti won bronze medals in both the two-man and four-man bobsleigh, and in the four-man bobsleigh together with Thomas Lamparter and Cédric Grand . Lascelles Brown , originally from Jamaica, had only received Canadian citizenship shortly before the Olympic Games and won the two-man bobsled silver medal with Pierre Lueders .

    Curling

    The US curling team

    The curling tournaments for women and men took place in the Palazzo Polifunzionale del Ghiaccio in Pinerolo . Ten curling teams took part in each of the two competitions, nine of which had secured their starting place on the basis of a point system that took into account the results of the World Championships in 2003 ( men and women ), 2004 ( men and women ) and 2005 . The two Italian curling teams were automatically qualified as hosts.

    In the first tournament phase between February 13 and 20, each team competed against each of the nine other teams in the round robin system . There were three sessions every day, one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The four teams with the highest points qualified for the semifinals. The winners of the two semi-final matches determined the Olympic champion in the final, the two losing semi-finalists the winner of the bronze medal. The final phase lasted from February 22nd to 24th.

    Teams from Germany , Finland , Italy , Canada , New Zealand , Norway , Sweden , Switzerland , the USA and the United Kingdom took part in the men's tournament. In the final, Canada defeated the team from Finland 10: 4, in the game for third place the United States beat the United Kingdom 8: 6. The Swiss team achieved fifth place with five wins, the German team only won three games and came in eighth.

    Teams from Denmark , Italy , Japan , Canada , Norway , Russia , Sweden , Switzerland , the United States and the United Kingdom took part in the women's tournament. In the final Sweden beat the team from Switzerland 7: 6 (after extra time), in the game for third place Canada beat Norway 11: 5.

    ice Hockey

    There was one ice hockey tournament each for women and men, the venues were the Palasport Olimpico and Torino Esposizioni halls in Turin.

    For the men's tournament, twelve teams with 20 field players and three goalkeepers each were allowed. The eight best teams in the ice hockey world rankings qualified directly for this, namely Canada , Sweden , Slovakia , the Czech Republic , Finland , the USA , Russia and Germany ; in addition there was host Italy . The other three places were played out in qualifying tournaments in which Switzerland , Latvia and Kazakhstan qualified.

    The twelve teams initially played in two preliminary round groups with six teams each. The best four teams in each group reached the quarter-finals and subsequently determined the Olympic champion in the knockout system . With fifth place in group A, the German team narrowly missed the quarter-finals; The team couldn't win any of the five games, only two ended in a draw. The Swiss achieved second place in the same group with two surprising victories against Canada and the Czech Republic and two draws, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals against eventual Olympic champion Sweden. The bronze medalist was determined by the two losers in the semi-finals, with the Czech Republic beating Russia 3-0. There were no other placement games. The Swedish team won the Olympic championship, defeating the team from Finland 3-2 in the final.

    Eight teams, each with 20 field players and three goalkeepers, were approved for the women's Olympic ice hockey tournament. The four best women's teams in the world ice hockey rankings , Canada , the USA , Finland and Sweden qualified directly ; Host Italy was automatically approved as the fifth team. The remaining three places were awarded in a qualifying round in which Russia , Germany and Switzerland prevailed.

    In the preliminary round of the women's tournament, the eight teams initially played in two groups. The first two in each group reached the semi-finals, the third and fourth placed played in a placement round for places five to eight. Overall, the preliminary round games went without any major surprises: The Canadians and Americans dominated their games, Finland and Sweden put the best teams behind the North Americans. In the semifinals, the Swedes defeated the highly favored US team in a shootout and made for the first non-North American final at World Championships or Olympic Games. Canada beat Sweden 4-1 in the final, and the United States beat Finland 4-0 in the game for third place. With third place in preliminary group B, the German team just missed the quarter-finals; of the three games it could only win against Switzerland. The Swiss women again achieved fourth and last place in this group with three defeats.

    figure skating

    The Russian couple Tatjana Totmjanina and Maxim Marinin

    In figure skating four competitions in the hall were Torino Palavela held in Turin. The men's individual competition was won by the Russian Evgeni Pljuschtschenko with 258.33 points, ahead of the Swiss Stéphane Lambiel with 231.21 points and the Canadian Jeffrey Buttle with 227.59 points. The only German participant Stefan Lindemann was after a bad short freestyle and a weak freestyle only 21st of 24 runners in the final with only 172.57 points. In the women's figure skating, Shizuka Arakawa from Japan was the first Asian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating, ahead of Sasha Cohen from the USA and Irina Sluzkaja from Russia .

