2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games (Italian: XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and commonly known as Torino 2006, was a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. This marked the second time that 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. Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 Games in June 1999.


2006 Winter Olympics
The official motto of Torino 2006 was "Passion lives here". The Games' logo depicted a stylized profile of the Mole Antonelliana building, drawn in white and blue ice crystals, signifying the snow and the sky. The crystal web was also meant to portray the web of new technologies and the Olympic spirit of community. The 2006 Olympic mascots were Neve ("snow" in Italian), a female snowball, and Gliz, a male ice cube.


2006 Winter Olympics, Host city selection
Turin was chosen as the host of the Olympics at the 109th IOC Session in Seoul, South Korea on 19 June 1999. This was after the IOC had adopted new election procedures during the 108th Extraordinary IOC Session in light of the controversies surrounding the votes for the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics.


2006 Winter Olympics, Host city selection
Since IOC members were forbidden from visiting the candidate cities (in the interests of reducing bribery), the 109th IOC Session elected a special body, the Selection College, to choose finalist cities from the pool of candidate cities after each had made their final presentations to the full IOC Session.


2006 Winter Olympics, Host city selection
The full IOC Session then voted on the cities chosen as finalist cities by the Selection College. Although six cities launched candidacies and made presentations to the full IOC Session, the Selection College chose only two cities to go forward to be voted upon by the full IOC Session: Sion and Turin. The candidacies of Helsinki, Finland; Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia; Zakopane, Poland; and Klagenfurt, Austria were dropped by the Selection College after all six candidate cities made their candidate presentations.


2006 Winter Olympics, Host city selection
The selection of Turin over Sion came as a surprise, since Sion was the overwhelming favorite in part because the IOC is based in Switzerland. Turin's selection came two years after Rome's unsuccessful 2004 Summer Olympics bid. Those games were ultimately awarded to Athens, Greece.


2006 Winter Olympics, Host city selection
The information below comes from   25 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine web page.


2006 Winter Olympics, Cost and cost overrun
The Oxford Olympics Study established the outturn cost of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics at US $4.4 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 80% in real terms.


2006 Winter Olympics, Cost and cost overrun
This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e.g., expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e.g., the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games.


2006 Winter Olympics, Cost and cost overrun
Indirect capital costs are not included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. The cost and cost overrun for Torino 2006 compares with costs of US$2.5 billion and a cost overrun of 13% for Vancouver 2010, and costs of US$51 billion and a cost overrun of 289% for Sochi 2014, the latter being the most costly Olympics to date. Average cost for Winter Games since 1960 is US$3.1 billion, average cost overrun is 142%.


2006 Winter Olympics, Sports
The 2006 Winter Olympics 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 speed skating. Most of the cross-country skiing events at these Games involved different distances from those at the previous Winter Games in 2002. The classical men's 50 km and women's 30 km distances, which were held at Salt Lake 2002, were not included in these Games, as these events were alternated with freestyle events of the same distances.


2006 Winter Olympics, Sports
The following list shows the sports and disciplines that were contested at the 2006 Games.


2006 Winter Olympics, Sports
Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each separate discipline.


2006 Winter Olympics, Medal table
The top ten listed NOCs by number of gold medals are listed below.


2006 Winter Olympics, Medal table
To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the  icon next to the column title.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 1 (Opening Ceremony)
Stefania Belmondo, a 10-time Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing, lit the Olympic Flame during the opening ceremony on 10 February. Before that, the ceremony celebrated the best of Italy and Sport including a segment honoring the Alps. The FilmMaster Group K-events (from March 2012: Filmmaster 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.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 2
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. Ice hockey began with the women's competition; Sweden defeated Russia 3–1 in the first match while Canada's team opened with the second most lopsided win in Olympic history by beating the host Italians 16–0.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 3
On 12 February, Latvia won its first winter Olympic medal when Mārtiņš Rubenis took the bronze in the men's luge. Armin Zöggeler's win in that event gave Italy its first gold medal of the Games and gave Zöggeler medals at four consecutive Olympics, including two golds in a row. In Alpine skiing, the men's downhill was won by Antoine Deneriaz of France.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 4
Chinese figure skating pair Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, trailing a dominant Russian pair, attempted a throw quadruple salchow jump—an element which had never been successfully completed in competition. Zhang Dan fell, injuring her knee, but the pair finished their program to a standing ovation and took the silver medal. Russia finished the third day of competition with two gold medals, as did the United States.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 5
The fourth day saw Evgeni Plushenko of Russia set a world record score in the men's figure skating short program; his 90.66 points was more 10 points better than the nearest opponent's score. The men's combined alpine skiing was riddled with disqualifications, including front-runners Bode Miller and Benjamin Raich. American Ted Ligety won the event in what was considered an upset.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 6
Canada had another strong day on 15 February, setting new Olympic records in both men's and women's pursuit team speed skating events as well as opening the men's ice hockey competition with a win against Italy. Italy finished the day with the men's pursuit team Olympic record, however, after the Netherlands bettered Canada's time only to have Italy improve upon theirs. China won its first gold of 2006 with Wang Meng's victory in the women's individual 500-metre short track speed skating. A pair of Austrian brothers Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger won the men's doubles luge while Michaela Dorfmeister gave the nation another championship in the women's downhill.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 7
Kristina Šmigun won her second gold medal of the Games with a victory in the women's 10 kilometre classical cross-country skiing on 16 February, remaining the only Estonian to medal. In men's curling action, Great Britain edged Germany 7–6, Switzerland kept New Zealand winless by winning 9–7, Canada beat Norway 7–6, and the United States defeated Sweden, 10–6. Evgeni Plushenko of Russia  won the gold in the men's singles artistic skating.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 8
On 17 February, Tanja Frieden of Switzerland took the gold in women's snowboard cross after Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States fell on the second-to-last jump while performing an unnecessary method grab. Jacobellis settled for silver (she would have won gold if she hadn't performed the grab), while Canada's Dominique Maltais took bronze after recovering from a crash. Duff Gibson of Canada took gold in the skeleton just ahead of fellow Canadian Jeff Pain, becoming the oldest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympics history. In the women's ice hockey semifinals, the United States lost a shootout to Sweden, marking the first time in international competition that the United States had lost to anyone other than Canada. Canada's win maintained its record of never having lost to anyone other than the United States.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 9
Kjetil André Aamodt won gold for Norway in the men's Super G on 18 February, beating Hermann Maier of Austria. Germans Kati Wilhelm and Martina Glagow finished first and second in the 10 kilometre biathlon pursuit. The host Italians defeated Canada in men's curling, while Switzerland did the same in men's ice hockey to put the Canadians on the wrong end of two major upsets on the same day. The United States men's ice hockey team suffered its first loss of the tournament as Slovakia and Russia continue their dominance of the pool.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 10
Lascelles Brown became the first Jamaican-born competitor to win a medal at the Winter Olympics on 19 February, competing on the Canadian 2-man bobsleigh team which finished second in an extremely tight competition. The German pair was only .21 seconds ahead of the Canadians, themselves only .14 ahead of the Swiss team. Finland continued to be unbeaten in men's ice hockey, handing Canada its second loss.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 10
The day also saw the most hyped event of these games, at least in Europe, as the Men's 10 km Cross Country Relay was scheduled. The battle stemmed from the Lillehammer games 12 years ago in which Italy out-dueled Norway in that very same event. To that extent, many Norwegians wanted to win this event in order to embarrass the Italians on their home turf, but it was not to be as Italy crushed the field winning over Germany by over 15 seconds to take their 5th straight gold in this event. Norway failed to medal for the first time since 1988.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 11
The final day of curling pool play was 20 February; Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Canada advanced to the women's semifinals while Finland, Canada, the United States, and Great Britain qualified in the men's competition. Austria took their first team gold medal in ski jumping, while Canada took their second in women's ice hockey.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 12
Slovakia and Finland both won their final men's ice hockey games on 21 February to win their respective pools with 5–0–0 records. Enrico Fabris gave the host nation another gold medal in speed skating by winning the men's 1500 metres.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 13
On 22 February, the twelfth day of competition, Anja Pärson won her first gold medal in the women's slalom; it was her fifth overall Olympic medal and third of the 2006 Games. Chandra Crawford took a quicker route to the top of the podium, winning the 1.1 kilometre cross-country sprint gold in her Olympic debut. In the men's ice hockey quarterfinals, the previously undefeated Slovaks lost to the Czech Republic while Russia, Finland, and Sweden eliminated Canada, the United States, and Switzerland, respectively. Philipp Schoch successfully defended his snowboarding giant slalom gold against his brother Simon.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 14
Sweden took the women's championship in the curling finals held on 23 February. Shizuka Arakawa gave Japan its first gold medal of the Games and first figure skating gold medal, winning the ladies' figure skating competition in part by being able to finish without falling, as Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya both tumbled. Russia wrested the gold medal in women's team biathlon from Germany.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 15
24 February was the day of the men's curling finals, in which Canada won its first gold medal and the United States won its first medal in the sport as Canada defeated Finland and the United States beat Great Britain for the second time. The figure skating gala was also held, with top placers in all of the events performing exhibitions. Sweden and Finland won their men's ice hockey semifinal games, defeating the Czech Republic and Russia.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 16
The Austrians swept the men's alpine slalom medals on 25 February, led by Benjamin Raich. Germany took gold medals in the men's 15 kilometer biathlon and the men's individual bobsleigh. Apolo Anton Ohno won his second short track speed skating gold medal. South Korea's Jin Sun-Yu wins her third gold of the Games in the women's 1000 m. Compatriot Ahn Hyun-Soo wins his third gold medal of the Games, medaling in every men's short track event and bringing his total number of medals in Turin to four.


