Ice hockey at the Olympic Games included. The IIHF considers the 1920 tournament to be the first Ice Hockey World Championship. From then on, the two events occurred concurrently, and every Olympic tournament until 1968 is counted as the World Championship. The Olympic Games were originally intended for amateur athletes, so the players of the National Hockey League (NHL) and other professional leagues were not allowed to play. The first Winter Olympic Games were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Chapter 1, article 6, of the 2007 edition of the Olympic Charter defines winter sports as "sports which are practised on snow or ice". Ice hockey
2006 Winter Paralympics 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. Mexico is the only country who had sent an athlete to these Games but not the Winter Olympic Games in 2006. These are the second Paralympic Games to be held in Italy, which hosted the first Summer Paralympics in Rome in 1960. These are the first Paralympic Games to feature a live webcast of events, hosted by ParalympicSport.TV. The Games mascot is