    In the pair skating competition, the Chinese couple Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao had to interrupt the freestyle for a few minutes after Zhang Dan fell. She suffered a ligament stretch, but was still able to maintain the second position after the short program . The winners in this discipline were the Russians Tatjana Totmjanina and Maxim Marinin . The German couple Aljona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy took sixth place, the second German couple Eva-Maria Fitze and Rico Rex finished 15th in the ice dance, which is characterized by many mistakes and falls, the Russians Tatjana Nawka and Roman Kostomarow won with 200.64 points .

    Overall, the Russian athletes dominated the figure skating competitions. They won three gold and one bronze medal.

    Speed ​​skating

    Six speed skating competitions for women and men were held at the Oval Lingotto in Turin . A new addition to the program was the team pursuit competition, which was held in the same mode as its counterpart in track cycling . There were a lot of favorites in the speed skating competitions, which resulted in balanced and exciting competitions. The most successful speed skaters came from the United States with three gold, three silver and one bronze medal. Athletes from the Netherlands, Canada, Italy and Russia also became Olympic champions. Well-known Olympic champions of these speed skating games were Joey Cheek , Enrico Fabris , Chad Hedrick , Marianne Timmer , Cindy Klassen and Ireen Wüst . In the women's team pursuit, the German team with Anni Friesinger , Claudia Pechstein , Daniela Anschütz-Thoms , Lucille Opitz and Sabine Völker won the gold medal ahead of Canada and Russia. Claudia Pechstein also won the silver medal in the 5000 meter run, Anni Friesinger the bronze medal in the 1000 meter run.

    Freestyle skiing

    In freestyle skiing , two competitions each for women and men were held in Jouvenceaux in the Sauze d'Oulx municipality . The mogul slope was 223 meters long and 10 meters wide, the gradient was 26.5 °. In the men's competition, Australian Dale Begg-Smith prevailed with 26.77 points ahead of Finn Mikko Ronkainen and American Toby Dawson . In the women’s category, Canadian Jennifer Heil won with 26.50 points ahead of Norwegian Kari Traa and French athlete Sandra Laoura . The reigning world champion Hannah Kearney from the USA was already eliminated in the qualification.

    In the men's jumping, the Chinese Han Xiaopeng won ahead of the Belarusian Dzmitryj Daschtschynski and the Russian Vladimir Lebedew . The People's Republic of China was awarded gold for the first time at the Winter Olympics. - In the women’s category, Evelyne Leu from Switzerland prevailed over Li Nina from China and Alisa Camplin from Australia . The women's final round had to be postponed by half an hour due to thick fog and was otherwise characterized by numerous interruptions. The Australian Jacqui Cooper had set a new world record in qualifying, but fell in the finals and only reached eighth place.

    Luge

    The Turin Alps - The Cesana Pariol track     hosted bobsleigh, luge and skeleton competitions

    In luge were on the bobsled and luge track Pariol in Cesana Torinese held three contests. The men's singles competition was won by the Italian Armin Zöggeler ahead of the Russian Albert Demtschenko and the Latvian Mārtiņš Rubenis . The German athlete Georg Hackl clearly missed his goal of winning the sixth medal on his sixth Olympic participation and only achieved seventh place. The Austrian brothers Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger won in the two-seater ahead of the Germans André Florschütz and Torsten Wustlich and the two South Tyroleans Gerhard Plankensteiner and Oswald Haselrieder . In the women's single-seater, the German athletes took places one to three. With a total time of 3: 07.979 minutes, the set Oberwiesenthalerin Sylke Otto against the Oberhoferin Silke Kraushaar and Tatjana Hüfner by.