2006 Winter Olympics, Highlights, Day 17 (Closing ceremony)
The final day of competition and the closing ceremony, were held on 26 February. The Swedish men's ice hockey team handed Finland their first loss in the final to take the gold medal. In the closing ceremony, Manuela Di Centa, a seven-time Olympic medalist from Italy and then-member of the International Olympic Committee, was scheduled to present the medals for the men's 50-kilometre cross-country skiing event. This resulted in her presenting the gold medal to her own brother when Giorgio Di Centa won the event to take his second gold medal.


2006 Winter Olympics, Venues, Olympic areas
Olympic events were mainly held in Turin, but other events (namely skiing, snowboarding, and the track sports) were held in mountainous outlying villages for obvious reasons.


2006 Winter Olympics, Venues, Olympic areas, Turin
Many venues were located in the Olympic District in central Turin, including:


2006 Winter Olympics, Participating National Olympic Committees
A record 80 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) entered athletes at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. This was an increase of two from the 78 represented at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that NOC contributed. It was the first appearance for Albania, Ethiopia and Madagascar. It was the only appearance at the Winter Olympics for Serbia and Montenegro, coming between their change of name in 2003 and Montenegro's vote for independence in May. Participating committees:


2006 Winter Olympics, Organization
Out of 40,000 applicants, 20,000 volunteers were selected to help the athletes, spectators, and journalists, and to prepare the competition sites. They were selected by the recruiting program Noi2006.


2006 Winter Olympics, Organization, Construction
Sixty-five sporting facilities, various infrastructures, sport villages for athletes and media, and transportation infrastructures were constructed for a total of 1.7 billion euros.


2006 Winter Olympics, Organization, Construction
In the city, the main developments were the Palafuksas, a glass building designed by Massimiliano Fuksas, the new Modern Art Gallery and the great project of the "Spina", that will provide urban regeneration over an area of 2 million square meters through the construction of an underground urban railway and the re-utilization of abandoned industrial areas.


2006 Winter Olympics, Broadcasting
About 40% of the television coverage of the Olympics was in high definition.


2006 Winter Olympics, Broadcasting
The 2006 Winter Olympic Games were broadcast worldwide by a number of television broadcasters:


2006 Winter Olympics, Controversies
The Games had issues with costs covering and international attendance. Due to a lack of funding by the Italian Government, TOROC risked dissolution.


2006 Winter Olympics, Controversies, Metro
The metro was finally opened to the public on 4 February 2006, after a 45-day delay. It operated on a shorter stretch (XVIII Dicembre (Porta Susa) to Fermi – 11 stations) than originally forecast; it finally reached the main railway station (Porta Nuova) and the rest of the city centre more than one year after the Games, in October 2007. For the duration of the Games, a single ticket (5 euros) covered use of both the metro and other means of public transportation for a whole day. However, during the Games, metro service stopped at 6:00 pm, making it impractical for spectators of evening events. Furthermore, the metro did not reach any of the Olympic venues. On the other hand, the bus service was heavily improved for the Games, although still inadequate at night hours.


2006 Winter Olympics, Controversies, Doping
During the games, Italian police raided the Austrian athletes' quarters in search of evidence of blood doping. The raid was conducted due to suspicions over the presence of biathlon coach Walter Mayer, who had been banned from all Olympic events up to and including the Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010 due to previous doping convictions. Around the time of the raid Mayer and two Austrian biathletes, Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann, tried to escape and fled back to Austria. Later, the Austrian ski federation president said that the two athletes told him they "may have used illegal methods". Six skiers and four biathletes were also taken for drug screens by the IOC. Those substance screens later returned negative results.


2006 Winter Olympics, Controversies, Doping
On 25 April 2007, six Austrian athletes (Roland Diethard, Johannes Eder, Wolfgang Perner, Jürgen Pinter, Wolfgang Rottmann and Martin Tauber) were banned for life from the Olympics for their involvement in the doping scandal at the 2006 Turin Olympics, the first time the IOC punished athletes without a positive or missed doping test. The Austrians were found guilty of possessing doping substances and taking part in a conspiracy, based on materials seized by Italian police during the raid on the living quarters. The Austrians also had their competition results from Turin annulled.


2006 Winter Olympics, Controversies, Doping
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. On 24 October 2016, the World Anti- Doping Agency Athletes' Commission stated that Šmigun, who won two gold medals at the Turin Games, faces a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing before the end of October. If Šmigun were to be stripped of her gold 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 seventh gold medal in the 10 km classical event.


2006 Winter Olympics, Controversies, Ratings and attendance
A number of events reported low spectator attendance despite having acceptable ticket sales. Preliminary competition and locally less popular sports failed to attract capacity crowd as expected. Organizers explained this was because blocks of seats were reserved or purchased by sponsors and partners who later did not show up at the events.


2006 Winter Olympics, Controversies, Ratings and attendance
Several news organizations reported that many Americans were not as interested in the Olympics as in years past. It has been suggested that reasons for this lack of interest include the tape delayed coverage, which showed events in prime-time as much as 18 hours later in the Western United States. Primetime viewing figures in Canada were also disappointing, especially after the early exit of the Canadian men's hockey team, though overall viewing figures were up from 2002.


2006 Winter Olympics, Olympic Legacy
The Olympics represented an opportunity to revamp the city's look and change its traditional image as an industrial city by showing the world its hidden side of vibrant cultural life and stunning architectures. Thanks to the olympic exposure and state of the art venues, Turin has become one of Italy's primary tourist destinations and has been established as an important sport center in Europe.


2006 Winter Olympics, Olympic Legacy
Since 2006, TOP (Torino Olympic Park) has been the agency in charge of managing the Olympic facilities.


2006 Winter Olympics, Security measures
As with every Olympics since the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics and increasingly since the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, there was heavy security due to fears of terrorism.


2006 Winter Olympics, Security measures
The organizers further increased security measures in connection with the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and insisted that the Olympic Games were going to be safe, which they were; the Olympics concluded without a major breach of security occurring.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony
The Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics took place on 26 February 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET (UTC+1) at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program
The games were formally closed by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge calling them "magnificent"  This again departed from former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch's tradition of declaring each games "best ever" and continued Rogge's tradition of assigning each games their own identity in his comments.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Medal ceremony
During the closing ceremony, in the Olympic Stadium, medals were presented for Cross country skiing at the cross-country skiing men's 50 km free event, one of the last events held at the Games. In a new practice for Winter Olympics closing ceremonies, the medals for this long race were awarded during the ceremony similar to the way the medals for the men's marathon are awarded during the closing ceremonies of Summer Olympic Games.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Medal ceremony
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 Austria's Mikhail Botvinov claiming the bronze. The medal presenter was former Olympian and current IOC member Manuela Di Centa, sister of the gold medalist.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Carnevale
The main theme, to coincide with Italy's popular masked festival, was Carnevale. The show, directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, who is known internationally for his theatre performances based on the circus world, included six of the original costumes from the film I clowns by Federico Fellini, on lease from the Italian national film museum. Life-sized Piedmontese 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.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Carnevale
The formal moments of the ceremony alternated with artistic moments inspired by the creativity of Viareggio Carnival artists, of travelling shows and of the typical Italian "feste in piazza". The original music was composed, arranged and orchestrated by Italian producer Michele Centonze in collaboration with Stefano Nanni, Giuseppe Gambino and Serenella Occhipinti (a.k.a. Sara 6).


