1.
2006 Winter Paralympics
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The 2006 Winter Paralympic Games, the ninth Winter Paralympics, took place in Turin, Italy from 10 to 19 March 2006. These were the first Winter Paralympic Games to be held in Italy and they were also the first Paralympics to use the new Paralympics logo. The top 10 NPCs by number of gold medals are listed below, the Games featured 58 medal events in five disciplines of four sports. As with other Paralympic Games, medals are awarded for each classification within each event, the sport of wheelchair curling made its Paralympic debut at these games. Alpine skiing events were held at Sestriere, cross-country skiing and biathlon events were held at Cesana San Sicario. All skiing athletes were accommodated in the Alpine Paralympic Village in Sestriere, ice sledge hockey was held in Turin, and wheelchair curling was held in Pinerolo. These athletes were accommodated in the City Paralympic Village in Turin, thirty-nine National Paralympic Committees entered athletes at the 2006 Winter Paralympics. This was an increase of three from the 36 represented at the 2002 Winter Paralympics, the number in parentheses indicates the number of participants from each NPC. A total of 486 athletes participated in the Games,385 male and 101 female and this is an increase from the 430 athletes participated in 2002. Despite overall increase of delegates and athletes, the nations who participated in the 2002 Winter Paralympics did not send athletes to Turin. Estonia Netherlands Mexico is the country who had sent an athlete to these Games. These are the second Paralympic Games to be held in Italy and these are the first Paralympic Games to feature a live webcast of events, hosted by ParalympicSport. TV. The Games mascot is Aster, a star-shaped snowflake similar in design to the Olympic mascots Neve and Gliz. TV International Paralympic Committee
2006 Winter Paralympics
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Aster, mascot of
Paralympic Games in
Turin
2006 Winter Paralympics
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IX Paralympic Winter Games
2006 Winter Paralympics
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Aster, Mascot of the XI Winter Paralympic Games
2.
Mole Antonelliana
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The Mole Antonelliana is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A mole in Italian is a building of monumental proportions, construction began in 1863, soon after Italian unification, and was completed in 1889, after the architects death. Originally conceived of as a synagogue, it now houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, a representation of the building is featured on the obverse of the Italian 2 cent euro coin. The building was conceived and constructed as a synagogue, the community, with a budget of 250,000 lire and the intention of having a building worthy of a capital city, hired Antonio Antonelli. Antonelli had recently added a 121-metre-high dome and spire to the seventeenth-century Basilica of San Gaudenzio in Novara, the relationship between Antonelli and the Jewish community was not happy. He proposed a series of modifications which raised the height to 167.5 meters. Such changes, in addition to costs and construction time than were originally anticipated, did not please the Jewish community and construction was halted in 1869. With the removal of the Italian capital to Florence in 1864, the community shrank, in 1876, the Jewish community, which had spent 692,000 lire for a building that was still far from finished, announced that it was withdrawing from the project. The people of Turin, who had watched the synagogue rise skyward, demanded that the city take over the project, an exchange was arranged between the Jewish community and the city of Turin for a piece of land on which a handsome Moorish Revival synagogue was quickly built. The Mole was dedicated to Victor Emmanuel II, Antonelli again began construction, which took the height to 146,153, and finally 167.5 meters. From 1908 to 1938, the city used it to house its Museum of the Risorgimento, the Mole Antonelliana is the tallest unreinforced brick building in the world. On 23 May 1953 a violent cloudburst, accompanied by a tornado, destroyed the uppermost 47 metres of the pinnacle, since 2000, the building has housed the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. The building also lent its name to one of Italian footballs oldest tournaments, on one side of the four-faced dome, the first Fibonacci numbers are written with red neon lights, they are part of the artistic work Il volo dei Numeri by Mario Merz. The Mole was featured in the leg of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race 20. The building was used extensively in the 2004 Italian film Dopo Mezzanotte, website of the National Museum of Film The History of the Mole on the Piedmont Regional Site Logos of Turin 2006 Winter Olympics and Turin candidacy
Mole Antonelliana
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Mole Antonelliana
Mole Antonelliana
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A 19th-century
stereoscopic photograph showing the Mole with a temporary dome.
Mole Antonelliana
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Night view of the building
Mole Antonelliana
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Mole Antonelliana in 2011, view from Monte dei Cappuccini
3.
Turin
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Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region and was the first capital city of Italy. The city is located mainly on the bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley and surrounded by the western Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 892,649 while the population of the area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million, in 1997 a part of the historical center of Torino was inscribed in the World Heritage List under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. Turin is well known for its Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, many of Turins public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi such as Palazzo Madama, were built between the 16th and 18th centuries. This was after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy was moved to Turin from Chambery as part of the urban expansion, the city used to be a major European political center. Turin was Italys first capital city in 1861 and home to the House of Savoy, from 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the Royal House of Savoy and finally the first capital of the unified Italy. Turin is sometimes called the cradle of Italian liberty for having been the birthplace and home of notable politicians and people who contributed to the Risorgimento, such as Cavour. The city currently hosts some of Italys best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin, founded in the 15th century, in addition, the city is home to museums such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana. Turins attractions make it one of the worlds top 250 tourist destinations, Turin is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a GDP of $58 billion, Turin is the worlds 78th richest city by purchasing power, as of 2010, the city has been ranked by GaWC as a Gamma World city. Turin is also home to much of the Italian automotive industry, the Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the Po River, in the center of modern Piedmont. In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal as he was allied with their long-standing enemies, the Taurini chief town was captured by Hannibals forces after a three-day siege. As a people they are mentioned in history. It is believed that a Roman colony was established in 27 BC under the name of Castra Taurinorum, both Livy and Strabo mention the Taurinis country as including one of the passes of the Alps, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times. In the 1st century BC, the Romans created a military camp, the typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city, especially in the neighborhood known as the Quadrilatero Romano. Via Garibaldi traces the path of the Roman citys decumanus which began at the Porta Decumani. The Porta Palatina, on the side of the current city centre, is still preserved in a park near the Cathedral
Turin
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From top to bottom, left to right: panorama of the
Mole Antonelliana,
Valentino Park with the medieval village, Piazza Castello with Palazzo Reale and Palazzo Madama, San Carlo Plaza with the Caval ëd Bronz, the Arco Olimpico and the Lingotto, the sarcophagus of Oki at the
Egyptian Museum, a view of the hills, the
Po, the Gran Madre, the Monte of Cappuccini and
Palatine Towers.
Turin
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The Roman
Palatine Towers.
Turin
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Siege of Turin
Turin
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Turin in the 17th century.
4.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
Italian language
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Dante Alighieri (above) and
Petrarch (below) were influential in establishing their
Tuscan dialect as the most prominent literary language in all of
Italy in the
Late Middle Ages
Italian language
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The geographic distribution of the Italian language in the world: large Italian-speaking communities are shown in green; light blue indicates areas where the Italian language was used officially during the Italian colonial period.
Italian language
Italian language
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Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language from the Tuscan dialect, as a literary medium, codifying the language for standard modern usage
5.