    Short track

    Four short-track competitions each for women and men took place in the Torino Palavela hall in Turin . The most successful athletes of the Olympic Games 2006 started in this sport: The Korean Ahn Hyun-soo became the most successful athlete of this Olympic Winter Games with three gold medals in the 1000 meters, 1500 meters and in the 5000 meter relay as well as a bronze medal in the 500 meters Korean Jin Sun-yu became the most successful woman at these games with three gold medals in the 1000 meters, 1500 meters and the 3000 meter relay. She was also the first South Korean female athlete to win three gold medals at the Olympic Games.

    In the short track competitions the Korean athletes dominated, who won six gold, three silver and one bronze medal. The athletes from China, the USA, Canada, Bulgaria and Italy were also successful.

    skeleton

    On the Pariol bobsleigh and toboggan run in Cesana Torinese there was one competition for men and women in the skeleton . In the men's race, 27 riders from 19 nations competed. The Canadian Duff Gibson became Olympic champion with a total time of 1: 55.88 minutes from two runs. At 39, he is the oldest individual sport winner at the Winter Olympics. His compatriot Jeff Pain won the silver medal, while Gregor Stähli from Switzerland came in third . The German starters Sebastian Haupt and Frank Rommel finished ninth and 24th respectively. The Austrian Martin Rettl , the 2001 world champion and runner-up at the 2002 Winter Games, disappointed with 13th place.

    In the women's race, 15 riders from twelve nations competed. The Swiss Maya Pedersen-Bieri won the gold medal with ease. She set the best time in both races, was the only driver to run a run under a minute, set a new track record and set a new speed record of 123.1 km / h. Their total time was 1: 59.83 minutes. The British Shelley Rudman and the Canadian Mellisa Hollingsworth followed on the other places . The German Diana Sartor only missed bronze by 0.28 seconds and took fourth place. The second German starter Anja Huber came in eighth in the end.

    Alpine skiing

    In alpine skiing five competitions ever held for men and women. Seven of the ten competitions took place in Sestriere on three different slopes, three competitions for women in San Sicario in the territory of the municipality of Cesana Torinese .

    The men's first race, the downhill, ended with a surprise; French Antoine Dénériaz won ahead of Austrian Michael Walchhofer and Swiss Bruno Kernen , while favorites like Daron Rahlves or Bode Miller were left empty handed. The combined competition also ended surprisingly: After numerous favorites had been eliminated (including the Austrian Benjamin Raich, who was on the gold course with 1st place after the first slalom run, but stumbled in the second slalom run), the American Ted Ligety won , who was given one Performance was actually more likely in the slalom. The other medals were won by Ivica Kostelić and Rainer Schönfelder .

    The Super-G on February 18, which started at 11 a.m., had to be canceled after 17 drivers (the Swiss Bruno Kernen) due to heavy snowfall and thick fog. It was initially rescheduled to 1.30 p.m. and finally to 2.45 p.m. . At the time of the cancellation, the Frenchman Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin was leading ahead of the two Canadians Manuel Osborne-Paradis and John Kucera. Ultimately, the Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt won , who became Olympic champion in this discipline for the third time after 1992 and 2002. While Osborne-Paradis finished 20th and John Kucera 22nd, Dalcin was eliminated at the restart. - Second in the Super-G from Austria's Hermann Maier , third from Swiss Ambrosi Hoffmann . Benjamin Raich won the giant slalom ahead of Joël Chenal , who thus won the first men's "giant" medal for the "Grande Nation" since Jean-Claude Killy (Grenoble 1968). Hermann Maier won his second medal at these games with third place. The Canadian François Bourque , who was still in the lead after the first run, came home empty-handed in fourth.

    In the slalom, the Austrians proved to be superior and won all three medals; Benjamin Raich won (with two fastest times) ahead of Reinfried Herbst and Rainer Schönfelder . It was the first triple slalom podium for a nation (at both World Championships and Olympics) in the post-war period. - The Italian Giorgio Rocca , who won five races in a row in the current World Cup season , could not withstand the pressure of his compatriots' expectations and retired in the first run.