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Carnevale
Fiat 500s and Vespas drove through the center of the stadium to symbolize the crowded streets of the center of the Italian cities.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Wind machine
A wind machine was shown with flying acrobats performing an aerial ballet. This was a vertical wind tunnel that blew the acrobats up into mid-air. The machine was custom-built by  and Aerodium Latvia for use in the closing ceremony. It is very similar to machines used for indoor skydiving facilities.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Parade of the athletes
The athletes entered the arena without strict order, following a tradition started 50 years earlier at the 1956 Summer Games. They had reportedly been given light-up red clown noses to wear, but few athletes were seen wearing the noses.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Intruders
During the final speech by Valentino Castellani, chairman of the Torino Olympic Organizing Committee, a Spanish man ran onto the stage and attempted to speak into the microphone. 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 intruder's T-shirt was printed with the logo of GoldenPalace.com.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Intruders
A young Polish female streaker named Justine tried to perform a similar stunt, holding an Italian flag bearing the handwritten inscription "Mi consenta", and having a drawing by a Roman artist, Ettore Wallemberg III, on her skin, but security officials stopped her.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Vancouver 2010
In accordance with the Olympic Charter which governs the Closing Ceremony, IOC President Jacques Rogge called on the youth of the world to assemble in Vancouver, in four years, for the next Winter Olympics.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Vancouver 2010
Canadian opera star Ben Heppner, himself born in British Columbia, the host province of the next Winter Olympics, sang O Canada to begin the Canadian segment of the ceremonies and mark the beginning of the countdown to the Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010. Heppner sang a version of O Canada which is presented in a combination of Canada's two official languages, English and French, which are also the official languages of the IOC.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Vancouver 2010
Then came the "Oslo Ceremony" (so called because the original Olympic flag, which was used for transfer of the Winter Games, was first used at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo), which is the transfer of the Olympic Flag from the mayor of Turin, Sergio Chiamparino, to Jacques Rogge, and then to the mayor of Vancouver, Sam Sullivan. 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.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Vancouver 2010
Because Sullivan is a quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair and has limited use of his arms and hands, the flag was placed in a specially-designed flag holder on his chair. 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. This culminated this part of the program. The Olympic flag was next raised again at the next Summer Olympic games in Beijing; opening ceremony there took place on 8 August 2008.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Vancouver 2010
The show included a Vancouver-based specially-cast dance corps together with the latest concepts in boarding, skating and skiing. The Montreal-based members of the cast are multi-talented acrobatic performers drawn from Quebec's acclaimed École nationale de cirque (National Circus School), and Les sept doigts de la main, energetically supported by the renowned Cirque du Soleil. In addition, Canadian singer Avril Lavigne performed her song, "Who Knows."


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Vancouver 2010
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, himself from Calgary, the host city of the 1988 Winter Olympics, said in a statement that the Olympic flame had begun its journey to Vancouver.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Exit of the Olympic Flag
After the Olympic flag was lowered, Piccoli Cantori di Torino sung Va, pensiero while the flag was exiting the stadium.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, The siege of Turin
After Va, pensiero was sung, there was a segment featuring the siege of Turin to commemorate the 300th anniversary.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Program, Musical finale
Andrea Bocelli performed his song "Because We Believe (Ama Credi E Vai)" before the flame was extinguished; on stage with Andrea appeared 500 Italian brides in white carrying lighted lilies and formed "the Dove of Peace" formation choreographed by Doug Jack and symbolically "flew" across the stage as the flame took its final breath. An international collection of pop singers closed out the ceremonies as a fireworks display ensued, which was unusual because mostly artists that originate from the host country usually performs. After Canadian Avril Lavigne who had sung during the Vancouver segment, Italian Elisa, who had already sung at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics, performed the song "Luce (Tramonti a nord est)", and Puerto Rican Ricky Martin performed "I Don't Care" and "The Cup of Life".


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Notable attendees
Aside from celebrities participating in the ceremonies and members of the International Olympic Committee, the following notable people were in attendance:


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Television broadcast
In the United States, NBC broadcast the ceremony on tape delay, starting at 7:00 pm EST and PST/6:00 pm CST and MST, and it was one of the broadcasters that did not edit out the intruders interrupting the speeches.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Television broadcast
In Canada, CBC and CBC Newsworld broadcasts the ceremony live, starting at 1:00 pm EST, with several replays on both networks throughout the day.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Television broadcast
In the UK, the BBC broadcasts the ceremony live, starting at 7:00 pm GMT.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Television broadcast
In Australia, the Seven Network broadcasts the ceremony live, starting at 5.30 am AEST.


2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, Television broadcast
In Italy, RAI broadcasts the ceremony live at the same time it start started.


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 (NOCs) (+3 from 2002 Olympics) participated in 84 events (+6 from 2002) from 15 different sports and disciplines (unchanged from 2002).


2006 Winter Olympics medal table
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 gold medals (11) and led in overall medals (29) for the third consecutive Games. Latvia and Slovakia won the first medals in their Winter Olympic history.


2006 Winter Olympics medal table
Speed skater Cindy Klassen of Canada won five medals (one gold, two silver and two bronze) 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, both of South Korea, tied for the most gold medals, with three each.


2006 Winter Olympics medal table, Changes in medal standings
One athlete was stripped of an Olympic medal during these Games. Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva won a silver medal in the 15 km race, but tested positive for carphedon and lost her medal. Germany's Martina Glagow was given the silver medal and fellow Russian Albina Akhatova (who was caught doping in 2009 and missed the 2010 Olympics) won the bronze.


2006 Winter Olympics medal table, Changes in medal standings, IOC retesting
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. On 24 October 2016, the World Anti- Doping Agency Athletes' Commission stated that Šmigun, who won two gold medals at the Turin Games, faces a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing before the end of October. If Šmigun were to be stripped of her gold 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 seventh gold medal in the 10 km classical event.


