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.
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| Part of a series on |
| 2006 Winter Olympics |
|---|
| Venue | Sports | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oval Lingotto | Speed skating | 8,250 | [1] |
| Palavela | Figure skating, short track speed skating | 8,025 | [2] |
| Palasport Olimpico | Ice hockey (final) | 12,500 | [3] |
| Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino | Ceremonies (opening/closing) | 35,000 | [4] |
| Torino Esposizioni | Ice hockey | 5,400 | [5] |
| Venue | Sports | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bardonecchia | Snowboarding | 6,763 | [6] |
| Cesana Pariol | Bobsleigh, luge, skeleton | 4,400 | [7] |
| Cesana San Sicario | Biathlon | 4,700 | [8] |
| Pinerolo Palaghiaccio | Curling | 2,000 | [9] |
| Pragelato | Nordic combined (ski jumping), ski jumping | 8,055 | [10] |
| Pragelato Plan | Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing) | 5,400 | [11] |
| San Sicario Fraiteve | Alpine skiing (women's combined (downhill), downhill, super-G) | 6,160 | [12] |
| Sauze d'Oulx-Jouvencaux | Freestyle skiing | 7,900 | [13] |
| Sestriere Borgata | Alpine skiing (men's combined (downhill), downhill, super-G) | 6,800 | [14] |
| Sestriere Colle | Alpine skiing (combined (slalom), giant slalom, slalom) | 7,900 | [14] |
Stadio Olimpico in 1934 was known as Stadio Benito Mussolini. For the FIFA World Cup that took place that year, the stadium hosted two matches, including the quarterfinal match between Czechoslovakia and Switzerland. [15] [16]
Turin was selected by the Italian Olympic Committee to be selected to host the 2006 Winter Olympics in March 1998. It was awarded the 2006 Winter Olympics on 19 June 1999. [17]
Cesana Pariol construction began in 2002 and was completed in 2004. After a Luge World Cup test event in January 2005 that was abandoned to accidents. This led to modifications of Turns 17 and 18 and a retest of the track that was approved by the International Luge Federation (FIL) in October 2005. [7] Oval Lingotto opened on 9 December 2005. [1] Palavela, constructed in 1961, was modified for the 2006 Games to host figure skating and short track speed skating events. [2] San Sicario Fraiteve hosted an Alpine Skiing World Cup in February 2005, and was modified to make the women's super-G event more challenging. [12] Torino Esposizinoi was constructed in 1949 and refurbished in time for the 2006 Games to host the preliminary ice hockey matches. [5]
Venues were selected between May 2001 and the summer of 2002. Construction of the venues ran between the summers of 2002 and 2005. The venues were turned over for use of the 2006 Games between the summer of 2005 and February 2006. [18] New construction included Cesana Pariol, Cesana San Sicario, Pragelato, Pragelato Plan, and Sauze d'Ouix-Jouvencaux while the other venues used were refurbished or expanded. [19] Sustainability efforts were applied on all venues, but the most noted in the Olympics report were Cesana Pariol and Pragelato Plan. [20] The most expensive venue construction in the Mountain area was Cesana Pariol at €85.78 million while the most expensive city venue used for competition in the City area was Oval Lingotto at €74.27 million. [21]
The men's curling bronze medal match at Pinerolo between Great Britain and the United States was interrupted by a streaker wearing a rubber chicken as a loin cloth. [22]
At Cesana Pariol, the women's singles luge event had thirteen crashes or near crashes during the four runs. Among those who crashed were American Samantha Retrosi who was knocked unconscious at the end of the second run while Italy's Anastasia Oberstolz-Antonova crashed out during the first run. [23]
During the men's super-G alpine skiing event at Sestriere Borgata, seventeen skiers had gone down the course in the morning portion of the event before it was halted to heavy snowfall. The event was restarted in the afternoon with all morning results cancelled. Norway's Kjetil André Aamodt won the event. [24]
San Sicario Fraiteve had its women's downhill alpine skiing course modified at the request of Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister who complained that the course was too easy. Modifications included bigger jumps and steeper banks and it was after a women's super-G event that was a test event in 2005. [25]
During the ski jumping portion of the Nordic combined team event, it was postponed halfway through to strong winds. They resumed the next day with Germany having a 10-second lead over Austria going into the cross-country portion of the event. At the halfway point of the final leg, Austria's Mario Stecher overcame a 20-second deficit to defeat Germany's Jens Gaiser by 15.3 seconds. [26]
Oval Lingotto hosted the World Fencing Championships in 2006. [27] Several of the venues used for the 2006 Games were also used for the Winter Universiade the following year. They included Bardonecchia, Pragelato, Cesana San Sicario, Palavela, Pinerolo, and Oval Lingotto. [28] San Sicario Friateve's last World Cup event in alpine skiing was in 2007. [29] Pragelato's last World Cup ski jumping event was in 2008. [30] Bardonecchia's last snowboarding World Cup event was in 2009. [31] Palavela hosted the World Figure Skating Championships in 2010. [32] Cesana Pariol hosted the FIL European Luge Championships in 2008 and the FIL World Luge Championships three years later. [33] [34]
Sestriere is a ski resort in Piedmont, Italy, a comune (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is situated in Val Susa, 17 km (11 mi) from the French border. Its name derives from Latin: ad petram sistrariam, that is at sixty Roman miles from Turin.