    The women's competitions also began with the downhill. It was won by Michaela Dorfmeister from Austria, ahead of Martina Schild from Switzerland , the granddaughter of the 1948 Olympic downhill champion, Hedy Schlunegger , and the favorite Anja Pärson . The Croatian Janica Kostelić won the combined competition , although she started weak from the flu. With her fourth gold medal, she became the most successful athlete ever in Alpine Olympic races, four days earlier her brother Ivica Kostelić had won the silver medal in the same discipline. The silver medal was won by (surprisingly) Marlies Schild, while Anja Pärson took third place and thus - again one of the favorites - missed her first Olympic victory. The combined descent should originally have taken place on February 17th at 12:00, but was postponed by one day due to bad weather conditions, so that the combined slalom was held first.

    Michaela Dorfmeister also won the gold medal in the Super-G, this time ahead of Janica Kostelić and Alexandra Meissnitzer . This competition was originally supposed to take place on February 19th at 12 noon, but was postponed by one day due to bad weather conditions, and then again on February 20th from 12:00 to 14:45. The giant slalom was also affected by bad weather conditions, but it was carried out as scheduled despite heavy snowfall and thick fog. The American Julia Mancuso won ahead of Tanja Poutiainen from Finland , who won the first Olympic Alpine medal for Finland; the Swede Anna Ottosson advanced from 13th to 3rd place in the second run. The last race, the slalom, was (finally) won by Sweden's Anja Pärson, who became an Olympic champion for the first time. The other medals went to Nicole Hosp and Marlies Schild, who now won bronze after the combination silver medal. The fact that the Swiss federation did not provide a runner was a low point in view of the successes especially achieved by Erika Hess and Vreni Schneider (along with Sonja Nef , Lise-Marie Morerod ).

    The Austrian ski team dominated these competitions with a total of four gold, five silver and five bronze medals. They won almost half of all achievable medals. The most successful athletes were the Austrians Benjamin Raich and Michaela Dorfmeister, each with two gold medals. Other Olympic champions came from the USA, France, Croatia, Norway and Sweden. Swiss skiers won one silver and two bronze medals, while the hosts from Italy could not confirm the good results in the World Cup and like the participants from Germany did not achieve a single podium. - In the DSV team, however, a potential medal contender was missing, namely Maria Riesch: On December 10, 2005, in the second round of the World Cup giant slalom in Aspen, she suffered a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee and a meniscus lesion and bone sprain in a fall, after she had already suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee at the Super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo on January 12, 2005 and was thus canceled for the World Cup in Bormio. Hilde Gerg , Caroline Lalive , Sonja Nef, Marlies Oester , Johanna Schnarf or Hans Grugger , Tobias Grünenfelder and Mario Scheiber due to injuries and Isolde Kostner (pregnancy) had also been deleted
    from the actual or possible lists of participants or nominations have to.

    Nordic skiing

    Andrus Veerpalu was Olympic champion in 15-kilometer cross-country skiing

    All Nordic skiing competitions took place in the municipality of Pragelato . In cross-country skiing, six competitions each for women and men were held. In addition, there were three competitions for the men in Nordic Combined and three in ski jumping. The men's 30-kilometer mass start and the women's 15-kilometer mass start have been removed from the program. The team sprint was added as a new discipline. The 50-kilometer run for men and the 30-kilometer run for women were held in a mass start for the first time. In the pursuit races, both sections of the route (15 km classic / 15 km free style for men and 7.5 km classic / 7.5 km free technique for women) were completed one after the other with a ski change without a break.

    In the men's cross-country team sprint (classic style) the Germans had hoped for a medal, but they had to admit defeat to the Swedish, Norwegian and Russian teams; Olympic champions in this discipline were Thobias Fredriksson and Björn Lind . In the 15-kilometer race (classic style), Tobias Angerer secured the first German cross-country medal at these games with third place behind the Estonian Andrus Veerpalu and the Czech Lukáš Bauer .

    The 30-kilometer double pursuit was disappointing for the runners of the German Ski Association : René Sommerfeldt gave up the race and Tobias Angerer, who was one of the closest favorites, was only 12th. The winner of this race was the Russian Yevgeny Dementiev , a good seventh place occupied the Austrian Mikhail Botwinov .