Olympic sports
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Olympic sports are sports contested in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The 2016 Summer Olympics included 28 sports, with five additional sports due to be added to the 2020 Summer Olympics, the 2014 Winter Olympics included seven sports. The number and kinds of events may change slightly from one Olympiad to another, each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing body, namely an International Federation. The International Olympic Committee establishes a hierarchy of sports, disciplines, according to this hierarchy, the Olympic sports can be subdivided into multiple disciplines, which are often assumed to be distinct sports. Examples include swimming and water polo, or figure skating and speed skating, in their turn, disciplines can be subdivided into events, for which medals are actually awarded. The IOCs requirements reflect participation in the Olympic Games as well—more stringent toward men, previous Olympic Games included sports which are no longer present on the current program, like polo and tug of war. These sports, known as discontinued sports, were removed either because of lack of interest or absence of an appropriate governing body. Archery and tennis are examples of sports that were competed at the early Games and were dropped by the IOC. Demonstration sports have often included in the Olympic Games, usually to promote a local sport from the host country or to gauge interest. Some such sports, like baseball and curling, were added to the official Olympic program, baseball, however, was discontinued after the 2008 Summer Olympics. The term sport in Olympic terminology refers to all the events that are sanctioned by one international sport federation, one sport, by Olympic definition, may be divided into several disciplines, which are often regarded as separate sports in common language. Skating is a winter Olympic sport represented by the International Skating Union, and includes four disciplines, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating, and synchronized skating. The sport with the largest number of Olympic disciplines is skiing, with six, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, nordic combined, snowboarding, other notable multi-discipline sports are gymnastics, cycling, volleyball, wrestling, canoeing, and bobsleigh. The disciplines listed here are only those contested in the Olympics—gymnastics has two disciplines, while cycling and wrestling have three each. It should also be noted that the IOC definition of a discipline may differ from that used by an international federation, for example, the IOC considers artistic gymnastics a single discipline, but the International Federation of Gymnastics classifies mens and womens artistic gymnastics as separate disciplines. An event, by IOC definition, is a competition that leads to the award of medals. The number of events per sport ranges from a minimum of two to a maximum of 47 in athletics, which despite its number of events and its diversity is not divided into disciplines. The only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic program are athletics, aquatics, cycling, fencing, the only winter sports that were included in all Winter Olympic Games are skiing, skating, and ice hockey
Olympic sports
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Archery competition held during the
Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. Dropped from the Olympic program after the 1920
Antwerp games, it was reinstated in
1972.
Olympic sports
–
Curling was promoted to official Olympic sport at the
Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics.
Olympic sports
–
Tug of war was contested at the
1904 Summer Olympics. It was later dropped from the Olympic program but remains a recognized sport.
6.
President of Italy
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The President of the Italian Republic is the head of state of Italy and, in that role, represents national unity and guarantees that Italian politics comply with the Constitution. The presidents term of office lasts for seven years, the 11th President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, was elected on 10 May 2006, and elected to a second term for the first time in Italian Republic history, on 20 April 2013. On 31 January 2015, the incumbent President, former Constitutional judge Sergio Mattarella, was elected at the ballot with 665 votes out of 1,009. The framers of the Constitution of Italy intended for the President to be a statesman of some stature. Article 84 states that any citizen who is fifty or older on election day and enjoys civil and those citizens who already hold any other office are prohibited from becoming President unless they resign their previous office once they are elected. The 1948 Italian Constitution does not have term limits although until 2013 no Italian President of the Republic had run for a term of office. He made it clear, however, that he would not serve his full term, three representatives come from each region, save for the Aosta Valley, which appoints one, so as to guarantee representation for all localities and minorities. According to the Constitution, the election must be held by a ballot, with the 315 Senators, the 630 Deputies. A two-thirds vote is required to elect on any of the first three rounds of balloting, after that, a majority suffices. The election is presided over by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the vote is held in the Palazzo Montecitorio, home of the Chamber of Deputies, which is expanded and re-configured for the event. The President assumes office after having taken an oath before Parliament, the Presidents term may end by, voluntary resignation, death, permanent disability, due to serious illness, dismissal, as for crimes of high treason or an attack on the Constitution. Former Presidents of the Republic are called Presidents Emeritus of the Republic and are appointed Senator for life, in the absence of the President of the Republic, including travel abroad, presidential functions are performed by the President of the Senate. In judicial matters, Presiding over the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura, Naming one-third of the Constitutional Court, in practice, the Presidents office is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial. Many of the others are duties that he is required to perform, however, pardons and commutations have been recognized as autonomous powers of the President. The President resides in Rome at the Quirinal Palace, and also has at his disposal the presidential holdings of Castelporziano, near Rome, and Villa Rosebery, in Naples. There is one living former Italian President, Italian presidential election,2015 List of Presidents of Italy Wife of the President of the Italian Republic Official site
President of Italy
–
Incumbent
Sergio Mattarella since 3 February 2015
President of Italy
–
Standard of the President
7.
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
–
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi was an Italian politician and banker. He was the 49th Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and was the tenth President of the Italian Republic from 1999 to 2006, then he was called to military duty in Albania as a lieutenant. On 8 September 1943, on the date of the armistice with the Allies, he refused to remain in the Fascist Italian Social Republic and he subsequently managed to pass the lines and reach Bari, where he joined the Partito dAzione. In 1946 he married Franca Pilla and that same year, he obtained a B. A. in law from the University of Pisa and began working at the Banca dItalia. He also joined the CGIL, which he left in 1980, in 1960, he was called to work in the central administration of the Bank of Italy, where he became Secretary General in 1973, Vice Director General in 1976, and Director General in 1978. In October 1979, he was nominated Governor of the Bank of Italy and President of the national Bureau de Change, Ciampi was the first non-parliamentarian prime minister of Italy in more than 100 years. From April 1993 to May 1994 he oversaw a technical government, later, as treasury minister from 1996 to May 1999 in the governments of Romano Prodi and Massimo DAlema, he was credited with adopting the euro currency. He personally chose the Italian design for the 1-euro coin, whereas all others were left to a vote among some candidates the ministry had prepared. The design also fitted very well on the material of the coin. He usually refrained from intervening directly into the debate while serving as President. However, he often addressed issues, without mentioning their connection to the current political debate. His interventions have frequently stressed the need for all parties to respect the constitution and he was generally held in high regard by all political forces represented in the parliament. Ciampi resigned as President before the ceremony of his successor. As President, Ciampi was not considered to be close to the positions of the Vatican and he often praised patriotism, not always a common feeling in Italy because of its abuse by the fascist regime. He died in Rome on 16 September 2016, at the age of 95, after a long illness
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
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President Emeritus Senator for life Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
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Signature
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
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Ciampi meets U.S. President
George W. Bush at the Quirinale Palace, April 7, 2005.
8.
Giorgio Rocca
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Giorgio Rocca is an Italian Alpine skier, a specialist in Slalom skiing. He is currently the ninth in the list of all-time slalom winners, Rocca made his debut in the Alpine Skiing World Cup on 6 January 1996 in Flachau. However, Rocca broke his knee and was forced off the tour for a year. In March 1997 he scored his first point-scoring result in the Cup and he scored his first top ten finish in November 1998, at the Aspen slalom. One year later Rocca finally managed to be on the podium, in 1999 he won the bronze medal at the Alpine World Skiing Championships in Vail. Rocca began to be considered the heir of Italys Alberto Tomba. This responsibility however, seemed to crush Rocca and stunted his progress, after two difficult seasons, in 2001 Rocca was again on the podium, with second places in Aspen and Madonna di Campiglio. In January 2003, after another 2nd in the Sestriere slalom, in the 2004 season he obtained two victories at Chamonix and Flachau, and two bronze medals at his home World Championship in Bormio, in the slalom and the combined. Rocca won again in February 2005, this time at Kranjska Gora, Rocca started the 2005/2006 season with an impressive series of five wins a row in the first five slalom races. In his career he competed for C. S. Carabinieri and he recited the Olympic oath at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. It was at these Olympics that he was hoping to win gold in his strongest event, slalom, after his success in the world championships. He did not enter the Giant Slalom or Super-G as originally planned, in the Slalom he was the first starter but he stradled at the second gate, throwing away his chances of being champion. FIS profile IOC2006 Winter Olympics Official website
Giorgio Rocca
–
Giorgio Rocca.