2006 Winter Olympics medal table, Medal table
The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won, where nation is an entity represented by a National Olympic Committee (NOC). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics (Torino 2006) was held on 10 February 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET (UTC+1) at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The ceremony was attended by 35,000 spectators with the presence of numerous international and Italian guests on the stage and heads of state and government on the stands. The event was broadcast live to an estimated two-billion audience worldwide by 32 television cameras.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The ceremony saluted the region's culture and history, was highlighted by Italian celebrities and showcased Italian designs. There were the customary parade of athletes and raising of the host nation's flag and the Olympic flag. Apart from the choreography, the fireworks, and the pageantry, the ceremony was a reminder of peace as a goal of these Games. It climaxed with the lighting of the Olympic Flame.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program
The theme of the program was "Passion Lives Here," and the 4000m2 stage was shaped like an anatomic heart with a mosh pit in the centre where the athletes congregated for the second half of the ceremonies. The athletes were thus put in the centre of action and in front of the stage, emphasizing that the heart of each athlete was the focus of the Games.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program
There were sentiments of self-conceit amongst TOROC for not including a tribute section during the Opening Ceremonies honoring the Past Host Cities of the previous installments of the Olympic Winter Games that was the very first part of the XIX Olympic Winter Games that had been held in Salt Lake City, USA on 8 February 2002.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program
The ceremony was conducted in French and English, the two official 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.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Rhythm of Passion
The Opening Ceremonies began with a traditional countdown by the spectators. 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 soon turned into a sea of red. In the mosh pit, performers executed synchronised swimming moves to the pulsing rhythm. 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.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Rhythm of Passion
The skaters then gyrated to the pulsing rhythm forming a familiar heart shape pumping to the beat. The formation was soon 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 and crisscrossed the stage.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Greetings from the Alps
Following the exit of the flaming skaters, the sounding of seven alphorns to the notes of the Occitan Hymn signaled the beginning of the next segment that paid tribute to the Alps and the seven Alpine countries: Italy, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. Artificial snow and life-size pine tree shapes set the mood for this segment as the stage was transformed from red to white.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Greetings from the Alps
It had been 14 years since the Winter Olympic Games were last held in the Alps, in 1992 in Albertville, France. 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 dairy farming industry in the Alpine region. Three waltzing couples in cow suits soon entered the scene, while cow bells were heard ringing from the crowd.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Greetings from the Alps
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. A change of music signalled the exit of the snowflakes and in the mosh pit performers formed a snowflake which was lit up by flashlights as the segment came to a close.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Italy
This section paid tribute to the Italian flag, whose entrance was led by 26 Olympic medalists in white suits and gowns marching in two files. Following the athletes was model, singer and future French first lady Carla Bruni carrying a folded Italian flag. Bruni wore a sparkling gown by Giorgio Armani, inspired by crystal and ice.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Italy
The stage was flooded in the Italian colours red, white, and green by the coloured spotlights at the top of the stadium as the entrance of the President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge and the President of Italy Carlo Azeglio Ciampi was announced.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Italy
Sustained drumbeats set a mood as three Carabinieri officers entered and retrieved the flag from Bruni and brought it to the flag pole.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Italy
The flag was raised to the solo rendition of the Italian national anthem after a short pastoral orchestra introduction (as opposed to the usual marching introduction). "Il Canto degli Italiani" was performed by nine-year-old Eleonora Benetti wearing the Italian tricolour. Her verse ended as the choir joined in for the much more rapid refrain.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Torino Olympic City
467 performers, each wearing one of the 5 Olympic colours, created a 20 meter tall ski jumper formation, after the playing of the Italian national anthem. The choreography showed an animated ski jumper gliding down the take-off slope, flying through the night air and eventually landing safely in perfect form on the ground. Puffs of air could be seen as the jumper prepared his jump. Performers carrying a blue banner then entered to show the skier gliding down the slope. In flight the figure was lit up by headlamp flashlights in a formation of a ski jumper in peak flight. The ski jumper eventually made a graceful landing on the ground as performers released confetti (to represent a snowplow stop) and cheered as the segment came to a close.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Olympic Spirit
The Sparks of Passion reentered the stadium in this segment where the largest and tallest Olympic Rings for the Opening Ceremonies would be created. Acrobats could be seen maneuvering on three ring shaped frames floating up and down along four lattice columns on the opposite end of the stadium to the stage and the mosh pit. Dancers in red unitards below gyrated to pulsing beats as the theme of passion returned for this segment of the program. While the acrobats descended to the ground, two additional ring shaped frames were raised.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Olympic Spirit
The five circular frames were flipped vertically revealing the five Olympic Rings shimmering in light. The rings were then illuminated in the Olympic colours and the structure was lit up in fireworks. The black ring in the centre of the symbol was substituted with white since it is impossible to produce black light.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Heroes of Our Time - Parade of Nations
The national teams then entered underneath the five-ring structure in the traditional Parade of Nations. As with all Olympic games, the first team to emerge was Greece, since it was the birthplace of the games, and the host nation Italy entered last. The rest of the nations entered following the alphabetical order according to the spelling of the country in Italian, the language of the host country, as is tradition.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Heroes of Our Time - Parade of Nations
The names of the nations were announced first in Italian, then in English and followed by French.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Heroes of Our Time - Parade of Nations
North Korea and South Korea marched together under the Unification Flag for the first time in the Winter Olympic Games; this would not happen again (either Summer or Winter) until the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Altogether, 80 National Olympic Committees participated in the Games, an increase from 77 in the previous Winter Games.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Heroes of Our Time - Parade of Nations
The Moschino designed the clothes of the women bearing the placards with team names in Italian for the athletes' parade. The dresses were shaped as snowy mountain tops, complete with pine trees and small houses lit up by embedded lights. Miss Italia, Edelfa Chiara Masciotta, was carrying the placard for team Italy who wore a special dress designed to pay tribute to Turin. When assembled on stage the ladies represented the Italian Alps' beauty, strength, and poise.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Heroes of Our Time - Parade of Nations
The march of the Olympic teams was accompanied by a selection of 1970s and 1980s American and European disco music, including "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles, "YMCA" by the Village People, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, "Daddy Cool" by Boney M and songs by the Doobie Brothers and Eurythmics.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Heroes of Our Time - Parade of Nations
The following table lists the countries and territories in the order of their entrance. It is worth noting that not all the athletes participated in the opening ceremonies, as some may have chosen to prepare themselves for races and competitions that were scheduled the very next morning. Other commitments may have prevented some athletes from participating in the parade. For example, most men's hockey teams would not arrive in Turin until the following week since most of the players are involved with the NHL. On the other hand, the parade included officials, judges, coaches and other team staff.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, From Renaissance to Baroque
After a short homage to Dante and The Divine Comedy, there were Renaissance and Baroque displays, with an homage to Arcimboldo. A scene was based on the Birth of Venus painting. The role of Venus was played by Czech supermodel Eva Herzigová, emerging from a shell like in the Birth of Venus by Botticelli. A dance played a major part in the ceremony, as well as displays of flag waving and baroque bands. Sportscaster Bob Costas called it a celebration of the emergence from the dark days of the Middle Ages, embracing the intellectual pursuits of art, literature and music.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, From Futurism to Future
The segment started with a modern ballet performance which led from a replica of Umberto Boccioni's sculpture "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space" to a celebration of Futurism. Roberto Bolle performed as lead in the dance part. He represented the futuristic hero, dancing with other mechanical dancers to show modernity, technology, and speed. The second part was performed by kung-fu athletes representing futuristic soldiers, while in the final section a group of bodybuilders pushed 6 motorbikes in the center of the stadium, thus emphasizing the role played by speed and technology in Futurism.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Pit Stop
Italian driver Luca Badoer drove the 2005 Ferrari F2005 car bearing only the Olympic Rings, Torino 2006 name and Italian tricolore to the centre of the stadium, performing 'donuts' and revving the V10 engine for a few minutes.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Words and Symbols
After the Parade of Nations had concluded and the athletes were gathered in the center of the stadium, two short speeches in Italian, French and English were delivered.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Words and Symbols
The first speech came from Valentino Castellani, the chief organizer of the Torino 2006 Olympic Games. He declared the industrial city "the world capital of sports" during the Olympics.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Words and Symbols
Valentino Castellani was followed by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, who told the Olympic athletes, "Your achievements will inspire and motivate future generations," before adding, "Please compete cleanly, without using doping." Rogge also hoped for peace during his short speech. "Our world today is in need of peace and brotherhood, the values of the Olympic Games," he said. "May these Games be held in peace in the true spirit of the Olympic Truce."


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Words and Symbols
Rogge then introduced Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who declared the games officially open.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Words and Symbols
Following the trend set from the selection of eight personalities representing the five continents and the three pillars of Olympism at the Salt Lake City Olympics Opening Ceremony, the flag was brought this time into the stadium by eight women:


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Words and Symbols
Their walk with the flag was accompanied by Giuseppe Verdi's "Triumphant March," from Aida. The Olympic flag was then handed over to eight members of the Alpini, an Italian infantry unit, who raised the flag while the Olympic Hymn was played.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Words and Symbols
Italian skier Giorgio Rocca recited the Olympic Oath on behalf of all the athletes from the podium followed by Fabio Bianchetti from the International Skating Union reading the oath on behalf of all judges. There had been a major judging controversy in the figure skating event at the previous Winter Games.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Peace
Twenty-eight acrobats climbed on a net set up on the main stage and executed their choreographed manoeuvres, spinning and flipping to the music. At the end of the routine they all came together and formed the shape of a dove, the symbol of peace, to a roaring cheer from the crowd.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Peace
Yoko Ono, dressed in white like many of the people in the ceremony (the spectators were provided with, and most wore, a white poncho, symbolizing the snow which makes the Winter Olympics possible), then entered and read a free verse poem from a prepared script calling for peace in the world. She called for "taking action" to spread peace. Ono's poem served as an introduction to a rendition of her late husband John Lennon's Imagine by Peter Gabriel.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Light the Passion
The Olympic Torch entered the stadium in the hand of Alberto Tomba, who then passed the flame to the hands of the 1994 men's Italian cross-country skiing relay team (Marco Albarello, Giorgio Vanzetta, Maurilio De Zolt, and Silvio Fauner). The flame was then passed to Piero Gros, then Deborah Compagnoni before the Olympic Flame was lit by former Italian cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo. Belmondo paused to show the torch to the cheering crowd one last time before placing it on the arched lighting apparatus. The flame initiated a series of fireworks before lighting the top of the 57-meter high Olympic Flame, the highest in the history of the Olympic Winter Games.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Light the Passion
The cauldron lighting was also the first in recent memory to be lit indirectly, that is, the flame did not directly touch or travel to (such as the arrow lighting at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona) the cauldron itself. The precise timing of the pyrotechnics was obviously computer timed from the precise moment the flame touched the center frame in the center of the stadium. Because of the elaborate fireworks, it is highly unlikely the flame travelled to all the charges directly.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Light the Passion
However, it is possible that the cauldron was lit from a backup flame inside, or that an electronic signal from Belmondo's apparatus to the cauldron served as the "flame" (much like the 1976 Summer Olympics where a satellite signal carried the "flame" from Greece to Canada, though not at the opening ceremony).


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Program, Fortissimo
After the largest curtain yet to be built revealed him on the stage, Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, wearing a black cape embroidered with silver Olympic rings, ended the ceremony by singing Giacomo Puccini's well-known aria Nessun Dorma from the opera Turandot, which ends with the victorious line "At dawn, I shall win!" Pavarotti's performance caused NBC Olympic commentator Brian Williams to proclaim "And the master brings the house down." Indeed, the tenor's performance received the longest and loudest ovation of the opening ceremony from the international crowd. This would prove to be Pavarotti's final public performance of his signature song.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Security measures
Security was present at the Opening Ceremony as has become the norm for the Olympics. Organizers stepped up the security measures in connection with the contemporary Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and they insisted that the Olympic Games would be safe.


