| Nordic Combined at the XX Olympic Winter Games | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Pragelato |
| Dates | 11–21 February 2006 |
| No. of events | 3 |
| Competitors | 59 from 15 nations |
| Nordic combined at the 2006 Winter Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sprint | men |
| Individual Gundersen | men |
| Team | men |
Nordic combined at the 2006 Winter Olympics, consisted of three events held over ten days, from 11 February to 21 February. The events took place in Pragelato. [1]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Austria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 |  Germany | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 |  Norway | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 |  Finland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (4 entries) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprint | Felix Gottwald  Austria | 18:29.0 | Magnus Moan  Norway | 18:34.4 | Georg Hettich  Germany | 18:38.6 |
| Individual Gundersen | Georg Hettich Germany | 39:44.6 | Felix Gottwald Austria | 39:54.4 | Magnus Moan Norway | 40:00.8 |
| Team | Austria Michael Gruber Christoph Bieler Felix Gottwald Mario Stecher | 49:52.6 | Germany Björn Kircheisen Georg Hettich Ronny Ackermann Jens Gaiser | 50:07.9 | Finland Antti Kuisma Anssi Koivuranta Jaakko Tallus Hannu Manninen | 50:19.4 |
Fifteen nations contributed nordic combinators to the events at Torino. [2]
Austria (4)
Canada (2)
Czech Republic (5)
Estonia (1) Finland (5)
France (4) Germany (5)
Italy (5)
Japan (5) Norway (4)
Russia (5)
Slovenia (1)
Switzerland (5)
Ukraine (2)
United States (6)
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter Olympics, the first being in 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo; Italy had also hosted the Summer Olympics in 1960 in Rome.
The United States sent 204 athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Chris Witty, a four-time Olympian, who competed in both Summer and Winter games, and won a gold medal in speed skating at the 2002 Games, served as the flag bearer at the opening ceremonies. Speed skater Joey Cheek, who won gold in the 500 m and silver in the 1000 m, was the flag bearer at the closing ceremonies. One athlete, Sarah Konrad, became the first American woman to compete in two different disciplines at the same Winter Olympics – biathlon and cross-country skiing.
Australia competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The team of 40 athletes was the largest ever for Australia, surpassing the team of 31 that participated at the 1960 Winter Olympics.
Sweden sent 112 athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin trying to win their first gold medal since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer. A total of 99 athletes were selected, and they competed in nine of the fifteen Winter Olympic sports. When the medals were summed up, Sweden had managed seven gold medals, two silver and five bronze, making it Sweden's best result ever in the Winter Olympics in terms of both medals and gold medals earned, and gave Sweden a 6th place in the medal table.
Switzerland competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. This was the confederation's largest Winter Olympics team ever, because two ice hockey teams qualified.
Venezuela sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy from 10–26 February 2006. This was the third time Venezuela had competed at a Winter Olympic Games. The Venezuelan delegation consisted of one luge athlete, Werner Hoeger. He finished 32nd in his only event, the men's singles.
Andorra sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, from 10–26 February 2006. The Andorran delegation consisted of three competitors, two in alpine skiing and one in cross-country skiing. Roger Vidosa provided Andorra's best performance at these Games, with a 27th-place finish in the men's slalom alpine skiing event. As of these Games, Andorra has never won an Olympic medal.
Estonia sent 28 athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Half of them competed in cross-country skiing, where Estonia won all of their three Turin Olympic medals. Olympic champion Andrus Veerpalu participated on his 5th Winter Olympics.
Spain competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Ukraine competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Three men from South Africa competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. One of them, Alexander Heath, became the first African to compete in all 5 alpine events. The three-man South African team was the largest from the continent in Turin.
Masahiko Harada is a Japanese former ski jumper. He is best remembered for a meltdown at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, which cost the Japanese national team a victory, and his subsequent redemption at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano; the latter of which led to him being affectionately called "Happy Harada".
Slovenia competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
William Demong is an American former Nordic combined skier and Olympic gold medalist. Demong is a five-time Olympian, having competed in Nagano, Salt Lake City, Torino, Vancouver and Sochi.
The Men's sprint Nordic combined competition for the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in Pragelato, Italy. It took place on 21 February.
The Men's individual Gundersen Nordic combined competition for the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in Pragelato, Italy. It took place on 11 February.
The Men's team Nordic combined competition for the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in Pragelato, Italy. It was originally scheduled for 15 February, but high winds meant that only part of the ski jumping competition was completed on that day, with the conclusion, and the cross-country race, taking place on 16 February.
The men's team large hill/4 x 5 km Nordic combined competition for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada was held at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia on 23 February. The Austrian team of Michael Gruber, Christoph Bieler, Felix Gottwald, and Mario Stecher were the defending Olympic champions. Gruber retired after the 2007-08 season. Gottwald originally retired after the 2006-07 World Cup season, but came out of retirement in May 2009 to compete for the 2009-10 World Cup season including the 2010 Games. The defending world champions were the Japanese team of Yūsuke Minato, Taihei Kato, Akito Watabe, and Norihito Kobayashi. The last World Cup event prior to the 2010 Games in this format took place on 12 December 2009 in Harrachov, Czech Republic, but that event was cancelled on 4 December 2009 to warm weather and lack of snow. A team normal hill event took place prior to the 2010 Winter Games in Schonach, Germany on 24 January 2010 and was won by the German team of Georg Hettich, Eric Frenzel, Björn Kircheisen, and Tino Edelmann.
For the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, a total of fifteen sports venues were used. Venue construction ran from 2002 to 2005. Cesana Pariol had to have turns 17 and 18 modified following the Luge World Cup in January 2005, but they were not cleared out until October 2005. Winds postponed the Nordic combined team event for a day. Many of the venues served as host for the Winter Universidade the following year.