    The supreme discipline, the 50-kilometer competition in free style, was won by local hero Giorgio Di Centa in a final sprint ahead of Yevgeny Dementjew and Mikhail Botwinov. The Italians also won the 4 x 10 kilometer relay. The German team with runners Andreas Schlütter , Jens Filbrich , René Sommerfeldt and Tobias Angerer won the silver medal ahead of the Swedes. The Swiss came in seventh, while the Austrians affected by a nightly raid as a result of the doping scandal could not keep up and were taken out of the race in the third lap.

    The Swedish team was also successful in the classic style team sprint competition for women; Anna Dahlberg and Lina Andersson won ahead of the Canadian and Finnish teams. The German team with Viola Bauer and Evi Sachsenbacher-Stehle had hoped for a medal, but missed it with fifth place, as did the highly favored Norwegian team. The Russian team won the 4-by-5-kilometer relay. The German runners Stefanie Böhler , Viola Bauer, Evi Sachsenbacher-Stehle and Claudia Künzel won the silver medal ahead of the Italians.

    The individual sprint competition in free style surprisingly won the Canadian Chandra Crawford ahead of Claudia Künzel. Estonian Kristina Šmigun won over 10 kilometers in classic style as well as in the pursuit race . In the 30-kilometer run, which was held in a free style, the Czech Kateřina Neumannová was the fastest and after five silver or bronze medals, she won Olympic gold for the first time.

    In the Nordic Combined sprint competition, the jumping was stopped after 16 jumpers because of the strong head wind and restarted with a shortened run-up. This also made it necessary to postpone the final cross-country run by one hour to 3 p.m. The Austrian Felix Gottwald won this competition ahead of Magnus Moan and the German athlete Georg Hettich . In the individual competition, Georg Hettich was the first to go into the cross-country ski run after jumping and defended his first place until the end of the race. Second place went to Austrian Felix Gottwald, almost ten seconds behind. The bronze medal winner Magnus Moan was only determined in the photo finish .

    The team championship was won by the Austrian team ahead of the German and Finnish teams, with the German team still leading Austria by 10.3 points after the jump. The jumping had to be canceled after the first round due to strong winds. This postponed the second round of jumping and the cross-country relay by one day. The Norwegian team decided not to start because three of the four athletes were infected with the flu. After the postponement, Italy also had to forego further participation for health reasons.

    The ski jumping competitions were dominated by the Austrian and Norwegian athletes. Austria won two gold and one silver medals through Thomas Morgenstern (gold, K120), Andreas Kofler (silver, K120) and victory in the team. In the decision on the large hill, the minimum of a tenth of a point decided for Morgenstern, this against his roommate Kofler of all places, while third place already had a large gap of 26.2 points. Norway won one gold and three bronze medals, thanks to Lars Bystøl (gold, K90), Roar Ljøkelsøy (bronze, K90) and third place on the team. A fourth place for Michael Uhrmann on the normal hill was a very respectable result for the German team. In addition, Uhrmann had the longest jump of the second round with 104.5 meters. The German team also achieved fourth place in the team competition on the large hill. From a German point of view, the jumping competitions were overshadowed by the suspension of Alexander Herr on February 18. - The best Swiss was Andreas Küttel with the fifth place on the normal hill and sixth on the large hill.

    Snowboard

    In snowboarding , three competitions each for women and men were held; these took place in Melezet near Bardonecchia . The snowboard cross discipline has been added to the program . The parallel giant slalom course had 24 goals and an altitude difference of 163 meters. The halfpipe was 145 meters long and 18 meters wide, had a gradient of 16 ° and a side height of 5.7 meters. The snowboard cross course had a height difference of 213 meters and had 38 obstacles.

    These competitions were dominated by United States athletes who won three gold, three silver, and one bronze medals. Switzerland was also very successful with three gold and one silver medals. The Americans dominated the half-pipe competitions with two double victories, with Shaun White in the men's and Hannah Teter in the women's winner . The German Amelie Kober won the silver medal in the parallel giant slalom as an outsider, the member of the federal police only had to admit defeat to the Swiss Daniela Meuli . The Schoch brothers from Switzerland won the men's parallel giant slalom, with Philipp winning ahead of Simon .