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Dignitaries and other officials in attendance
Aside from celebrities participating in the ceremonies, President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge and members of the IOC, many dignitaries and officials associated with the Olympic movement were in attendance (included 13 world leaders and 2 first ladies). They included :


2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Dignitaries and other officials in attendance
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was absent. However he attended the Closing Ceremony on 26 February.


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 Turin, Italy. The route covered around 11,300 kilometres (7,000 mi) and involved 10,001. Stefania Belmondo lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony.


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Torch
The torch was a modern interpretation of the traditional wooden torch, in which it is the metal that seems to catch fire and burn. The flame envelops the body of the torch rather than exiting from a hole on the top, like earlier torches. 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, the Mole Antonelliana. It is criticized for being too heavy at 1.97 kg (4.3 lb).


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
December 8, 2005 (day 1): RomeDecember 10 (day 3): Rieti


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
December 12 (day 5): SienaDecember 13 (day 6): LivornoDecember 14 (day 7): FlorenceDecember 15 (day 8): LuccaDecember 16 (day 9): Pisa


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
December 17 (day 10): La SpeziaDecember 18 (day 11): Genoa


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
December 21 (day 14): RagusaDecember 22 (day 15): AgrigentoDecember 23 (day 16): PalermoDecember 26 (day 17): Catania


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
December 27 (day 18): Reggio CalabriaDecember 28 (day 19): CatanzaroDecember 29 (day 20): Cosenza


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
January 3 (day 25): TarantoJanuary 4 (day 26): LecceJanuary 5 (day 27): BariJanuary 6 (day 28): Foggia


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
January 12 (day 35): RiminiJanuary 13 (day 36): BolognaJanuary 14 (day 37): Parma


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
January 18 (day 41): TriesteJanuary 19 (day 42): UdineJanuary 20 (day 43): Tarvisio


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
January 23 (day 46): TrentoJanuary 24 (day 47): BolzanoJanuary 25 (day 48): Urtijëi


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
February 2 (day 56): CuneoFebruary 3 (day 57): PineroloFebruary 4 (day 58): SestriereFebruary 5 (day 59): Bardonecchia


2006 Winter Olympics torch relay, Route in Italy
February 8 (day 62): Venaria RealeFebruary 9 (day 63): TurinFebruary 10 (day 64): Stadio Olimpico


2006 Winter Paralympics
The 2006 Winter Paralympic Games (Italian: Giochi paralimpici invernali del 2006), 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. They were also the first Paralympics to use the new Paralympics logo.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Medal count
The top 10 NPCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation (Italy) is highlighted.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Sports
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.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Venues
The sport venues were also used during the Winter Olympics, although not all Olympic venues were in use for the Paralympics.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Venues
Alpine skiing events were held at Sestriere. Cross-country skiing andbiathlon events were held at Cesana San Sicario. All skiing athletes were accommodated in the Alpine Paralympic Village in Sestriere.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Venues
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.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Participants
Thirty-nine National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) 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.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Participants
Note that, although Greece was scheduled to compete, no Greek athlete took part in any event; the International Paralympic Committee does not list Greece as having entered any athlete in the Games, and considers that there were thirty-eight NPCs at the Games, rather than thirty-nine.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Participants
A total of 486 athletes participated in the Games, 385 male and 101 female. This is an increase from the 430 athletes participated in 2002. Despite overall increase of delegates and athletes, the following nations who participated in the 2002 Winter Paralympics did not send athletes to Turin.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Participants
Mexico is the only country who had sent an athlete to these Games but not the Winter Olympic Games in 2006.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Other information
These are the second Paralympic Games to be held in Italy, which hosted the first Summer Paralympics in Rome in 1960.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Other information
These are the first Paralympic Games to feature a live webcast of events, hosted by .


2006 Winter Paralympics, Other information
The Games mascot is Aster, a star-shaped snowflake similar in design to the Olympic mascots Neve and Gliz.


2006 Winter Paralympics, Other information
Unable to fund the hosting themselves, the Olympic organizing committee TOROC sold the rights off to a company for an estimated US$40 million


2006 Winter Paralympics medal table
The 2006 Winter Paralympics medal table is a list of National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) ranked by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the 2006 Winter Paralympics, held in Turin, Italy, from March 10 to March 19, 2006.


2006 Winter Paralympics medal table, Medal table
The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and is consistent with IPC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a "nation" is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC country code.


2006 Winter Paralympics medal table, Medal table
To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the  icon next to the column title.


2006 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2006 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council in England. This election was held on the same day as other local elections.


2006 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election, Ward results
Results compared directly with the last local election in 2004.


2006 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council election, Notes
• italics denote the sitting councillor • bold denotes the winning candidate


