Any Olympic competition is a long-awaited event not only for spectators and fans, but primarily for the athletes themselves. For 4 years they have been waiting for these competitions, and for many of them they become a moment of truth when it is necessary to show what you have learned and how you are superior to your opponent. The 2006 Olympics was no exception. Where did you go and what are the positive aspects of this Olympics?
Turin, Italy
The Winter Sports Olympics were cast by a majority vote of the IOC members to Italian Turin. The Swiss city of Sion also claimed to hold the Winter Olympics, but officials of the International Olympic Committee assigned this honorable mission to Turin. As members of the Italian government and the city of Turin later recalled, this fact served as an impetus for the development of infrastructure and the city’s economy.
Over 1.5 million dollars were allocated for the construction of necessary buildings. The fact that the subway was completely rebuilt in Turin has no analogues in the world.
Grand opening
The 2006 Olympics is a winter fairy tale that was remembered by many precisely for the grand opening. It was attended by many famous Italian and European artists: Luciano Pavarotti, Sophia Loren and others. To light the Olympic flame, the Italian athlete Stephanie Belmondo, who was the Olympic champion in skiing in 1992 and 2002, was honored.
The opening took place on February 10, and before the parade of Olympic delegations, viewers were able to enjoy a vivid show called “Sparks of Passion”. Dmitry Dorofeev, a Russian skater, was honored to fly the flag of the Russian delegation. It should be noted that this fact had a positive effect on Dmitry’s sports career, and after 3 days he won a silver medal at a distance of 500 meters, which happened to the Russian skaters for the first time in 12 years. So the role of the standard bearer can be considered happy for Russian athletes.
2006 Olympics: Results
For the first time, athletes from exotic warm countries such as Madagascar and Ethiopia were represented at this Winter Olympics. In total, 2663 people from 80 countries of the world took part in the competitions. The 2006 Olympics launched new species that were first included in the competition program. In snowboarding, board cross became such a discipline; in biathlon - a race with a common start, but the skiers were able to test their strength in the team sprint. Also for the first time in the program was a team race for skaters. In total, 15 disciplines were announced at the Olympics, 1026 medals were awarded to athletes.
The mascots of these competitions were Neve and Glitz created by Italian artist Pedro Albuquerque. It is also worth noting the original form of medals awarded to athletes. They were made in the form of a circle, in the middle of which there was a hole for the ribbon. They symbolized the Olympic rings, as well as the piazza (Italian square), which in Italian cities is the center of the social life of all the people living in them. When the athlete put on a medal, this hole was just at the level of the heart, which belongs to the sport and is the focus of all his life aspirations.
The success of Russian athletes
The 2006 Olympics was very successful for athletes from Russia - the 4th team place in the overall medal standings. Each of the participants in the sports delegation devoted all their efforts to bring such long-awaited medals to the common piggy bank.
Evgenia Medvedeva, a Russian skier, became the person who brought the first medal to the national team overall standings. The bronze in the duathlon was quite predictable, but the gold of Yevgeny Dementyev in the same discipline was a complete surprise. The 2006 Olympics brought Eugene and silver in the 50 km skate race.
In general, the performance of Russian skiers can be called successful: gold in the women's relay, silver by Yulia Chepalova in the mass start, bronze by Alena Sidko in the sprint. Especially unexpected was the bronze in ski acrobatics, as Vladimir Lebedev was not among the alleged winners in this type of freestyle.
The Russian figure skating team also made a strong performance - 2 gold in pair skating and ice dancing, the predicted but no less pleasant gold of Evgeni Plushenko and the bronze of Irina Slutskaya, although it could be argued here. Irina perfectly skated her entire program, but by the decision of the judges she remained only the third.
But the men sleigh celebrated a real triumph. Albert Demchenko won the first medal for Russia for the entire time that Russians participated in this discipline.
2006 Olympics: disappointments
Probably the biggest disappointment and annoyance was that dope was detected in the biathlete Olga Pyleva . Her award was canceled, and the athlete herself was disqualified for 2 years by a decision of the International Olympic Committee.
And the hockey team disappointed - this time the Russian hockey players went home without rewards.