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2006 Winter Games, Torino, Italy  |

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Major Venue
The events in the 2006 Winter Games in Torino will be held in nine main locations. These are broken down into seven venue locations: Bardonechia, Pinerolo, Pragelato, Cesana, Sauze d’Oulx, Sestrierer, Torino, and two training locations: Claviere and Torre Pellice.



Torino City
The city of Torino itself will host figure skating, speed skating, short track, and ice hockey, plus the Olympic ceremonies. It will also be home to the Olympic village for the athletes.



Pragelatao
Pragelato is the venue for ski-jumping, Nordic combined, and cross-country events. It features a total of 50km of ski runs snaking through the Chisone Valley in the Val Troncea National Park.



Bobsleigh Run
The bobsleigh track in Torino will cost in its first phase of construction alone around 15 million euros, and is built within a frame of local soil to minimize its environmental impact.

What is it?
It's the Olympic Torch of the XX Olympic Winter Games.
The Torch Relay begins in Rome and will criss-cross Italy for two months, passing through every Region and Province. More than 10,000 torch-bearers will be ambassadors of the Olympic Spirit, tracing with the Torch an 11,000-kilometre trail, a red thread of passion that will unite Italy.

Learn more about the design of the torch and other milestone events at the official site of the XX Winter Olympic Games.

Special Trips
2006 Winter Games
Torino, Italy

February 10-26 2006.
Event tickets are on sale now!

Order now for best seats at your preferred events, including opening and closing ceremonies.

Torino's event schedule will be unlike previous Winter Games in that many of the alpine events will begin later in the day making it difficult, if not impossible, to attend two events in one day.

Because of this compact event schedule you will have extra time during the day to consider other activities and events popular in this area.

Programs are being developed with a variety of activities for you to take advantage of, such as wine tasting, gourmet tours, spa visits, dining opportunities, sightseeing activities, shopping trips to Milan, etc.

Vivian V. Russell Travel will also offer extensions to many of Italy's great cities such as Rome, Venice, Florence and Naples, as well as visits to some of Europe's other popular destinations like London, Paris and Athens.

All Vivian V. Russell Travel Packages will include air tickets, accommodations, ground transporation, and other on-site services. Plan a great trip to Italy that includes a once-in-a-lifetime Winter Games in Italia!

E-mail Vivian V. Russell Travel or call 866-850-2004 for information.
Book your Torino 2006 Winter Games travel package today!

Come to Italy
for the 2006
Winter Games

The world’s best winter sportsmen and women are already looking ahead to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Eighty medals will be up for grabs in 15 different sports. Italy’s success in its bid to host the 2006 XX Olympics was announced a the 109th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Seoul. The IOC had initially evaluated six bids from Switzerland, Poland, Slovaki, Norway, Austria, and finally Torino itself. The IOC reduced the candidate list to Sion, Switzerland, and Torino, and Torino won the final vote 53-36 on June 19, 1999.

Torino is already a major venue for winter sports enthusiasts and athletes, and has, or is developing first-class facilities for the forthcoming games. It is set in the region of Piedmont in the north-west of Italy, and has an aristocratic lineage evident in the beautiful and imposing architecture. During the Game, Torino city will use its two stadia–Communale and Delle Alpi–to host ice hockey, figure skating, short track and speed skating. The Olympic Village will also be located in the village.

Torino city, however, is just one of six major competition sites set deep in the Italian Alps. These are, with their associated sports: Bardonecchia (snowboarding), Pinerolo (curling), Pragelato (Nordic combined, ski jumping, cross country) Sestriere (alpine skiing), Sauze d’Oulx (freestyle) and Cesana San Ciscario (biathlon, women’s alpine time trials, downhill, combined downhill, super-G, plus bobsleigh, luge and skeleton at Pariol-Greneiere). In addition, there are training facilities at Claviere and Torre Pelice.

The Games will be 17 days on duration, from February 10 to 26 , and will feature over 2500 athletes competing in 15 traditional events: alpine skiing, Biathlon, bobsleigh, nordic combined, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, luge, freestyle, speed skating, short-track, skeleton, ski jumping, and snowboard.

The Italians themselves have high hopes for the Games. During the 2002 Winter Olympics in the USA they came a respectable seventh position in the medals tables with four gold, four silver, and four bronze medals. Italian women were particularly strong, with Daniela Ceccarelli taking gold in the women’s super-G, Stefania Belmondo winning the 15 km cross-country, and Gabriella Paruzzi taking the 30 km classical, with Belmondo in silver position. Competing on home soil, the Italians stand a good chance of pushing themselves higher up the rankings.

The 2002 Winter Olympics saw the US team in second place, and in 2006 no doubt they will be going all out to dislodge Germany from the No. 1 position they have held since Nagano in 1998.

US strengths are concentrated in snowboarding, speed skating, bobsleigh and skeleton, and figure skating. The 2002 Games were a bitter disappointment for the USA in the alpine skiing events, Bode Miller being the only medal winner with two silvers. Yet the US team fields some especially strong skiers, and the team will be hoping that Torino rectifies past mistakes and poor times. In the skating events, Russia will hope to maintain its traditional presence against fierce competition from the USA as well as countries such as Canada, France, Japan, and China. For the UK, there will be hopes that the curling gold can be kept and that British skiers manage a medal placing after the disappointing disqualification of Alain Baxter in Salt Lake City.