South Africa at the 2006 Winter Olympics | |
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IOC code | RSA |
NOC | South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee |
Website | www |
in Turin | |
Competitors | 3 (3 men) in 3 sports |
Flag bearer | Alexander Heath (opening) Tyler Botha (closing) [1] [2] |
Medals |
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Winter Olympics appearances (overview) | |
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.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (White), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Turin 2006 or Torino 2006, was a winter multi-sport event which was held in Turin, Piedmont, Italy from February 10 to 26, 2006. This marked the second time that Italy had hosted the Winter Olympic Games, the first being the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Italy also hosted the Summer Olympics in 1960 in Rome. Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 Games in June 1999.
Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Turin and of the Piedmont region, and was the first capital city of Italy from 1861 to 1865. The city is located mainly on the western bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley, and is surrounded by the western Alpine arch and Superga Hill. The population of the city proper is 878,074 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.
Alexander Heath, competing in his third Olympics, qualified in all five events, with his best finish a 27th in the giant slalom. [3]
Alexander Heath is a South African Olympic athlete. In the 2006 Winter Olympics, he became the first African to participate in all five Alpine events. He resides in Cape Town.
Athlete | Event | Final | ||||
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Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Total | Rank | ||
Alexander Heath | Men's downhill | n/a | 1:59.79 | 52 | ||
Men's super-G | n/a | 1:37.77 | 50 | |||
Men's giant slalom | 1:25.61 | 1:25.81 | n/a | 2:51.42 | 27 | |
Men's slalom | Did not finish | |||||
Men's combined | 1:47.62 | Did not finish |
Note: In the men's combined, run 1 is the downhill, and runs 2 and 3 are the slalom. In the women's combined, run 1 and 2 are the slalom, and run 3 the downhill.
Kraas competed in three events in Turin, but finished in only one, the sprint, where he finished 57th out of 80 competitors. [4]
Athlete | Event | Final | |
---|---|---|---|
Total | Rank | ||
Oliver Kraas | Men's 15 km classical | Did not finish | |
Men's 50 km freestyle | Did not finish |
Athlete | Event | Qualifying | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Rank | Total | Rank | Total | Rank | Total | Rank | ||
Oliver Kraas | Men's sprint | 2:27.68 | 57 | Did not finish | 57 |
Tyler Botha finished second in a pair of Challenge Cup events that allowed him to qualify for the Games, where he ended up in 21st place. [5] [6]
Tyler Botha is a South African skeleton racer who competed from 2003 to 2006. He finished 21st in the men's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and was the flag bearer for the South African team in the closing ceremony.
Athlete | Event | Final | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Run 1 | Run 2 | Total | Rank | ||
Tyler Botha | Men's | 59.43 | 1:00.63 | 2:00.06 | 21 |
The United States Olympic Committee 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.
New Zealand competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
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.
Argentina competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Isabel Clark Ribeiro, a snowboarder, carried the flag at the opening ceremonies. Clark is also the Brazilian athlete who achieved the best result in the Brazilian delegation, making it to the quarterfinals in women's snowboard cross, finishing ninth overall.
Chile competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
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.
Algeria sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy from 10–26 February 2006. The nation had participated in the Winter Olympics only once previously, in 1992. The delegation consisted of two athletes, Christelle Laura Douibi in alpine skiing and Noureddine Maurice Bentoumi in cross-country skiing. Douibi's 40th place finish in the women's downhill was Algeria's best finish in these Olympics.
Uzbekistan competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Madagascar competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The country's participation at the Games marked its Winter Olympics debut, although it had competed in the Summer Olympics since 1964. The delegation consisted of a single alpine skier, Mathieu Razanakolona, who did not win any medals.
Slovakia competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Serbia and Montenegro competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. This was the last appearance of a team representing a joint Montenegrin and Serbian state at the Olympic venue.
Spain competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
San Marino sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics, in Turin, Italy from 10–26 February 2006. This was the nation's seventh appearance at a Winter Olympic Games. The delegation consisted of a single athlete, alpine skier Marino Cardelli. In his race, the giant slalom, he failed to finish the competition.
Turkey competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Ukraine competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Tajikistan sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy from 10–26 February 2010. This was the second time Tajikistan had participated in a Winter Olympic Games. The Tajikistani delegation consisted of one alpine skier, Andrei Drygin. He finished 51st in both the super-G and the downhill.
Slovenia competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.