9.
List of people who have lit the Olympic Cauldron
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The first well-known athlete to light the cauldron was nine-time Olympic champion Paavo Nurmi at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. On other occasions, the people who lit the cauldron were not famous, japanese runner Yoshinori Sakai was born in Hiroshima on August 6,1945, the day the city was destroyed by an atomic bomb. He symbolized the rebirth of Japan after the Second World War when he lit the Olympic cauldron of the 1964 Summer Olympics, at the 1976 Games in Montreal, two teenagers—representing the French- and the English-speaking parts of the country—symbolized the unity of Canada. Norways Crown Prince Haakon lit the cauldron of the 1994 Winter Olympics, in honor of his father and grandfather, for the 2012 Games in London, seven aspiring young athletes—each nominated by a former British Olympic champion—had the honor of lighting the cauldron. Olympic Flame List of Olympic torch relays
List of people who have lit the Olympic Cauldron
–
Li Ning, a former Chinese gymnast, lit the Olympic Cauldron during the
opening ceremony of the
2008 Summer Olympics.
10.
Stefania Belmondo
–
Stefania Belmondo is an Italian former cross-country skier, two time olympic champion and four time world champion in her career. Belmondo was born in Vinadio, in the province of Cuneo, the daughter of a housewife, in her career she skied with the G. S. Forestale. She started to ski at the age of three in the Piedmontese mountains of her native city and she made her debut at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 1987. The next season she joined the national team of Italy. In 1989, she won a World Cup event for her first time, in Salt Lake City, at the 1991 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, she won a bronze medal in the 15 km trial, and a silver in the 4 ×5 km. The 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville brought the first gold medal for Belmondo, in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, she won a third place with the 4 ×5 km, and an individual silver in the 30 km. The bronze medal in the relay was remarkable because the Italian team was 9th as Belmondo started her anchor leg, the 1999 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships saw Stefania Belmondo win two gold medals and a silver. In her final year of competition,2002, she won a medal, as well as a silver. She concluded that years World Cup in third place, Belmondo also found success at the Holmenkollen ski festival, winning the 30 km womens event twice. She is the one of two women to ever win the 30 km Olympic, World Championship, and Holmenkollen events. Belmondo earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1997, at the 15 km pursuit event world championships in Trondheim 1997 the organizers had to resort to Photo finish to determine who between Stefania Belmondo and Yelena Välbe had won the race. Eventually the gold medal is awarded to the Russian and the Italian Silver for just 2 cm, at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, in her native region of Piedmont, she lit the Olympic Flame at the opening ceremony. During the 2006 Winter Olympics, Belmondo had a series of webpages on the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games website regarding her reaction, list of multiple Winter Olympic medalists Italian sportswomen multiple medalists at Olympics and World Championships Stefania Belmondo at the International Ski Federation Stefania Belmondo
Stefania Belmondo
–
Stefania Belmondo
11.
Olympic Stadium
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Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words Olympic Stadium as part of their names. Olympic Stadium may also be named a stadium which hosts Olympic sports. In the case of the Summer Olympics, athletics competitions and the final are traditionally held in the Olympic Stadium. Exceptions to this have occurred though at the 1900,1996 and 2016 Summer Olympics as well as at the 2010 and 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games, early Winter Games often used figure skating venues as focal points. These were often designated as the Olympic Stadium, usually hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, a number of stadiums have been used in more than one Olympics, in those cities that have held the Games more than once. Lysgårdsbakkene was the stadium of a Winter Olympics and a Winter Youth Olympic Games. Bergiselschanze was the stadium of two Winter Olympics and one Winter YOG. Olympiahalle jointly shared the Olympic Stadium role with Bergiselschanze during the two Winter Olympics, but not during the Winter YOG, only one stadium, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, has been the main stadium of two Summer Olympics. In addition to the inaugural Summer Olympics, Panathinaiko Stadio was also the stadium of the only Intercalated Games held. A number, including both the Panathinaiko Stadio and the Vélodrome de Vincennes, have hosted events at subsequent Olympics. The London Games of 2012 were not opened and closed at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium, the site of the 1948 Olympic Stadium, Wembley was, however, the venue for some 2012 Olympic football matches. Likewise, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the stadium for the 1956 games. Lake Placids 1930 Olympic Stadium was utilized in the 1980 Lake Placid games as the speed skating venue, olympiahalle hosted figure skating and short-track speed skating during the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics. Stockholm Olympic Stadium hosted equestrian events for the 1956 Summer Olympics, Olympic Past & Future Stadiums - BALLPARKS. com Summer Olympic Stadiums 1896 - on Google Maps
Olympic Stadium
–
1896
Olympic Stadium
–
1900
Olympic Stadium
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1904
Olympic Stadium
–
1908
12.
Stadio Olimpico di Torino
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The Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino is a multi-purpose stadium located in Turin, Italy. It is the ground of Serie A club Torino Football Club. The stadium is located in Piazzale Grande Torino, in the district of Santa Rita, the stadium is currently rated by UEFA as a Category 4 stadium, the highest ranking possible. After a sixteen-year stint without Serie A football, the stadium was renovated and renamed the Stadio Olimpico on the occasion of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Originally named after Benito Mussolini, the stadium was built to host the Games of the year Littoriali XI, held in 1933, vannacci and Lucherini, and the indoor pool to Company AN. Guido De Bernardi undertook the preparation of fields and slopes, the stadium was inaugurated on 14 May 1933 by the Secretary of the Party, Achille Starace, at the beginning of Littoriali. The first match played in the new stadium was between Juventus and Hungarys Ujpest Dozsat, the leg of the quarter-finals of the Central European Cup. The original design consisted of a vast ring ellipsoid, whose major perimeter was about 640 metres. The base consisted of a bench of white granite, on which rested the socket in red plaster, the same materials were formed at 45° planes, that mark three strips of glass for lighting indoors, crowned by a white railing. Over this, large windows overlooked, restricted by concrete pillars supported the terminal swing, projecting more than three metres, with an inclination of 45 degrees. The approaches were practised inside through openings 27, the one of which led to the gallery. The parterre was partly covered by cantilevered terraces that adjective, and was higher in the most distant from the field. The playing field measures 70 x 105 metres, surrounded by a track with six lanes, mass pits for the shot put and discus throw, the track for the long jump. Initially, the curves of the track were designed at three centres. After protests from the national executive Massimo Cartasegna, they were redesigned to a single centre, the end result, however, was that the track had an abnormal length of 446.38 metres. After the Stadiums inauguration, it hosted matches of the 1934 FIFA World Cup. In the 1934–35 season, the Stadio Olimpico di Torino began to host matches for the League Cup, between 1935 and 1986, Juventus were Italian champions 16 times, including five-in-a-row between 1931–1935, won 7 Italian Cups, several international titles, and one UEFA Cup. For their part, between 1935 and 1976 Torino were 6 time Italian champions themselves, and won 4 Italian Cups in the stadium, from 1938 until the late 1950s, the stadium also housed the headquarters of the provisional Automobile Museum
Stadio Olimpico di Torino
–
Stadio Olimpico di Torino
Stadio Olimpico di Torino
–
The stadium during the
2006 Winter Olympics
13.