    The most curious incident of these competitions occurred in the women's final of the snowboard cross discipline. Lindsey Jacobellis awarded her safe gold medal for a cocky grip on the board that led to a fall, and ended up only in second place; the victory went to the Swiss Tanja Frieden . The day before, the American Seth Wescott , who had been in a relationship with peace for years, also won the gold medal in this discipline.

    Outstanding athletes and achievements

    The most successful athlete of these Winter Games was the South Korean short track runner Ahn Hyun-soo with three Olympic victories and one bronze medal, ahead of the German Michael Greis with three gold medals. The most successful athlete of the games was the short track runner Jin Sun-yu from South Korea, who won three gold medals. Most of the medals of all participants went to the speed skater Cindy Klassen from Canada, who was once Olympic champion and was able to win a silver medal and three bronze medals.

    The German biathlete Sven Fischer 2003

    The German André Lange was the first bobsledder since Wolfgang Hoppe ( GDR ) in Sarajevo in 1984 to win gold in both the two-man and four-man bobsleigh. In addition to him and Michael Greis, the biathlete Sven Fischer , who won bronze in addition to two gold medals, was one of the most successful German participants. Felix Gottwald became the most successful participant from Austria with his two gold medals and one silver medal that he had won in the Nordic Combined. The most successful Austrian athletes also included the ski racers Michaela Dorfmeister and Benjamin Raich as well as the nineteen-year-old ski jumper Thomas Morgenstern , each with two Olympic victories. Martin Annen and his team partner Beat Hefti won bronze medals in the two-man and four-man bobsleigh, making them the only participants from Switzerland to win more than one medal.

    At the Olympic Winter Games in Turin, there were two decisions in which all medals to be awarded were won by athletes from one country: Gold, silver and bronze in the women's single-seater tobogganing went to Germany, and the medals in the men's Alpine slalom were won by three Austrians.

    At the age of 41 years and 189 days, the Norwegian cross-country skier Hilde G. Pedersen won the bronze medal over 10 kilometers classic and became the oldest medalist of all time at the Winter Olympics. Scott Baird , substitute for the American curling team, did not appear, but became the oldest participant in the Winter Olympics through his participation in the Olympic tournament at the age of 54 and 282 days. Since he and his team also won the bronze medal, he also advanced to become the oldest medal winner at the Winter Olympics to date.

    Ole Einar Bjørndalen (4th place with a total of 5 gold medals, 3 silver medals, 1 bronze medal), Kjetil André Aamodt (14th, 4-2-2) and Janica Kostelić (18th, 4-2-0) also established themselves with their medal wins among the historically most successful participants in the Olympic Winter Games, such as the German athletes Claudia Pechstein (5th, 5-2-2), Ricco Groß (13th, 4-3-1) and Sven Fischer (14th, 4-2-2). This makes Pechstein the most successful of all German participants in the Winter Olympic Games.

    Georg Hackl did not win a medal in seventh place in tobogganing, but was able to celebrate his sixth participation in the Winter Olympics since 1988 .

    doping

    The toughest doping controls in history were carried out at the Olympic Winter Games in Turin. For example, there were advanced tests for growth hormone or EPO . In addition, in addition to a two-year competition ban, the convicted doping offenders were also threatened with investigations by the Italian public prosecutor's office, since doping is an official offense in Italy . The IOC was assured that the public prosecutor's office and the police would not search the athletes' apartments, but investigations would still take place in the event of positive doping tests.

    In the first few days after the athletes had arrived, mainly athletes were checked who had not started the World Cup in the weeks before the Olympics and during this time could have carried out doping tailored to the Games apart from the tests. The controlled included the German biathlete Ricco Groß , the German speed skater Anni Friesinger and the American skier Bode Miller . One point of criticism from the athletes, however, was how the tests were carried out, as they had to travel up to 25 kilometers from the competition site to the doping test and this disrupted their training rhythm.

    During a pre-Olympic check in January, the Brazilian bobsledder Armando dos Santos tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone and was excluded from the games. The first doping case during the Games became known on February 16. The Russian Olga Pyljowa , who had won the silver medal in the individual biathlon race, was convicted of doping with the forbidden substance Carphedon with A and B samples and was excluded from further participation. The silver medal was revoked and a two-year ban was imposed.