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team
The 2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Bret Bielema, the Badgers completed the season with a 12–1 record, including a 7–1 mark in the Big Ten Conference, good for a second-place tie with Michigan.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team
The season was one of the most successful in Badgers football history. The 11 regular-season wins and 12 overall wins were both single season records for the Badgers, and the season ended with a second straight victory in the Capital One Bowl, over Arkansas, 17-14. The Badgers, who were not ranked in the preseason and were expected to finish in the middle of the Big Ten, surprised many with their success and ended the season ranked #7 in the AP Poll and #5 in the Coaches' Poll.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Preseason
The Badgers were picked to finish in the middle of the Big Ten conference and were not ranked in the preseason for a number of reasons. Early defections to the National Football League by second-team All-Americans Brandon Williams and Brian Calhoun left the Badger offense with only three returning starters. Additionally, with the departure of Barry Alvarez – who had just completed his final season with 10 wins and a Capital One Bowl victory – the head coaching job was taken over by Bret Bielema, then the youngest head coach in Division I-A football.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Preseason
Bright spots for the Badgers included returning All-American offensive tackle Joe Thomas, who was coming off an ACL injury. John Stocco resumed the starting position at quarterback for his senior season, and P. J. Hill, Jr. won the starting tailback job. The defense was to be led by senior linebacker Mark Zalewski and senior strong safety Joe Stellmacher. The special teams unit was considered strong, with All-American candidate Ken DeBauche punting the ball.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Preseason
Some sportswriters felt that the non-conference schedule was fairly weak. Early in the season, the team's non-conference schedule was placed on the "waiting list" of ESPN.com's Bottom 10 rankings.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Bowling Green
In his debut, P. J. Hill, Jr. had 130 rushing yards and a touchdown to lead the Badgers to a victory over the hometeam Falcons. The Badgers broke a 7–7 tie in the second quarter when Alonso Rojas blocked a punt and Jonathan Casillas returned it for a touchdown. John Stocco finished 9-of-15 for 124 yards and a touchdown, with an interception.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Western Illinois
P. J. Hill, Jr. ran for over 100 yards for the second game in a row, and the Badgers overcame a rocky first quarter to beat the Leathernecks. After a fumble on the kickoff lead to a WIU field goal, the Badgers reeled off 34 straight points – 17 in the second quarter – to effectively put the game away. John Stocco was 15–25 for 227 yards and another touchdown, and Hill collected three touchdowns on the ground for the Badgers.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, San Diego State
P. J. Hill, Jr. ran for 184 yards and a touchdown and the defense shut out the Aztecs in the last game before the start of conference play. The Badgers allowed just 153 yards, but the offense was out of sync for the third straight week as Stocco completed just 12 of his 23 passes for 85 yards. Paul Hubbard registered a six-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Michigan
Wisconsin performed admirably in the first half, scoring 10 points, but special teams miscues led to 10 Wolverine points by the break. P. J. Hill, Jr. was held to 54 yards against the stout Michigan run defense, and Mario Manningham had 113 yards and two touchdowns through the air as Michigan raced out to 17 straight points in the second half to beat the Badgers, 27–13. The Badgers intercepted Chad Henne three times, but it was not enough to overcome the Wolverines' powerful offense. Wisconsin, which had beaten Michigan in 2005, had a five-game winning streak snapped. Michigan moved to 4–0 on the season.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Indiana
The Badgers bounced back from their first loss of the season, racing out to a 52–0 lead over the hometeam Hoosiers en route to a dominating 52–17 victory. John Stocco threw for 304 yards and had three touchdown strikes by halftime, and P. J. Hill, Jr. had 129 yards and another three touchdowns for the Badgers. The Hoosiers were held to just 147 yards through three quarters. Paul Hubbard caught seven passes for 122 yards and a touchdown for the Badgers.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Northwestern
For the second straight week, the Badger defense stepped up big, holding NU tailback Tyrell Sutton to just 18 yards on the ground. Wisconsin avenged last year's loss to the Wildcats with a punishing ground game, highlighted by P. J. Hill, Jr.'s rumbling 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter. In his best effort to date, Hill piled up 250 of the Badgers' 316 yards on the ground as the Badgers prevailed.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Minnesota
The Badgers hosted Minnesota in the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe. The Badgers, who had moved into the AP rankings for the first time this season, prevailed 48–12 behind John Stocco's four touchdown passes, two to Travis Beckum, who also had 118 receiving yards. Stocco finished 12-of-19 for 193 yards. Jack Ikegwuonu opened the scoring by returning Amir Pinnix's first-quarter fumble 50 yards for a touchdown. P. J. Hill, Jr. racked up 164 yards and two more scores as the Badgers defended the Axe.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Purdue
The Badgers moved into the Coaches Poll for the first time, ranked #22 going into their showdown against Purdue. The Badger defense figured to get a good test against the Boilermakers offense, which led the Big Ten at over 470 yards a game entering the contest. Purdue managed only 299 yards and a field goal as the Badgers limited Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter to just 187 yards on 20-of-40 passing and an interception. P. J. Hill, Jr. ran for another two touchdowns and 160 yards.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Illinois
The visiting Illini gave the #18 Badgers a scare, as Illinois quarterback Juice Williams engineered three scoring drives in the second quarter to give the Illini a 24–10 lead at halftime. P. J. Hill, Jr. suffered a pinched nerve and left the game in the first quarter. Backup Lance Smith scored the Badgers' only touchdown of the first half. John Stocco threw for two touchdowns and Taylor Mehlhaff kicked two field goals in the second half, and the defense held Illinois scoreless throughout the second half to prevail victorious, 30–24.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Penn State
The Badger defense stepped up in a huge way against Penn State, yielding only a field goal and 244 yards. Consistent pressure frustrated Nittany Lions quarterback Anthony Morelli, and the offense controlled the clock with 148 yards from P. J. Hill, Jr.. The Badgers won 13–3 to move to 9–1 on the season and their sixth straight victory. John Stocco suffered a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Penn State
This game drew the ire of Penn State head coach Joe Paterno as the first half came to a close. Under the clock rules introduced at the beginning of the season, the clock began running immediately as the ball was kicked, rather than when it was fielded by the receiving team. Following a Stocco touchdown that gave the Badgers a 10–3 lead with 23 seconds to go, Coach Bielema deliberately ordered his kickoff unit to run offsides before Taylor Mehlhaff kicked off.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Penn State
Because the Badgers were offsides (and thus further downfield), the Penn State special teams were unable to field the ball well, and thus would have had awful field position; they instead elected to rekick. Wisconsin repeated the tactic, essentially running out the clock on the first half. Bielema's strategy was decried by many as unsportsmanlike; others praised him for bringing light to a loophole in the new clock system. After the regular season, the clock rules were reverted to their pre-2006 form.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Iowa
After moving up to #16 in the coaches poll, Wisconsin ended a two-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes with a 24–21 victory in Iowa City. With John Stocco sitting out due to injury, backup Tyler Donovan played an efficient game, going 17-of-24 for 228 yards and two touchdowns. Hawkeyes quarterback Drew Tate threw for Iowa's three touchdowns, but was frustrated all game, completing fewer than a third of his attempts. With the win, the Badgers completed conference play with a 7–1 mark, wrapping up a second place tie in the Big Ten.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Buffalo
On Senior Day, the #10 Badgers started sluggishly, but scored two touchdowns just before halftime and added two more in the second half to win decisively over Buffalo, 35–3. Tyler Donovan once again performed proficiently, throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns with an interception on 16-of-26, and the defense forced four turnovers and held Buffalo to just 159 yards. P. J. Hill, Jr. scored a touchdown and picked up 86 yards on the ground.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Buffalo
With the win, the Badgers finished 11–1, the best regular season in school history. There was a minor controversy concerning the Bowl Championship Series, whose rules state that only two teams from one conference may receive bids to BCS bowl games. Ohio State and Michigan were ranked ahead of the Badgers in the final BCS standings, granting those two schools BCS invitations and relegating the Badgers to a lesser bowl. Nevertheless, Wisconsin again accepted an invitation to the Capital One Bowl, where it would defend its championship against Arkansas.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Capital One Bowl – Arkansas
The Badgers returned to Orlando to face the #13 Razorbacks, led by Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden. McFadden burst for 45 yards on his first carry but was brought down from behind by Jack Ikegwuonu at the 9-yard line, a pivotal play that led to a missed field goal by Arkansas. The Badgers led 17–7 at halftime behind John Stocco's two touchdown passes, and eventually survived a nailbiting second half in which the Razorbacks continually had great field position but failed to capitalize. Despite being held to -5 rushing yards while giving up 232, including 150 from Arkansas' Felix Jones, the Badgers won 17–14. John Stocco, playing in his final collegiate game, was named the game's MVP.


2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team, Game summaries, Capital One Bowl – Arkansas
The Badgers finished the season on a nine-game winning streak to reach #5 in the final coaches poll and #7 in the final AP poll. The 12 wins were a new single season record.


2006 Wisconsin Referendum 1
Wisconsin Referendum 1 of 2006 was a referendum on an amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution that would invalidate same-sex marriages or any substantially similar legal status. The referendum was approved by 59% of voters during the general elections in November 2006. All counties in the state voted for the amendment except Dane County (home of the state capital, Madison), which opposed it. The constitutional amendment created by Referendum 1 has been effectively nullified since June 26, 2015, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that state-level bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.


2006 Wisconsin Referendum 1, Amendment
The text of the adopted amendment, which became Article XIII, Section 13 of the state constitution, reads:


2006 Wisconsin Referendum 1, Amendment
Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.


2006 Wisconsin Referendum 1, Amendment
As required by the constitution, the amendment was approved by both houses of the legislature, in two consecutive sessions. The legislative history of the amendment is as follows:


2006 Wisconsin Referendum 1, Legal challenge
In April 2009 the Wisconsin Supreme Court was asked in McConkey v. Van Hollen to rule on whether the 2006 Referendum 1 was constitutional. William McConkey, a political science instructor, claimed that the measure violated the state's constitution because it proposed more than one question in a single ballot proposal, which is impermissible under Wisconsin law. On June 30, 2010, the Court ruled that the amendment is constitutional. However, on June 6, 2014 the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin overturned all bans on same-sex marriage in the state. On October 6, 2014, same sex marriage was legalized in Wisconsin.


2006 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
The 2006 Wisconsin gubernatorial election  was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jim Doyle ran for re-election to a second term in office. Doyle was unopposed in the Democratic primary, and he faced U.S. Representative Mark Green, who was unopposed in the Republican primary, in the general election. The campaign between Doyle and Green was competitive and hotly contested, but Doyle, whose approval ratings hovered around 50%, had the upper hand. In the end, Doyle defeated Green by a fairly comfortable margin, improving on his 2002 victory in the process. As of 2021, this is the most recent Wisconsin gubernatorial election won by a Democrat with an outright majority of the vote, and the only such election since 1982.


2006 Wismilak International
The 2006 Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 12th edition of the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic, and was part of the Tier III Series of the 2006 WTA Tour. It took place at the Grand Hyatt Bali in Bali, Indonesia, from 11 through 17 September 2007.


2006 Wismilak International, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2006 Wismilak International, Champions, Singles
It was the 2nd title of the season for Kuznetsova and the 7th title in her singles career.


2006 Wismilak International, Champions, Doubles
It was the 36th title for Davenport and the 13th title for Morariu in their respective doubles careers.


2006 Wismilak International – Doubles
Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Meghann Shaughnessy were the defending champions, but none competed this year.


2006 Wismilak International – Doubles
Lindsay Davenport and Corina Morariu won the title by defeating Natalie Grandin and Trudi Musgrave 6–3, 6–4 in the final.


2006 Wismilak International – Doubles, Seeds
The top three seeds received a bye into the second round.


2006 Wismilak International – Singles
Lindsay Davenport was the defending champion, but was eliminated in the semifinals by Svetlana Kuznetsova.


2006 Wismilak International – Singles
Kuznetsova went on to win the title, defeating Marion Bartoli 7–5, 6–2 in the final.


2006 Wismilak International – Singles, Seeds
The top two seeds received a bye into the second round.


2006 Woking Borough Council election
The 2006 Woking Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Woking Borough Council in Surrey, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.


2006 Woking Borough Council election, Campaign
6 sitting councillors stood down at the election including the former Conservative leader of the council Jim Armitage and the independent Mike Copham who had resigned from the Conservatives.