Torino 2006 is the official video game of the XX Olympic Winter Games, hosted by Torino, Italy in 2006. Developed by German studio 49Games and published by 2K, it was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. It is the first licensed Olympic video game to be released on a Microsoft home console, since a planned Xbox version of the prior installment, Salt Lake 2002, was cancelled.
Cesana Pariol was the venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The track, built for the games, is located in Cesana. The venue holds approximately 7,130 spectators, of whom 3,624 are seated.
Cesana San Sicario, located in Cesana, Italy was a location of a venue for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The biathlon facility is built for 6,500 spectators.
Pragelato is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Turin, in the upper Val Chisone. The name Pragelato, meaning "icy meadow", has been derived from the harsh climate and the fact that the ground is covered with ice for long periods. On both sides of the Chisone, extensive forests of pine and larch provide protection from the avalanches which are a common occurrence in the winter season: for this reason in the nineteenth century the people of Pragelato were only permitted to fell trees close to the mountain summits, and even then only with the permission of the communal administration.
Nino Bibbia was an Italian skeleton racer and bobsledder who competed in the late 1940s. Born in Bianzone, Lombardy, he won the gold medal in the men's skeleton event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz.
The Olympic Sliding Centre Innsbruck is a venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton located in Igls, Austria. The most recent version of the track was completed in 1975 and is the first permanent, combination artificially refrigerated bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track, serving as a model for other tracks of its kind worldwide. It hosted the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton competitions for the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.
Torino Olympic Park is a group of parks that was created to manage all of the venue and facilities used and build for the 2006 Winter Olympics held in Turin, Italy, and facilities surrounding the Turin region.
The men's skeleton at the 2006 Winter Olympics took place on 17 February, at the Cesana Pariol.
The doubles luge event at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held on 17 February at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. Twenty teams participated. Austrian brothers Andreas and Wolfgang Linger, the defending Olympic and European champions, won the gold medal. The silver medal was also won by a pair of brothers, Andris and Juris Šics of Latvia. Germans Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch clinched the bronze medal after edging out Italians Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber, who were in third place after the first run.
For the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, a total of eight sports venues were used. Luge made its debut at these games, but were marred by the death of a British slider two weeks prior to the Games. A second ski jumping event debuted and the best two out of three jumps were used in both events for the only time in the history of the Winter Olympics. All eight venues would be used again when the Winter Games returned to Innsbruck twelve years later though the venues would undergo renovations in time for the 1976 Games.
For the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, a total of ten sports venues were used. Most venues were constructed between the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck and the 1968 Games. Thawing was an issue for the four-man bobsleigh run. They were limited to only two runs. Thawing also affected the men's 500 m speed skating event. Electronic timing in alpine skiing affected the results of the women's giant slalom event. It gave Canada's Nancy Greene a headache for two days despite her gold medal in the event.
For the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, a total of twelve sports venues were used. A thirteenth venue which was a reserved luge course was constructed, but never used in actual competition. Construction on all of the venues used took place between 1968 and early 1971 in time for the test events. The Tsuskisamu Indoor Skating Rink was not completed until late 1971 or early 1972 because the number of teams scheduled to compete at the 1972 Games was not known. At the actual luge venue used, a malfunctioning starting gate during the first run led to the results being cancelled and rerun being ordered. The results of this event led to the only tie in Olympic luge history. The ski jumps at Miyanomori and Okurayama served as host venues for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships thirty-five years later.