    On February 18, a large-scale house and personal search was carried out in the quarters of the Austrian cross-country skiers and biathletes. The Austrian biathletes and the cross-country skiers, who were used in the men's relay competition the next day, had to undergo a doping test in the late evening. The reason for this action was the multi-day presence of the Austrian cross-country trainer Walter Mayer , who was banned from the Olympic Games for doping offenses . He had disappeared and reappeared in Carinthia , where he was drunk and tried to break a police cordon in a car. It was only because of this incident that the top of the Austrian Ski Association distanced itself from Mayer by being dismissed without notice.

    It was rumored for a while that a supervisor threw a bag of evidence out of a window in order to dispose of it, but the incident is not mentioned in official statements by the Italian prosecutor. However, the Turin prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello said that over 100 syringes, 30 boxes of medication and various devices for blood tests and transfusions were found in the raid. The night after the search, the two Austrian biathletes Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann from Italy left. They were excluded from the Austrian Olympic team for unauthorized removal from the team.

    On February 24th, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced - contrary to normal practice - that the doping samples of all tested Austrian athletes were negative. Usually only positive doping results are reported by the IOC. However, the investigations are continuing in this case, as the Italian public prosecutor and the IOC suspect that illegal doping methods, especially blood doping, have been attempted or used. However, no form of doping could be detected in any athlete or coach. The presumption of innocence applies to the suspects.

    On April 25, 2007, the IOC decided on the basis of the findings in the 2006 raid in the Austrian cross-country skiing district to exclude six Austrian athletes from participating in the Olympic Games for life and also to annul their results at the 2006 Winter Games. These are the biathletes Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann as well as the cross-country skiers Roland Diethart , Johannes Eder , Jürgen Pinter and Martin Tauber .

    On May 24th, 2007 it was announced that the IOC is cutting a million dollars in funding from the ÖOC due to the repeated doping incidents and the lax Austrian attitude towards doping. The IOC demanded solid evidence that the many promises to combat doping that have not yet been or only partially implemented are being kept by Austria. On May 29, 2007, the Austrian NOK banned 13 officials from all future Olympic Games, but on September 8, 2009 seven of these people were rehabilitated by the same body. In mid-July 2007, the Disciplinary Committee of the Austrian Ski Association announced that the Olympic participants Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann had been shown to have been doping blood and possessing plasma expanders . It was also acknowledged that the trainers Walter Mayer and Emil Hoch tolerated doping and even actively supported it. On November 22nd, 2007 the FIS doping committee suspended Austrian cross-country skiers Martin Tauber, Johannes Eder and Roland Diethart for violating the anti-doping regulations during the 2006 Winter Olympics for two years, while Jürgen Pinter was not subject to any sanctions. On February 29, 2008, the FIS dropped the doping charge against Markus Gandler because "the standard of evidence required for a punishment is not met".

    safety

    After the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , it was the second Winter Games held under the sign of fear of terrorist attacks . That is why there was a very large number of security forces in Turin and the surrounding area. By the end of the games, more than 15,000 police officers, soldiers and special forces were deployed. During the opening ceremony, Turin airspace was closed to prevent aircraft attacks. The visitors to the competitions first had to go through the security checks before they got to the sports facilities.

    In Turin, on February 23, the Italian security forces even blew up a parked Spanish car that was suspected of being a bomb. However, it turned out to be a false alarm. Occasionally, the security precautions also took on exaggerated proportions, for example screwdrivers from the service staff were confiscated by security officers at the Herrenabfahrt.

    Problems and criticism

    The Olympic Winter Games in Turin were exposed to various types of problems and, accordingly, also to public and media criticism:

    The sometimes weak audience response for a global event of this dimension was disappointing; many competitions took place in front of a small audience, which also affected the mood of many decisions. The reasons given for the lack of visitor feedback included high admission prices and, in some cases, poor transport infrastructure .

