Italy was the host nation for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. It was the second time that Italy had hosted the Winter Games and the third time overall. Italy's flag bearer for the opening ceremony was figure skater Carolina Kostner. Kostner's cousin, Isolde Kostner, was Italy's flag bearer at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter Olympics, the first being in 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo; Italy had also hosted the Summer Olympics in 1960 in Rome.