2006 Woking Borough Council election, Campaign
Housing and development was a contentious issue during the campaign, with the council being required to build 240 houses a year for the next 20 years under the South East Plan. Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats fought the election on a platform of opposing overdevelopment and protecting the green belt.


2006 Woking Borough Council election, Campaign
The campaign saw allegations of electoral fraud in Woking, which were investigated by the police. These included claims of multiple voter registrations at 6 addresses in Maybury and Sheerwater, intimidation and that blank postal votes had been given community leaders. The investigation saw one man arrested on suspicion of impersonating another voter.


2006 Woking Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw the Liberal Democrats become the largest party on the council with 18 seats as compared to 15 for the Conservatives. The Conservatives failed to take any seats from the Liberal Democrats, who gained 3 seats in Horsell West, Knaphill and Mount Hermon East wards and almost won a majority on the council for the first time since 1998 after losing by just 2 votes in Byfleet after 4 recounts. Despite this the Conservatives took more votes across the council than the Liberal Democrats and made a gain from Labour in Maybury and Sheerwater. Labour was reduced to only 3 seats on the council after losing in Maybury and Sheerwater, which was the only ward where they won more than 200 votes. Overall turnout in the election was 42.17%.


2006 Wokingham District Council election
The 2006 Wokingham District Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Wokingham Unitary Council in Berkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2006 Wokingham District Council election, Campaign
The election saw the United Kingdom Independence Party put forward a candidate in all of the 18 wards which were being contested. This was the first time they had done this and meant they put forward more candidates than Labour who contested 16 of the wards.


2006 Wokingham District Council election, Campaign
During the campaign the Liberal Democrat leader on the council, Coling Lawley, received death threats, which led the police launch an investigation.


2006 Wokingham District Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives strengthen their control of the council after gaining three seats from the Liberal Democrats. The gains came in Coronation, Loddon and Hillside wards with one of the defeated Liberal Democrats being their leader Coling Lawley who lost by 472 votes in Coronation ward. Overall turnout in the election was 39.8%.


2006 Wolverhampton City Council election
Elections to Wolverhampton City Council were held on 3 May 2006 in Wolverhampton, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party kept overall control of the council.


2006 Wolverhampton City Council election
Prior to the election, the composition of the council was


2006 Wolverhampton City Council election, Number of candidates
Of the main political parties, both the Conservative Party and Labour Party fielded a full slate of 20 candidates each.


2006 Wolverhampton City Council election, Number of candidates
The Liberal Democrats fielded 19 candidates, failing to have a candidate in place in Wednesfield North.


2006 Wolverhampton City Council election, Number of candidates
One independent candidate stood in each of the following 2 wards:


2006 Wolverhampton City Council election, Number of candidates
The Green Party had a candidate in each of the following 2 wards:


2006 Wolverhampton City Council election, Number of candidates
The British National Party fielded only 1 candidate, in Wednesfield North ward.


2006 Wolverhampton City Council election, Number of candidates
The Liberal Party stood in only one ward, Heath Town.


2006 Women's Asia Cup
The 2006 Women's Asia Cup was the third Asian Cricket Council Women's Asia Cup. The three teams which took part in the women's One Day International tournament were India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It was held between 13 and 21 December 2006 in India. All the matches of the tournament were played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The tournament was won by India, defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the final.


2006 Women's Australian Hockey League
The 2006 Women's Australian Hockey League was the 14th edition women's field hockey tournament. The tournament was held between 7 April – 14 May 2006.


2006 Women's Australian Hockey League
WA Diamonds won the tournament for the third time after defeating QLD Scorchers 4–2 in the final. Canberra Strikers finished in third place after defeating NSW Arrows 2–1 in the third and fourth place playoff.


2006 Women's Australian Hockey League, Competition Format
The 2006 Women's Australian Hockey League consisted of a single round robin format, followed by classification matches.


2006 Women's Australian Hockey League, Competition Format
Teams from all 8 states and territories competed against one another throughout the pool stage. At the conclusion of the pool stage, the top four ranked teams progressed to the semi-finals, while the bottom four teams continued to the classification stage.


2006 Women's Australian Hockey League, Competition Format
The first four rounds of the pool stage comprised two-legged fixtures based on aggregate scores to determine point allocation.


2006 Women's Australian Hockey League, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 227 goals scored in 52 matches, for an average of 4.37 goals per match.


2006 Women's Bandy World Championship
The Bandy World Championship for women 2006, the second bandy world championship tournament for women, was held in Roseville, Minnesota in the United States on February 13–18, 2006. Host of the event is the American Bandy Association. In the final-game Sweden defeated Russia, 3-1.


2006 Women's Baseball World Cup
The 2006 IBAF Women's Baseball World Cup was held from July 31 to August 6 in Taipei, Taiwan and won by the United States.


2006 Women's British Open
The 2006 Women's British Open was held 3–6 August at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. It was the 30th edition of the Women's British Open, and the sixth as a major championship on the LPGA Tour.


2006 Women's British Open
Sherri Steinhauer, 43, won her second major title, three strokes ahead of runners-up Sophie Gustafson and Cristie Kerr. It was Steinhauer's third win at the Women's British Open, but the first since it was designated a major in 2001. The earlier wins were consecutive, in 1998 and 1999.


2006 Women's British Open
This was the final Women's British Open sponsored by Weetabix, which began its 20-year relationship with the event in 1987. It was replaced by Ricoh in 2007 at St. Andrews.


2006 Women's British Open, Course layout
Previous length of the course for the Women's British Open (since 2001):


2006 Women's British Open, Round summaries, Second round
Amateurs: Mozo (+3), Yang (+6), Simon (+8), Schaeffer (+11), MacRae (+18).


2006 Women's British Open Squash Championship
The 2006 Women's Dunlop British Open Squash Championships was held at the University of Nottingham in Nottingham from 12–18 September 2006. The event was won for the second consecutive year by Nicol David who defeated Rachael Grinham in the final.


2006 Women's County Championship
The 2006 Women's County One-Day Championship was the 10th cricket Women's County Championship season. It ran from May to August and saw 27 county teams plus Wales compete in a series of divisions. Kent Women won the County Championship as winners of the top division, achieving the first Championship title.


2006 Women's County Championship, Competition format
Teams played matches within a series of divisions with the winners of the top division being crowned County Champions. Matches were played using a one day format with 50 overs per side.


2006 Women's County Championship, Competition format
The championship works on a points system with positions within the divisions being based on the total points. Points were awarded as follows:


2006 Women's County Championship, Competition format
Win: 20 points. Tie:  15 points. Loss : Bonus points. No Result: 4 points. Abandoned: 4 points.


2006 Women's County Championship, Competition format
Up to four batting and four bowling points were available to the losing side only, or both sides in an incomplete match.


2006 Women's County Championship, Teams
The 2006 Championship was divided into two tiers: the County Championship and the County Challenge Cup. The County Championship consisted of three divisions of four teams, whilst the Challenge Cup consisted of four groups of four teams, on equal standing, with the winners proceeding to a play-off round for promotion to the County Championship.


2006 Women's County Championship, Teams
Teams in the County Championship played each other twice, whilst teams in the Challenge Cup played each other once.


2006 Women's European Amateur Boxing Championships
The 5th Women's European Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Warsaw, Poland from September 4 to 10, 2006. This edition of the recurring competition was organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA. Competitions took place in 13 weight classes.


2006 Women's European Amateur Boxing Championships
Russia topped the medals table, as they had done in the four previous editions of these championships.


2006 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships
The 2006 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships were held in the Area Teleferica in Porto Torres, Sardinia, Italy from June 6 to June 11. This was the 1st ever edition of this annual competition, and was organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA.


2006 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships
78 fighters representing 17 federations competed in 13 weight divisions. Turkey was the most successful country with 2 gold, 4 silver and four bronze medals. Italian star Simona Galassi retired from amateur boxing after winning gold in these games.


2006 Women's European Water Polo Championship
The 2006 Women's European Water Polo Championship was the eleventh edition of the now tri-annual event, organised by the Europe's governing body in aquatics, the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The event took place in the Banjica Sports Center in Belgrade, Serbia from September 2 to September 9, 2006.


2006 Women's European Water Polo Championship
There were two qualification tournaments ahead of the event, held from April 7 to April 9, 2006 in Nancy, France (with France, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands competing) and in Madrid, Spain (Czech Republic, Greece, Spain and Ukraine).


2006 Women's European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers
The 2006 Women's European Water Polo Championship Qualifier was split into two tournaments to determine the last four competing teams for the 2006 Women's European Water Polo Championship, held from September 2 to September 9, 2006 in Belgrade, Serbia. Already qualified for the event are hosts Serbia, Hungary, Italy and Russia.