    The fact that in some sports the medals were not awarded in front of several thousand spectators at the Medal Plaza in Turin, but directly at the competition venue , also met with criticism, especially from the athletes involved and the associations concerned . The German Georg Hettich received his gold medal in Nordic combined in front of almost empty ranks.

    All competition venues were completed on schedule and in good condition, but there were still numerous construction sites and a lot of rubble to be seen in the vicinity of some of the venues. Roads and railway lines that were to be newly built or expanded for the Games could not be opened on time either.

    Another problem was the sometimes extreme weather. Heavy snowfall led to the postponement of some alpine skiing competitions and caused almost irregular conditions in the biathlon. During the bobsleigh competitions, awnings had to be partially stretched so that the competition could take place. The roads to the Sestriere competition site had to be repeatedly closed due to the weather.

    The deficit of the Organizing Committee of the 2006 Winter Olympics (TOROC) was 31 million euros, while the budget had assumed a loss of 41 million euros. The organizing committee is currently working on ideas on how to use the sports facilities in the long term. The city of Turin is striving for a foundation that will manage the properties worth around 500 million euros.

    reporting

    Large screen in the Piazza San Carlo

    More than 10,000 media representatives from all over the world reported on the Olympic Winter Games in Turin. Over three billion people in 200 countries were able to watch television reports on the competitions.

    The coverage was sometimes quite negative, which can be attributed to the problems mentioned above. Some media outlets used the phrase "The games worked, but weren't fascinating". It was already in use in 2004 in Athens where similar problems were noted.

    watch TV

    As with the other Olympic Games, the television rights for Germany were held by the public broadcasters ARD ( Das Erste ) and ZDF . As with the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens , these also showed other competitions on their digital channels EinsFestival and ZDFinfokanal . In Austria, ORF 1 broadcast the Olympic Games, and the evening "Olympic Studio" also met with great interest due to the doping allegations. For the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the broadcasts ran on SF two . Eurosport's games were broadcast 24 hours a day across Europe . Just like the ZDF, Eurosport also offered the winter games as a live stream on their respective homepages. The viewer could watch the current Olympic program without a television.

    Germany

    The opening ceremony, broadcast by ZDF, was seen by 8.4 million Germans. On the second day of the competition for the decision in the women's speed skating over 3000 meters with the German top favorites Claudia Pechstein and Anni Friesinger , over 9 million viewers tuned in, which gave ARD a market share of 34%. The closing ceremony, which was broadcast by ARD, saw significantly fewer viewers: only 6.4 million (18.5% share). The average age of television viewers was 56 years. Even sports such as ski freestyle or snowboarding mostly watched over 50 years old.

    Switzerland

    The SRG SSR spent around 23 million Swiss francs for rights and production costs. The men's departure was followed by more than a million people, representing a market share of 72.7%. More than a million people also watched the women's curling final at the Zusatzend. The opening ceremony also received little attention in Switzerland, with only 658,000 viewers sitting in front of the television sets during this broadcast. 19 programs only reached half a million viewers.

    United States

    Despite good results from the US team, the US Winter Olympics met with extremely little interest. The television broadcaster NBC , which had the sole broadcasting rights, recorded only around 13 million viewers per evening in the first week of the Olympics, and significantly more at all of the winter games over the past 20 years. The talent show American Idol and, surprisingly, series such as Desperate Housewives had significantly higher ratings. There was particularly little interest in cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and biathlon. Individual demands to abolish the Olympic Winter Games entirely were not to be taken very seriously. The American sports press, however, found little satisfaction in the games in Turin. Sports columnist Steve Hofstetter wrote : “I can't remember any Olympic Games that attracted so little interest. It's just too boring. ”However, media critics pointed to NBC's poor programming, where the competitions were placed in short sequences between long blocks of commercials.

    Internet

    The official website had been accessed over 700 million times by mid-March 2006. The website www.torino2006.org was thus more successful than its predecessors in Athens and Salt Lake City . On Wednesday, February 22, 2006 alone, there were more than 71 million page views. Most of the users of the 2006 Winter Olympics website came from the United States. German users took eighth place.

    literature

    Web links

     Wikinews: Portal: Winter Olympics  - in the news
    Commons : Winter Olympics 2006  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
    This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 8, 2006 .