For the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, a total of eight sports venues were used. The games were originally awarded to Denver, Colorado in the United States in 1970, but they withdrew in the wake of Colorado residents voting against it for environmental and cost reasons in November 1972. This led to the International Olympic Committee opening up the bids for the games again, eventually awarding them to Innsbruck in February 1973. The Austrian city, having hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964, was in the process of having the venues used for those Games before Denver's with clear cutting of the alpine skiing venues, lessening of the amount of cross-country skiing routes, upgrading the ski jumps, adding lighting in the indoor sports arena to accommodate color television, and the construction of a combination bobsleigh and luge track. After the 1976 Games, the venues have remained in use, hosting events in Nordic skiing and the sliding sports. They hosted some of the events for the Winter Universiade in 2005 and seven of the eight venues served as host for the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012.
For the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, United States, a total of seven sports venues were used. All five of the venues used for the 1932 Winter Olympics were also used at the 1980 Winter Games with adjustments. These adjustments included electronic scoreboards, increased refrigeration, and the addition of a separate luge track. This was the last Winter Olympics where there were separate bobsleigh and luge tracks. The closest finish in Olympic history in cross-country skiing led skiing officials to time future events in hundredths of a second rather than tenths of a second. This would also apply to biathlon events. Eric Heiden won five gold medals at the speed skating oval while the "Miracle on Ice" took place between Americans and Soviets at the Olympic Center. In the late 1990s, the luge track was demolished and a new combination track was constructed in time for the only Winter Goodwill Games held. The sliding venue was named to the American National Register of Historical Places in February 2010.
For the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, a total of nine sports venues were used. The idea for the Games came around from a 1968 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study on promoting winter tourism in Yugoslavia. After Sarajevo was awarded the 1984 Games in 1978, venue construction and renovation took place between 1979 and 1983. Weather postponed the men's downhill alpine skiing event three times before it was finally run. The men's cross-country skiing 30 km event was run during a blizzard. After the games, all but one of the venues were damaged during the Bosnian War and the siege of Sarajevo. After the war, Zetra Ice Hall was rebuilt and is in use as of 2010.
For the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a total of nine sports venues were used. Calgary tried twice to host the Winter Olympics in the 1960s without success before finally winning the 1988 Winter Games in 1981. Stampede Corral was built in 1950 while McMahon Stadium was built in 1960. When the National Hockey League (NHL) Flames franchise was relocated from Atlanta, Georgia in the United States during the summer of 1980, a new arena was needed. The Saddledome construction was underway in late 1981 when Calgary was awarded the 1988 Games. Completed in 1983, the Olympic Saddledome has played host to the Flames ever since, including three Stanley Cup Finals and the NHL All-Star Game in 1985. An innovation for the games was the first indoor long-track speed skating venue which has served as a model for future Olympics. The bobsleigh and luge track was the first combination track in North America and was noted for the Jamaican bobsleigh team crash during the four-man event. Both the Oval and the bobsleigh/luge track continue to host the World Championships in their respective sports since the 1988 Winter Olympics.
For the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, a total of thirteen sports venues were used. Val-d'Isère has been part of the Alpine Skiing World Cup since the late 1960s while Tignes served as host of the first Freestyle World Ski Championships in 1986. Most of the venues used were constructed between 1987 and mid 1990 with the test events taking place in late 1990 and early 1991. It was the last Winter Olympics with an outdoor speed skating rink which led to weather issues for three of the ten events. Three cross-country skiing events were run in snowstorms while the men's 20 km biathlon was found to be 0.563 km (0.350 mi) too short. The downhill events in alpine skiing were criticized for being too steep. Freestyle skiing made its official debut at these games with the men's winner being stormed after his win while the women's winner won her event in a snow storm. La Plagne hosted the skeleton World Championships in 1993 while Val-d'Isère hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships in 2009.Some of the venues will be used again during the 2030 Winter Olympics,when the main host city will be Nice.
For the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, a total of fifteen sports venues were used. Nagano had attempted twice to host the Winter Olympics, losing out to Sapporo, host of the 1972 Winter Olympics. The third time, in 1991, Nagano edged out Salt Lake City to host the 1998 Games. The biathlon venue was adjusted in accordance with the Washington Convention over endangered species. The biggest venue controversy was at Happo'one resort on the length of the men's downhill and the battle that ensued to the point where skiing officials threatened to pull the event entirely before a compromise was reached three months before the Olympics. M-Wave has hosted three World Speed Skating Championships since the Olympics, while the Spiral has hosted a couple of world championships in bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.
The Doubles luge competition at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo was held on 10 February, at Sapporo Teine. A malfunctioning starting gate cancelled the results of the first run. Italy, whose doubles team of Paul Hildgartner and Walter Plaikner won the first run, protested to event officials the results should stand since all contestants had suffered equally, but to no avail. After the protest was denied, a rerun was ordered.