2002 Winter Olympics
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Approximately 2,400 athletes from 78 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout 165 sporting sessions. The 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2002 Paralympic Games were both organized by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, Utah became the fifth state in the United States to host the Olympic Games, and the 2002 Winter Olympics are the most recent games to be held in the United States. These were the first Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Jacques Rogge, the opening ceremony was held on February 8,2002, and sporting competitions were held up until the closing ceremony on February 24,2002. Production for both ceremonies was designed by Seven Nielsen, and music for both ceremonies was directed by Mark Watters, Salt Lake City became the most populous area ever to have hosted the Winter Olympics, although the two subsequent host cities populations were larger. Following a trend, the 2002 Olympic Winter Games were also larger than all prior Winter Games, with 10 more events than the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The Salt Lake Games faced a scandal and some local opposition during the bid. Nevertheless, from sporting and business standpoints, this was one of the most successful Winter Olympiads in history, over 2 billion viewers watched more than 13 billion viewer-hours. The Games were also financially successful raising more money with fewer sponsors than any prior Olympic Games, the surplus was used to create the Utah Athletic Foundation, which maintains and operates many of the remaining Olympic venues. U. S. Federal subsidies amounted to $1.3 billion, Salt Lake City was chosen over Québec City, Canada, Sion, Switzerland, and Östersund, Sweden, on June 16,1995, at the 104th IOC Session in Budapest, Hungary. The 1976 Winter Olympics were ultimately awarded to Innsbruck, Austria, 1Because of the no-commercialization policy of the Olympics, the Delta Center, now the Vivint Smart Home Arena, was labeled as the Salt Lake Ice Center, causing some confusion for visitors. The Oxford Olympics Study established the outturn cost of the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics at USD2.5 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 24% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the committee for the purpose of staging the Games. The competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, average cost for Winter Games since 1960 is USD3.1 billion, average cost overrun is 142%. A total 78 National Olympic Committees sent athletes to the Salt Lake City games, cameroon, Hong Kong, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Thailand participated in their first Winter Olympic Games. There were 78 events contested in 7 sports, in the following calendar for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport are held, the number in each box represents the number of finals that were contested on that day. All dates are in Mountain Standard Time Host country To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, several medals records were set and/or tied. They included, Norway tied the Soviet Union at the 1976 Winter Olympics for most gold medals at a Winter Olympics, germany set a record for most total medals at a Winter Olympics, with 36
2002 Winter Olympics
–
Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics.
2002 Winter Olympics
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The emblem combines a snow crystal and a sun rising over a mountain. The yellow, orange, and blue colors represent the varied Utah landscape.
2002 Winter Olympics
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Countdown clock used for the games in the shape of an
arrowhead.
2002 Winter Olympics
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U.S. Bobsled Team makes their way down the track at
Utah Olympic Park during the men's two-man bobsled event at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
14.
2010 Winter Olympics
–
Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games were organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee, the 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Vancouver is the largest city to host the Winter Olympics. Following Olympic tradition, then-Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag during the ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. The flag was raised on February 28,2006, in a ceremony and was on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Olympic opening ceremony. The event was opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, who was accompanied by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. With 14, Canada broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics, athletes from Slovakia and Belarus won the first Winter Olympic gold medals for their nations. The Canadian Olympic Association chose Vancouver as the Canadian candidate city over Calgary, which sought to re-host the Games and Quebec City, on the first round of voting on November 21,1998, Vancouver-Whistler had 26 votes, Quebec City had 25 and Calgary had 21. On December 3,1998, the second and final round of voting occurred between the two leading contenders, which saw Vancouver win with 40 votes compared to Quebec Citys 32 votes. Vancouver had also bid for the 1976 games, which were first awarded to Denver, then to Innsbruck and the 1980 games. After the bribery scandal over the candidacy of the Salt Lake City bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee created the Evaluation Commission, which was appointed on October 24,2002. Prior to the bidding for the 2008 Summer Olympics, host cities would often fly members of the IOC to their city where they toured the city and were provided with gifts, the lack of oversight and transparency often led to allegations of money for votes. Afterward, changes brought forth by the IOC bidding rules were tightened, the team analyzed the candidate city features and provided its input back to the IOC. Vancouver won the bid to host the Olympics by a vote of the International Olympic Committee on July 2,2003, at the 115th IOC Session held in Prague, the result was announced by IOC President Jacques Rogge. Vancouver faced two other finalists shortlisted that same February, Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Salzburg, Austria, Pyeongchang had the most votes of the three cities in the first round of voting, in which Salzburg was eliminated. In the run-off, all but two of the members who had voted for Salzburg voted for Vancouver and it was the closest vote by the IOC since Sydney, Australia beat Beijing for the 2000 Summer Olympics by two votes. Vancouvers victory came almost two years after Torontos 2008 Summer Olympic bid was defeated by Beijing in a landslide vote, the Vancouver Olympic Committee spent C$16.6 million on upgrading facilities at Cypress Mountain, which hosted the freestyle and snowboarding events. In 2004, the operational cost of the 2010 Winter Olympics was estimated to be Canadian $1.354 billion, as of mid-2009 it was projected to be C$1.76 billion, mostly raised from non-government sources, primarily through sponsorships and the auction of national broadcasting rights
2010 Winter Olympics
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Richmond Olympic Oval: speed skating long track venue
2010 Winter Olympics
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The 2010 Winter Olympics logo, named Ilanaaq the
Inukshuk.
2010 Winter Olympics
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A statue of Ilanaaq, located on Whistler Mountain.
2010 Winter Olympics
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The clock counting down to the opening of Olympics Games in
Downtown Vancouver.
15.
2004 Summer Olympics
–
10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries. There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports, Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance. 2004 marked the return of the games to the city where they began, a new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since the 1928 Games. This rectified the long lasting mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue, the new design features the Panathenaic Stadium. The cost of the 2004 Athens Summer Games has been cited as a contributor to the Greek government-debt crisis, some of the venues lie vacant and rotting, while others are in use, the Independent newspaper reports as many as 21 out of 22 are unused. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China, several World and Olympics records were broken during the games. Several concerns were raised over the preparations of the Games and these included excessive budget overruns, infrastructural compromise, the games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world. Athens was chosen as the host city during the 106th IOC Session held in Lausanne on 5 September 1997, Athens had lost its bid to organize the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta nearly seven years before on 18 September 1990, during the 96th IOC Session in Tokyo. 1996 coincided with the 100th Anniversary of the first modern Olympics, under the direction of Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Athens pursued another bid, this time for the right to host the Summer Olympics in 2004. After leading all voting rounds, Athens easily defeated Rome in the 5th, cape Town, Stockholm, and Buenos Aires, the three other cities that made the IOC shortlist, were eliminated in prior rounds of voting. Six other cities submitted applications, but their bids were dropped by the IOC in 1996 and these cities were Istanbul, Lille, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Seville, Saint Petersburg and Cali. The 2004 Summer Olympic Games cost the Government of Greece €8.954 billion to stage, the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee, responsible for the preparation and organisation of the games, concluded its operations as a company in 2005 with a surplus of €130.6 million. ATHOC contributed €123.6 million of the surplus to the Greek State to cover other related expenditures of the Greek State in organizing of the games, as a result, ATHOC reported in its official published accounts a net profit of €7 million. The State’s contribution to the total ATHOC budget was 8% of its expenditure against an originally anticipated 14%, the overall revenue of ATHOC, including income from tickets, sponsors, broadcasting rights, merchandise sales etc. totalled €2,098.4 million. The largest percentage of income came from broadcasting rights. The overall expenditure of ATHOC was €1,967.8 million. e, the large projects required for the upgrade of the country’s infrastructure, including sports infrastructure, roads, airports, hospitals, power grid etc. This cost, however, is not directly attributable to the organisation of the Games. Such infrastructure projects are considered by all standards as fixed asset investments that stay with the hosting country for decades after the Games
2004 Summer Olympics
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The ceremony for the lighting of the flame is arranged as a pagan pageant, with priestesses dancing.
