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Torino 2006 Olympics Fun Facts
The Torino 2006 Olympics got underway with a spectacular opening ceremony February 10. It was a very Italian event with everyone from Dante, Fellini and Botticelli playing a part at the gala. The XX Olympic Winter Games will go from Friday, February 10 through Sunday, February 26.
These are the third Olympic Games to be held in Italy. The first were the 1956 Winter Games held in Cortina d’Ampezzo and the second were the 1960 summer games held in Rome.
Torino, Italy is the largest city ever to host the Olympic Winter Games with around 900,000 residents in the city and over 2.2 million in the surrounding area. The second largest host city was Salt Lake City in 2002.
Only seven countries have hosted the Olympic Winter Games more than once. The US has been host 4 times (Squaw Valley, Salt Lake City and Lake Placid twice). France has hosted three times and Austria, Japan, Norway and Switzerland two times each.
Other facts:
• The Torino 2006 Olympics has three official languages: Italian, English and French
• Torino was selected as host for the Torino 2006 Olympics over
Klagenfurt, Austria; Helsinki, Finland; Zakopane, Poland; Poprad -
Tatry, Slovakia and Sion, Switzerland
• Torino was awarded the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in 1999 in Seoul, Soouth Korea
• There are 14 Olympic venues (9 outdoor venues and 5 indoor venues)
• There will be 15 sports and 84 medal events, the same as in 2002
• New sports are the men’s 15 km mass start and the women’s 12.5 km
mass start in the biathlon, men’s and women’s team sprints in
cross-country skiing, men’s and women’s snowboard cross and men’s and
women’s team pursuits in speed skating
• Four sports have appeared in every Winter Olympic Games – bobsled, ice hockey, skiing and skating
• The first medals awarded at the Torino 2006 Olympics will be in the
men’s 20 km individual biathlon on Saturday, February 11 and the final
medals will be awarded to the winners of the men’s ice hockey game on
Sunday, February 26.
• Approximately, twenty-six thousand people will have volunteered at both the Olympics and Paralympics
• Ten thousand members of the media will cover the Torino 2006 Olympics
• 80 nations will participate in the Torino 2006 Olympics with and over 2,600 athletes competiting
• No team from South America has won a medal at the Winter Olympics
• Belarus will award medalists brand new cars. Italy, the Czech
Republic, Japan and Australia will give winners a monetary reward
• The largest delegations are from the US, Canada, Italy, Russia and Germany
• Germany and Finland are expected to dominate at the Torino 2006 Olympics
• The delegation from Thailand planned to wear black coats, in memory of victims of the tsunami, to the opening ceremonies
In the we will have to wait and see category, cheerleaders dancing to Italian music and performing American style cheerleading routines will perform at several events at the Torino 2006 Olympics. This includes performances at several outdoor events.
Posted by Jackie on February 13, 2006
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