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,[3] and gave Sweden a 6th place in the medal table.
2004 and 2005 World Cup overall champion Anja Pärson won bronze medals in the women's combined and downhill, before claiming her first Olympic gold medal in the slalom.[4]Anna Ottosson also earned a medal, winning the second run in the women's giant slalom to claim bronze.[5]
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.
Anna Carin Olofsson, who had switched from cross-country skiing to biathlon just four years earlier, became the first Swedish woman to win a gold medal in biathlon.[6] Olofsson also won a silver in the sprint event. The men's relay team fell short of a medal in a photo finish, having greatly hurt their chances by missing 12 shots.[7]
A total of fifteen athletes – ten men and five women – were selected, making the cross-country squad the largest excluding the ice hockey teams.
Emelie Öhrstig was the defending World Champion at the women's sprint event, but that was in classical style, and she failed to make the final in Turin.[8]Björn Lind, leader of the men's cross-country World Cup in sprint,[9] was more successful, winning the gold medal and then pairing with bronze medalist Thobias Fredriksson to win the team sprint event as well.[10]
The women's sprint team of Lina Andersson and Anna Dahlberg joined their male counterparts in winning gold, while the men's 4 × 10km relay claimed the only Swedish medal from a distance event, a bronze.[10]
In the men's event, three-time World championPeja Lindholm had a strong start, opening the tournament 3–0, including a win over eventual gold-medalists Canada, but fell off as the week continued, losing six consecutive games to finish out of the medal round.[11]
On the women's side, Anette Norberg, the 2005 World champion, and a six-time European champion, led her team to the top spot in the round robin. The Swedes then survived a close game with Norway in the semifinal, winning with a single point in the final end. In the gold medal game, Norberg's rink had a comfortable lead, but saw Switzerland storm back to tie and force an extra end. In that extra, Norberg converted a difficult double takeout to win the gold medal.[11]
Four moguls skiers represented Sweden in the freestyle disciplines, with the best finish coming from Sara Kjellin in the women's event. Kjellin sat in bronze medal position with only a single skier to come, but that skier was eventual winner Jennifer Heil, leaving Kjellin just short of a medal.[13]
The Swedish men's team suffered an early setback when it lost 5–0 to Russia, but wins over Kazakhstan, Latvia and the United States meant that the team was guaranteed a quarterfinal spot entering the final round-robin game with Slovakia. This game stirred up controversy, with head coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson suggesting that the team might not play for a win, in order to set up a quarterfinal matchup with underdog Switzerland. Ultimately, the Swedes did lose the game, though the IIHF supervisor "didn't see anything special".[14] The team then picked up comfortable wins in the medal round, beating the Swiss 5–2 and the Czech Republic 7–3, setting up a gold medal final with local rivals Finland.[15] The Swedes fell behind after the first period, but a pair of goals in the second left the game tied going into the final 20 minutes. Nicklas Lidström then scored early in the third, giving the Swedes a 3–2 lead that would hold, and giving the country its first Olympic hockey title since 1994.[16] Thousands of fans greeted the victorious team upon their return from Turin, with many of the NHL players stopping in Stockholm before returning to their club teams.[17]
The women's team managed to advance to the medal round in the Olympic tournament, but an 8–1 loss to Canada only seemed to enhance the perception that women's hockey had few competitive teams.[18] In the semifinals, the Swedes faced the United States, and fell behind 2–0 early in the second period. However, the Swedes then rallied, scoring twice to tie the game, and shut down the favoured Americans, forcing a shootout to decide the game. Swedish goaltender Kim Martin stopped four American shooters, while Pernilla Winberg and Maria Rooth scored for Sweden.[15] This was the first game in which any team other than Canada had beaten the United States, and made Sweden the first team outside the top two to advance to a major final.[19] The final was not as close, with Canada pulling out to a 4–0 lead by the halfway mark. Still, earning silver medal was a significant accomplishment for the Swedish women.
Thirteen snowboarders represented Sweden across the three events, but only one, Maria Danielsson, earned a top-ten finish, which Danielsson did in the women's snowboard cross.[21]
↑ "Team Sweden Profile". Sochi Organizing Committee. Sochi Organizing Committee. February 2014. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
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.
New Zealand competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
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.
Chile competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
The United States was the host nation for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Algeria sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy from 10 to 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.
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.
Turkey competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Ukraine competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Slovenia competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
The Men's 30 kilometre pursuit cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 12 February at Pragelato.
The men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 19 February at Pragelato.
The men's sprint cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 22 February at Pragelato.
The Men's team sprint cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 14 February, at Pragelato. This was the first time the team sprint was contested in the Winter Olympics. Each race featured teams of two, with each skier completing 3 laps of a 1325-metre course.
Finland participated at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Sweden competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 23 February 2014. The Swedish Olympic Committee sent 106 athletes to the Games, 61 men and 45 women, to compete in nine sports. 38 of the 98 events had Swedish participation. The youngest athlete in the delegation was freestyle skier Sandra Näslund, at 17 years old, while ice hockey player Daniel Alfredsson was the oldest athlete at 41. Alfredsson competed in his fifth Olympics, and he thus became the first Swedish ice hockey player that has participated in five Olympic tournaments. 55 athletes were Olympic debutants. Sweden won 15 medals in total, making the Sochi games Sweden's most successful Winter Games ever in terms of medals. However, the number of gold medals (2) was lower than in the two previous Winter Games.
Sweden competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022.
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