2004 Summer Olympics
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Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
2004 Summer Olympics
–
The OAKA Plaza and Arch adjacent to the Olympic Stadium
2004 Summer Olympics
–
Faliro Sports Pavilion Arena
16.
2008 Summer Olympics
–
A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events. China became the 22nd nation to host the Olympic Games and the 18th to hold a Summer Olympic Games. It was the time that the Summer Olympic Games were held in East Asia and Asia, after Tokyo, Japan, in 1964 and Seoul, South Korea. Beijing was awarded the Games over four competitors on 13 July 2001, the Government of the Peoples Republic of China promoted the Games and invested heavily in new facilities and transportation systems. A total of 37 venues were used to host the events, the official logo of these Olympic Games, titled Dancing Beijing, refers to the host city by featuring a stylized calligraphic character jīng. The Games were the second most watched Olympics in history, attracting 4.7 billion viewers worldwide, there were 43 world records and 132 Olympic records set at the 2008 Summer Olympics. An unprecedented 86 countries won at least one medal during the Games, Chinese athletes won the most gold medals with 51, and with 100 medals in total became only the 7th different Olympic team to top an overall medal tally. The United States won the most total medals with 110, the games were deemed highly successful with the rising standard of competition among nations across the world. Beijing was elected as the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics on 13 July 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, defeating bids from Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka. Prior to the session, five other cities had submitted bids to the IOC, after the first round of voting, Beijing held a significant lead over the other four candidates. Osaka received only six votes and was eliminated, in the second round, Beijing was supported by a majority of voters, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds. Torontos bid was their 5th failure since 1960, the size of China, its increased enforcement of doping controls, and sympathy concerning its loss of the 2000 Summer Olympics to Sydney were all factors in the decision. Eight years earlier, Beijing had led every round of voting for the 2000 Summer Olympics before losing to Sydney by two votes in the final round. Human rights concerns expressed by Amnesty International and politicians in both Europe and the United States were considered by the delegates, according to IOC Executive Director François Carrard, Carrard and others suggested that the selection might lead to improvements in human rights in China. In addition, a number of IOC delegates who had formerly been athletes expressed concern about heat and air quality during the Games, China outlined plans to address these environmental concerns in its bid application. The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics at USD6.8 billion in 2015-dollars and this includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e. g. The Beijing Olympics cost of USD6.8 billion compares with costs of USD4.6 billion for Rio 2016, average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is USD5.2 billion. They went on to claim that revenues from the Games would exceed the original target of $16 million
2008 Summer Olympics
–
The
Beijing National Stadium, dubbed "The Bird's Nest"
2008 Summer Olympics
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Games of the XXIX Olympiad
2008 Summer Olympics
–
The
Beijing National Aquatics Center, dubbed "The Water Cube"
2008 Summer Olympics
–
Inside
Beijing National Stadium during the Games.
Olympic cauldron in background.
17.
Bids for the 2006 Winter Olympics
–
At the closing date of the receipt of applications to host 2006 Winter Olympics on February 1,1998, six cities had formally presented their candidatures to the IOC. The deadline for the recepit of candidature files was set at 1s September 1998, the Evaluation Commission proceeded with its visits to the six candidate cities in October and November 1998. In the wake of the Salt Lake City bid scandal, a new bidding procedure was instituted in 1999 to elect the 2006 Winter Olympics host city, turins bid ended up defeating Sion by 53 votes to 36. The other four non-shortlisted candidate cities made presentations to the IOC were Helsinki, Klagenfurt, Poprad-Tatry. The selection of Turin over Sion came as a surprise, since Sion was the favorite in part because the IOC is based in Switzerland
Bids for the 2006 Winter Olympics
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Location of the bidding cities
Bids for the 2006 Winter Olympics
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Bids for the 2006 (2006) Winter Olympics
18.
Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics
–
For the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, a total of fifteen sports venues were used. Venue construction ran from 2002 to 2005, Cesana Pariol had to have turns 17 and 18 modified following the Luge World Cup in January 2005, but they were not cleared out until October 2005. Winds postponed the Nordic combined team event for a day, many of the venues served as host for the Winter Universidade the following year. Stadio Olimpico Torino in 1934 was known as Stadio Benito Mussolini, for the FIFA World Cup that took place that year, the stadium hosted two matches, including the quarterfinal match between Czechoslovakia and Switzerland. Turin was selected by the Italian Olympic Committee to be selected to host the 2006 Winter Olympics in March 1998 and it was awarded the 2006 Winter Olympics on 19 June 1999. Cesana Pariol construction began in 2002 and was completed in 2004, after a Luge World Cup test event in January 2005 that was abandoned to accidents. This led to modifications of Turns 17 and 18 and a retest of the track that was approved by the International Luge Federation in October 2005, Oval Lingotto opened on 9 December 2005. Palavela, constructed in 1961, was modified for the 2006 Games to host figure skating, San Sicario Fraiteve hosted an Alpine Skiing World Cup in February 2005, and was modified to make the womens super-G event more challenging. Torino Esposizinoi was constructed in 1949 and refurbished in time for the 2006 Games to host the ice hockey matches. Venues were selected between May 2001 and the summer of 2002, construction of the venues ran between the summers of 2002 and 2005. The venues were turned over for use of the 2006 Games between the summer of 2005 and February 2006, new construction included Cesana Pariol, Cesana San Sicario, Pragelato, Pragelato Plan, and Sauze dOuix-Jouvencaux while the other venues used were refurbished or expanded. Sustainability efforts were applied on all venues, but the most noted in the Olympics report were Cesana Pariol, the mens curling bronze medal match at Pinerolo between Great Britain and the United States was interrupted by a streaker wearing a rubber chicken as a loin cloth. At Cesana Pariol, the singles luge event had thirteen crashes or near crashes during the four runs. Among those who crashed were American Samantha Retrosi who was knocked unconscious at the end of the run while Italys Anastasia Oberstolz-Antonova crashed out during the first run. During the mens alpine skiing event at Sestriere Borgata, seventeen skiers had gone down the course in the morning portion of the event before it was halted to heavy snowfall. The event was restarted in the afternoon with all morning results cancelled, norways Kjetil André Aamodt won the event. San Sicario Fraiteve had its womens downhill alpine skiing course modified at the request of Austrias Michaela Dorfmeister who complained that the course was too easy, modifications included bigger jumps and steeper banks and it was after a womens super-G event that was a test event in 2005. During the ski jumping portion of the Nordic combined team event and they resumed the next day with Germany having a 10-second lead over Austria going into the cross-country portion of the event
Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics
–
Stadio Olimpico di Torino (Turin Olympic Stadium) as a football venue in 2008. For the 2006 Winter Olympics, it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics
–
Torino Palavela during the 2006 Winter Olympics. The venue hosted the figure skating and short track speed skating events during those games.
Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics
–
Picture of turns 15 through 19 (right to left) of Cesana Pariol during the 2006 Winter Olympics. Bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton events took place at this venue.
Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics
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Pragelato ski jump during the 2006 Winter Olympics. The venue hosted the ski jumping and the ski jumping portion of the Nordic combined events.
19.
Neve and Gliz
–
Neve and Gliz are the official mascots of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, created by Pedro Albuquerque. They both represent the characteristics of the Winter Games, including Snow and Ice, Neve is a humanized female snowball that wears red and represents softness, friendship and elegance. Gliz is a male ice cube who wears blue and represents enthusiasm. Of these candidates, five came to the round in which they were evaluated by an international jury selected by TOROC. The election was ratified by the Presidential Committee of TOROC. Finally, the winners, Albuquerques Neve and Gliz, were submitted on September 28,2004, for the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games, TOROC subsequently requested Albuquerque for the creation of a new mascot along the creative lines of Neve and Gliz. He created Aster, a snow flake that is to convey the Paralympic ideals. When shown in sport uniforms, Aster is usually represented by the color green and it also completes the colors shown in the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games logo. Official site for the 2006 Winter Olympics mascot page Official site for the 2006 Winter Paralympics mascot page Presentation of the 2006 Winter Olympics Mascots
Neve and Gliz
–
Neve and Gliz at Sponsor Village in piazza Solferino of
Turin
20.
2006 Winter Olympics torch relay
–
The 2006 Winter Olympics torch relay took part as part of the build-up to the 2006 Winter Olympics hosted in Torino, Italy. The route covered around 11,300 kilometres and involved 10,001, stefania Belmondo lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony. The torch was a interpretation of the traditional wooden torch, in which it is the metal that seems to catch fire. The flame envelops the body of the rather than exiting from a hole on the top. A dynamic, innovative shape was created to develop this concept, which recalls the tip of a ski but also the building that is a symbol of Turin and it is criticized for being too heavy at 1.97 kg
2006 Winter Olympics torch relay
–
2006 Olympic Torch
21.
2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
–
The Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics was held on February 10,2006 beginning at 20,00 CET at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy. The ceremony was attended by 35,000 spectators with the presence of international and Italian guests on the stage and heads of state. The event was broadcast live to an estimated two-billion audience worldwide by 32 television cameras, the ceremony saluted the regions culture and history, was highlighted by Italian celebrities and showcased Italian designs. There were the parade of athletes and raising of the host nations flag. Apart from the choreography, the fireworks, and the pageantry and it climaxed with the lighting of the Olympic Flame. The athletes were put in the centre of action and in front of the stage. The ceremony was conducted in French and English, the two languages of the International Olympic Committee, and Italian, the language of the host country. The program was executed by 6,100 volunteers and 240 professionals after 15,000 man days of work, Italian gymnast Yuri Chechi as a shaman striking an anvil with a hammer opened the first scene of the program representing the industrial past of the Piedmont region. Each strike spewed up a fountain of flames and were responded to with flames over three metres high, lit from 52 nozzles lined up around the piazza, a group of inline skaters in red unitards soon entered and executed their choreograph and formations. With the fire, costume and flood light, the stage was turned into a sea of red. In the mosh pit, performers executed synchronised swimming moves to the pulsing rhythm and it was said that the choreographer was inspired by synchronised swimming when he saw the event for the first time in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The skaters then gyrated to the pulsing rhythm forming a heart shape pumping to the beat. The formation was shattered when a lone skater symbolising a spark of passion shot through the beating heart. Six helmet-donning skaters then entered with two-foot flames flared from the back of their helmets, artificial snow and life-size pine tree shapes set the mood for this segment as the stage was transformed from red to white. It had been 14 years since the Winter Olympic Games were last held in the Alps, in 1992 in Albertville, the 13 million people living in the mountainous region were represented by dancers waltzing in their national costumes. Life-size cow effigies were pulled in and paraded around the stage representing the significance of the farming industry in the Alpine region. Three waltzing couples in cow suits soon entered the scene, while cow bells were ringing from the crowd. After the stage was cleared,50 performers in white unitards entered with very large white balloons on their heads symbolising the arrival of the snowflakes
2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
–
Fireworks illuminated the Olympic rings during the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
22.
2006 Winter Olympics national flag bearers
–
The Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics was held on February 10,2006 beginning at 20,00 CET at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy. The ceremony was attended by 35,000 spectators with the presence of international and Italian guests on the stage and heads of state. The event was broadcast live to an estimated two-billion audience worldwide by 32 television cameras, the ceremony saluted the regions culture and history, was highlighted by Italian celebrities and showcased Italian designs. There were the parade of athletes and raising of the host nations flag. Apart from the choreography, the fireworks, and the pageantry and it climaxed with the lighting of the Olympic Flame. The athletes were put in the centre of action and in front of the stage. The ceremony was conducted in French and English, the two languages of the International Olympic Committee, and Italian, the language of the host country. The program was executed by 6,100 volunteers and 240 professionals after 15,000 man days of work, Italian gymnast Yuri Chechi as a shaman striking an anvil with a hammer opened the first scene of the program representing the industrial past of the Piedmont region. Each strike spewed up a fountain of flames and were responded to with flames over three metres high, lit from 52 nozzles lined up around the piazza, a group of inline skaters in red unitards soon entered and executed their choreograph and formations. With the fire, costume and flood light, the stage was turned into a sea of red. In the mosh pit, performers executed synchronised swimming moves to the pulsing rhythm and it was said that the choreographer was inspired by synchronised swimming when he saw the event for the first time in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The skaters then gyrated to the pulsing rhythm forming a heart shape pumping to the beat. The formation was shattered when a lone skater symbolising a spark of passion shot through the beating heart. Six helmet-donning skaters then entered with two-foot flames flared from the back of their helmets, artificial snow and life-size pine tree shapes set the mood for this segment as the stage was transformed from red to white. It had been 14 years since the Winter Olympic Games were last held in the Alps, in 1992 in Albertville, the 13 million people living in the mountainous region were represented by dancers waltzing in their national costumes. Life-size cow effigies were pulled in and paraded around the stage representing the significance of the farming industry in the Alpine region. Three waltzing couples in cow suits soon entered the scene, while cow bells were ringing from the crowd. After the stage was cleared,50 performers in white unitards entered with very large white balloons on their heads symbolising the arrival of the snowflakes
2006 Winter Olympics national flag bearers
–
Fireworks illuminated the Olympic rings during the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
23.