2006 Women's European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers
Group A (France, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands) played a round robin in Nancy, France, while Group B (Czech Republic, Greece, Spain and Ukraine) competed in Madrid, Spain. Both events were held from April 7 to April 9, 2006.


2006 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Córdoba)
The 2006 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament was a women's field hockey tournament, consisting of a series of test matches. It was held in Córdoba, Argentina, from January 24 to 28, 2006, and featured four of the top nations in women's field hockey.


2006 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Córdoba), Competition format
The tournament featured the national teams of Australia, England, the Netherlands, and the hosts, Argentina, competing in a round-robin format, with each team playing each other once. Three points were awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss.


2006 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Córdoba), Officials
The following umpires were appointed by the International Hockey Federation to officiate the tournament:


2006 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Córdoba), Awards
The following awards were presented at the conclusion of the tournament:


2006 Women's Four Nations Hockey Tournament (Córdoba), Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 17 goals scored in 8 matches, for an average of 2.12 goals per match.


2006 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy
The 2006 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy was the 14th edition of the Hockey Champions Trophy for women. It was held between 8–16 July 2006 in Amstelveen, Netherlands.


2006 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy
Germany won the tournament for the first time after defeating China 3–2 in the final.


2006 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy, Teams
The participating teams were determined by International Hockey Federation (FIH):


2006 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy, Umpires
Below are the 8 umpires appointed by the International Hockey Federation:


2006 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 59 goals scored in 18 matches, for an average of 3.28 goals per match.


2006 Women's Hockey World Cup
The 2006 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 11th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup field hockey tournament. It was held from 27 September to 8 October 2006 in Madrid, Spain.


2006 Women's Hockey World Cup
The Netherlands won the tournament for the sixth time after defeating Australia 3–1 in the final. Defending champions Argentina won the third place match by defeating Spain 5–0.


2006 Women's Hockey World Cup, Qualification
Each of the continental champions from five federations and the host nation received an automatic berth. The European federation received one extra quota based upon the FIH World Rankings. Alongside the five teams qualifying through the Qualifier, twelve teams competed in this tournament.


2006 Women's Hockey World Cup, Umpires
Below are the 14 umpires appointed by the International Hockey Federation:


2006 Women's Hockey World Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 116 goals scored in 42 matches, for an average of 2.76 goals per match.


2006 Women's Hockey World Cup squads
This article lists the confirmed squads for the 2006 Women's Hockey World Cup tournament held in Madrid, Spain, between September 27 and October 8, 2006.


2006 Women's Holland Handball Tournament
The 2006 Women's Holland Handball Tournament was held in Rotterdam at the Topsportcentrum Rotterdam. The tournament started on 2 November 2006 and the final match was played on 5 November. Brazil already secured their win in the tournament with still one more match to be played. They also won their last match versus the hosts and won all of their five matches scoring a total of 163 goals and conceding only 123.


2006 Women's Intercontinental Cup
The 2006 Women's Hockey Intercontinental Cup was the seventh edition of the women's field hockey tournament. The event was held from 25 April–6 May, in Rome, Italy.


2006 Women's Intercontinental Cup
England won the tournament for the second time after defeating South Korea 2–1 in the final. Japan finished in third place, defeating the United States 4–1.


2006 Women's Intercontinental Cup
The tournament served as a qualifier for the 2006 FIH World Cup in Madrid, with the top five teams qualifying automatically.


2006 Women's Intercontinental Cup, Qualification
Except for Africa, all other four confederations received quotas for teams to participate allocated by the International Hockey Federation based upon the FIH World Rankings. Those teams participated at their respective continental championships but could not qualify through it, and they received the chance to qualify through this tournament based on the final ranking at each competition.


2006 Women's Intercontinental Cup, Umpires
Below are the 14 umpires appointed by the International Hockey Federation:


2006 Women's Intercontinental Cup, Final standings
As per statistical convention in field hockey, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.


2006 Women's Intercontinental Cup, Goalscorers
There were 151 goals scored in 42 matches, for an average of 3.6 goals per match.


2006 Women's Junior European Volleyball Championship
The 2006 Women's Junior European Volleyball Championship was the 20th edition of the competition, with the main phase (contested between 12 teams) held in France from 22 August to 30 September 2006.


2006 Women's National Invitation Tournament
The 2006 Women's National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 40 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2006 Women's NCAA Tournament. It was the ninth edition of the postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament and the first to be played with a 40-team field, expanded from 32 the year prior.


2006 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup
The 2006 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup was the fifth edition of the annual Women's Volleyball Tournament, played by twelve countries from June 27 to July 8, 2006 in the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The event served as a qualifier for the 2007 World Grand Prix in Ningbo, PR China. The winner of each pool automatically advanced to the semi-finals and the teams placed in second and third met in crossed matches in the quarterfinals round.


2006 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup squads
This article shows all participating team squads at the 2006 Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup, held from June 27 to July 8, 2006 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup
The 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup (officially IRB Rugby World Cup 2006 Canada) took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The tournament began on 31 August and ended on 17 September 2006. The 2006 tournament was the third World Cup approved by the IRB, the previous two being held 2002 in Spain and in the Netherlands, in 1998. The Black Ferns of New Zealand won the 2006 World Cup, defeating England in the final, as they had in 2002. It was New Zealand's third successive title.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup
The semi-finals were also direct repeats of the 2002 tournament – in fact five of the top six places in the final rankings were unchanged. Elsewhere the USA advanced from 7th in 2002 to 5th, and Ireland climbed from 14th to 8th while Australia (5th to 7th), Spain (8th to 9th), and Samoa (9th to 10th) slipped down.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup
The period prior to the competition had not been without controversy. The decision to award the hosting of the competition to Canada ahead of a strong bid from England surprised many.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup
In addition – apart from in Asia – there were no qualifying tournaments for the 2006 World Cup. Instead teams were invited to take part by the IRB with selection based on performances at the World Cup in 2002 and in international matches between 2002 and 2005. This resulted in accusations of a lack of clarity in regard to some selection decisions. In particular the awarding of the final place in the tournament to Samoa instead of Wales (following a poor performance by Wales in the 2005 Six Nations) was the cause of some controversy and comment prior to the event.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, Tickets and sponsorship
Tickets had been available since July 2006 and they could be purchased online at Ticketmaster or by phone. There were individual and student tickets (for each of six match days), tickets for youth teams and clubs, corporate packages and a special "World Cup Pack" of $125 allowing access to all matches including the finals. The partners of this tournament were Toyota "Never Quit" Awards Program, Molson, Tait Radio Communications, Glentel, Budget, University of Alberta, Edmonton Airports and Clubfit.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, Tickets and sponsorship
The event was covered by English language network Global TV, daily newspaper Edmonton Journal and radio stations CFRN 1260, CFBR 100.3 and CFMG 104.9.All matches were filmed and for the first time were available via streamed media. The final was also broadcast live on TV in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, and a one-hour TV highlights programme was produced by IMG for wider distribution, while these recordings are held as part of the IRB's World Cup archive.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, Match officials
On July 6, 2006 the IRB Referee Selection Committee announced the appointment of match officials, with twelve women officials selected for the tournament consisting of eight referees and four touch judges. This panel was assisted by experienced international referees George Ayoub, Lyndon Bray, Malcolm Changleng and Simon McDowell, who were appointed in April. Other three touch judges from Canada Rugby Union were included in the final list.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, Format
The competition was contested over 18 days between 12 teams, allocated to four pools of three and structured into two parts:


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, Format, Pool stage
The first three match days saw a cross-pool league system in operation, with Pool A playing Pool D and Pool B playing Pool C, with points going towards one single division table for all four pools. Classification within each pool was based on the following scoring system:


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, Format, Pool stage
Bonus points were awarded for teams scoring 4 tries or more and losing by 7 points or less. No extra time were played. Teams were ranked 1–12 on the basis of the most match points. If two teams were equal on match points for any position, then the following criteria would be used in this order until one of the teams could be determined as the higher ranked:


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, Format, Knockout stage
After three match days, with each team having played three pool matches, positional semifinals were played with the top four-positioned sides vying to make the Women's Rugby World Cup final and all other sides playing matches in the final two rounds to decide tournament rankings.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, Format, Knockout stage
If no winner could be determined within the time allowed, two teams should have played an extra time of 10 minutes each way with an interval of 5 and then eventually a kicking competition.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads
This article lists the official squads for the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, Ireland
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, England
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, New Zealand
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, Canada
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, Australia
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, United States
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, Scotland
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, South Africa
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.