2006 Winter Olympics medal table
–
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Turin, Italy, from February 10 to February 26,2006. A total of 2,508 athletes representing 80 National Olympic Committees participated in 84 events from 15 different sports, athletes from 26 NOCs won at least one medal, and athletes from 18 of these NOCs secured at least one gold. Germany won the highest number of medals and led in overall medals for the third consecutive Games. Latvia and Slovakia won the first medals in their Winter Olympic history, speed skater Cindy Klassen of Canada won five medals and was the most medalled athlete at the Games. Biathlete Michael Greis of Germany and short track speed skaters Ahn Hyun Soo and Jin Sun-Yu, one athlete was stripped of an Olympic medal during these Games. Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva won a medal in the 15 km race. Germanys Martina Glagow was given the medal and fellow Russian Albina Akhatova won the bronze. The IOC has retested nearly 500 doping samples that were collected at the 2006 Turin Games, in 2014, the Estonian Olympic Committee was notified by the IOC that a retested sample from cross-country skier Kristina Šmigun had tested positive. If Šmigun were to be stripped of her medals, Kateřina Neumannová of Czech Republic could be elevated to gold in the 7.5 +7.5 km double pursuit event. Marit Bjørgen of Norway could acquire a gold medal in the 10 km classical event. The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of medals the athletes from a nation have won. The number of medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. * Host nation 2006 Winter Paralympics medal table List of 2006 Winter Olympics medal winners Medal Count for the 2006 Winter Olympics, archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008
2006 Winter Olympics medal table
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Victory ceremony at Medals Plaza
24.
List of 2006 Winter Olympics medal winners
–
The 2006 Winter Olympics were held in Turin, Italy, from 10 February to 26 February 2006. Approximately 2,508 athletes from 80 National Olympic Committees participated in these Games, overall,84 events in 15 disciplines were contested,45 events were opened to men,37 to women and 2 were mixed pairs events. Two disciplines were open only to men, Nordic combined and ski jumping, eight new events were introduced, snowboard cross, team pursuit, team sprint, and the mass-start race. The team sprint events replaced the classical mens 30 kilometers and womens 15 km cross-country distances, in total, there were six more events than in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States. A total of 451 individual athletes won medals, germany won the highest number of gold medals and led in overall medals for the third consecutive Games. Athletes from 26 NOCs won at least one medal, of these,18 won at least one gold medal, latvia and Slovakia won the first medals in their Winter Olympic history. Korean short-track speed skater Ahn Hyun-Soo was the most successful athlete and his compatriot Jin Sun-Yu and Germanys Michael Greis also won three gold medals in short-track speed skatig and biathlon respectively. Canadian speed skater Cindy Klassen won five medals and became the eighth Winter Olympian to win five medals at one edition of the Games, german Claudia Pechstein won two medals and became the fourth Winter Olympian to win at least one medal at five editions of the Games. Canadian Duff Gibson won a medal in the mens skeleton and, at age 39. Several records for career medals in a sport were tied or surpassed, including skiing, biathlon, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, short track speed skating. Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva was the only 2006 Winter Olympics medalist to be stripped of their medal and she won a silver medal in the 15 km race, but tested positive for carphedon and was thus stripped of her medal. Germanys Martina Glagow was given the medal and fellow Russian Albina Akhatova won the bronze. Athletes who won at least two gold medals or three medals are listed below. 2006 Winter Olympics medal table List of 2006 Winter Paralympics medal winners General Results and Medalists, specific IOCs 2006 Winter Olympic page
List of 2006 Winter Olympics medal winners
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The medal ceremony for the women's team sprint in
cross-country skiing. Left to right:
Sara Renner and
Beckie Scott (silver);
Lina Andersson and
Anna Dahlberg (gold); and
Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and
Virpi Kuitunen (bronze).
List of 2006 Winter Olympics medal winners
–
Canadian speed skater
Cindy Klassen became the eighth Winter Olympian to win five medals at one edition of the Games.
List of 2006 Winter Olympics medal winners
–
Norwegian
Ole Einar Bjørndalen won three medals in 2006, tying the record for most career biathlon medals (9) set by
Uschi Disl.
List of 2006 Winter Olympics medal winners
–
American
Apolo Anton Ohno won three medals in Turin, becoming one of six short track speed skaters to win five career medals.
25.
2006 Winter Olympics
–
This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter Games in Cortina dAmpezzo in 1956. Italy also hosted the Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome in 1960, Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 games in June 1999. The official logo displayed the name Torino, the Italian name of the city, the Olympic mascots of the games were Neve, a female snowball, and Gliz, a male ice cube. The official motto of the XX Olympic Winter Games was Passion lives here, Turin was chosen as the host of the Olympics on June 19,1999, at the 109th IOC Session in Seoul, South Korea. This was after the IOC had adopted new procedures during the 108th Extraordinary IOC Session in light of the corruption scandals surrounding the votes for the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics. The full IOC Session then voted on the chosen as finalist cities by the Selection College. The selection of Turin over Sion came as a surprise, since Sion was the favorite in part because the IOC is based in Switzerland. Turins selection came two years after Romes unsuccessful 2004 Summer Olympics bid and those games were ultimately awarded to Athens, Greece. The information below comes from the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page, the Oxford Olympics Study established the outturn cost of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics at USD4.4 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 80% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the committee for the purpose of staging the Games. The competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, average cost for Winter Games since 1960 is USD3.1 billion, average cost overrun is 142%. The Games featured 84 medal events over 15 disciplines in 7 sports, events that made their Olympic debut in Turin included mass start biathlon, team sprint cross country skiing, snowboard cross and team pursuit speedskating. Most of the cross country skiing events at these Games involved different distances from those in Salt Lake City, the following are the sports and disciplines that were contested at the games. The numbers in parentheses after each sport discipline indicate the number of events contested, all dates are in Central European Time Host country To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the icon next to the column title. Stefania Belmondo, a 10-time Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing, lit the Olympic Flame during the ceremony on February 10. Before that, the ceremony celebrated the best of Italy and Sport including a segment honoring the Alps, the FilmMaster Group K-events created and produced the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the XX Winter Olympic Games in Turin in 2006. Executive Producer Marco Balich, Content Supervisor Alfredo Accatino, Art Direction Lida Castelli, monica Maimone of Studio Festi directed the section From Renaissance To Baroque, part of the Opening Ceremony. The first gold medal of the 2006 Games was awarded in the 20 kilometre biathlon, won by German Michael Greis on the first day of competition, on February 12, Latvia won its first winter Olympic medal when Mārtiņš Rubenis took the bronze in the mens luge
2006 Winter Olympics
–
"Passion lives here", the Turin 2006 motto written by the Italian calligrapher Francesca Biasetton.
2006 Winter Olympics
–
The emblem shows a stylized profile of the
Mole Antonelliana, drawn in ice crystals in white and blue, signifying the snow and the sky. The crystal web also portrays the web of new technologies and the Olympic spirit of community.
2006 Winter Olympics
–
Victory ceremony at Medals Plaza
2006 Winter Olympics
–
2006 Olympics logo on display in Turin
26.
2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony
–
The Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics took place on 26 February 2006 beginning at 20,00 CET at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy. During the closing ceremony, in the Olympic Stadium, medals were presented for Cross country skiing at the cross-country skiing mens 50 km free event, giorgio Di Centa of Italy, the host nation, won the race and was presented with the gold medal. Eugeni Dementiev of Russia was awarded silver, with Austrias Mikhail Botvinov claiming the bronze, the medal presenter was former Olympian and current IOC member Manuela Di Centa, sister of the gold medalist. The main theme, to coincide with Italy’s popular masked festival, was Carnevale, life-sized Tarot cards marching in drill formation signifying all the Luck, Fortune and Life of the Athletes performed to honor every individuals personal story in coming to Torino. The formal moments of the ceremony alternated with artistic moments inspired by the creativity of Viareggio Carnival artists, of travelling shows, the original music was composed, arranged and orchestrated by Italian producer Michele Centonze in collaboration with Stefano Nanni, Giuseppe Gambino and Serenella Occhipinti. Fiat 500s and Vespas drove through the center of the stadium to symbolize the crowded streets of the center of the Italian cities, a wind machine was shown with flying acrobats performing an aerial ballet. This was a wind tunnel that blew the acrobats up into mid-air. The machine was custom-built by Aerodium Canada and Aerodium Latvia for use in the closing ceremony and it is very similar to machines used for indoor skydiving facilities. The athletes entered the arena without strict order, following a tradition started 50 years earlier at the 1956 Summer Games and they had reportedly been given light-up red clown noses to wear, but few athletes were seen wearing the noses. During the final speech by Valentino Castellani, chairman of the Torino Olympic Organizing Committee and he managed to shout Passion lives in Torino, as well as rip off one of the two microphones on the podium, before security officials quickly wrestled him away. Castellani continued his speech with only a minor pause, the intruders T-shirt was printed with the logo of GoldenPalace. com. Heppner sang a version of O Canada which is presented in a combination of Canadas two official languages, English and French, which are also the languages of the IOC. Then came the Oslo Ceremony, which is the transfer of the Olympic Flag from the mayor of Turin, Sergio Chiamparino, to Jacques Rogge, the flag was kept in the Vancouver City Hall during the next four years. With music playing, Chiamparino ran up the steps to the stage, waved the flag the symbolic eight times, handed it to Rogge, who then handed it to Sullivan. Because Sullivan is a quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair and has limited use of his arms and hands, Sullivan then spun his chair back and forth eight times to make the flag wave in the air. The assembled crowd roared in approval and rose to their feet in response and this culminated this part of the program. The Olympic flag was raised again at the next Summer Olympic games in Beijing, opening ceremony there took place on 8 August 2008. The show included a Vancouver-based specially-cast dance corps together with the latest concepts in boarding, skating and skiing, in addition, Canadian singer Avril Lavigne performed her song, Who Knows
2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony
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The Olympics Closing Ceremony
27.
2006 Winter Paralympics medal table
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The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Paralympic Committee and is consistent with IPC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of medals the athletes from a nation have won. The number of medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC country code. Host country To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column,2006 Winter Olympics medal table Medal Standings - Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games
2006 Winter Paralympics medal table
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Summer Games
2006 Winter Paralympics medal table
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To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the icon next to the column title.
28.
International Olympic Committee
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The International Olympic Committee is the supreme authority of the worldwide Olympic movement. It is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lausanne and its mission is enshrined in the Olympic Charter, to support the development of competitive sport by ethical and environmentally sustainable means. The IOC was created by Pierre de Coubertin, on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president, today its membership consists of 100 active members,32 honorary members, and 1 honour member. The IOC is the authority of the worldwide modern Olympic movement. The IOC organises the modern Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games, held in summer and winter, the first Summer Olympics organised by the IOC was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, the first Winter Olympics was in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Until 1992, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year, the first Summer Youth Olympics were in Singapore in 2010 and the first Winter Youth Olympics were held in Innsbruck in 2012. In 2009, the UN General Assembly granted the IOC Permanent Observer status and this decision enables the IOC to be directly involved in the UN Agenda and to attend UN General Assembly meetings where it can take the floor. This has provided the possibility to promote sport at a new level, during each proclamation at the Olympics, announcers speak in different languages, French is always spoken first followed by an English translation and the dominant language of the host nation. The stated mission of the International Olympic Committee is to promote Olympic throughout the world and it is the IOC’s supreme organ and its decisions are final. Extraordinary Sessions may be convened by the President or upon the written request of at least one third of the members, among others, the powers of the Session are, To adopt or amend the Olympic Charter. To elect the members of the IOC, the Honorary President, to elect the President, the Vice-Presidents and all other members of the IOC Executive Board. To elect the host city of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Laurel is awarded to individuals for promoting education, culture, development, and peace through sport. For most of its existence, the IOC was controlled by members who were selected by other members, countries that had hosted the Games were allowed two members. When named, they did not become the representatives of their countries to the IOC. The membership of IOC members ceases in the circumstances, Resignation. Non re-election, any IOC member ceases to be a member without further formality if they are not re-elected, age limit, any IOC member ceases to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which they reach the age of 80. Failure to attend Sessions or take part in IOC work for two consecutive years. Transfer of domicile or of main center of interests to an other than the country which was theirs at the time of their election
International Olympic Committee
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The headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in
Lausanne,
Switzerland.
International Olympic Committee
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The first IOC, at the
1896 Athens Games
International Olympic Committee
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1985
German Democratic Republic stamp
29.
Multi-sport event
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A multi-sport event is an organized sports event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of significance is the modern Olympic Games. Many regional multi-sport events have since founded and modeled after the Olympics. Most have the basic structure. Games are held over the course of days in and around a host city. Countries send national teams to each competition, consisting of individual athletes, athletes or teams are awarded gold, silver or bronze medals for first, second and third place respectively. The games are held every four years, though some are annual competitions. Instead, the Greek sports of racing and wrestling, as well as the Etruscan sport of gladiatorial combat. In the late 19th and early 20th century, athletes at events were almost exclusively male. As international womens sport began to develop, events such as the Womens World Games, though short-lived, events such as these led to greater inclusion of women at multi-sport events over the course of the 20th century. Since the establishment of the Olympics, most serial multi-sport events have been organized for specific audiences, after some celebrations, the Olympics became very popular nowadays. The number of sports, initially only a few, is still growing, the Paralympic Games is the largest multi-sport event involving athletes with physical disabilities, and is organised by the International Paralympic Committee. Arranged for the first time in 1960 in Rome, Italy, the number of sports, initially only a few, is still growing. The first Special Olympics International Summer Games were held in Chicago, the most recent Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles, United States, involved 25 sports and approximately 6,500 athletes from 177 countries. At the beginning of the 20th century, another multi-sport event and these Games were held in Scandinavia, and the sports conducted were winter sports such as cross-country skiing and speed skating. The Nordic Games were last held in 1926, after which the 1924 Winter Sports Week in Chamonix was declared the first Olympic Winter Games, in the 1920s, all kinds of other multi-sport events were set up. These were usually directed for a group of athletes, rather than everybody. Regional games were another kind of event that was established, such as the Far Eastern Championship Games
Multi-sport event
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The
Pan American Games is one of the largest multi-sport events and involves athletes from the Americas.
Italy
Switzerland
Alpine skiing (10) ()
Biathlon (10) ()
Bobsleigh (3) ()
Cross-country skiing (12) ()
Curling (2) ()
Figure skating (4) ()
Freestyle skiing (4) ()
Ice hockey (2) ()
Luge (3) ()
Nordic combined (3) ()
Short track speed skating (8) ()
Skeleton (2) ()
Ski jumping (3) ()
Snowboarding (6) ()
Speed skating (12) ()
Ceremonies
Alpine skiing
Biathlon
Bobsleigh
Cross country skiing
Curling
Figure skating
Freestyle skiing
Ice hockey
Luge
Nordic combined
Short track speed skating
Skeleton
Ski jumping
Snowboarding
Speed skating
icon next to the column title.
Germany (GER)
United States (USA)
Austria (AUT)
Russia (RUS)
Canada (CAN)
Sweden (SWE)
South Korea (KOR)
Switzerland (SUI)
Italy (ITA)
France (FRA)
Netherlands (NED)
.
