OLYMPIC HOSTING CITY
In 2006 Turin hosted the Winter Olympics, (or XX Olympic Winter Games), a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 10th – 26th February 2006, marking the second time that Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games (the first being the VII Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956).
The Games featured 15 sports and 84 medal events as well as the introduction of new disciplines such as biathlon, team sprint cross country skiing, snowboard cross and team pursuit speedskating in the Olympic sphere. The women’s 30 km distance and classical men’s 50 km, held during the previous Winter Games in 2002, were not held in these Games, as these events were alternated with freestyle events of the same distances.
The Olympic Games represented an opportunity to revive the city’s look and transform its traditional image as an industrial city by showing the world its lesser known side of stunning architectures and vibrant cultural life. Thanks to media exposure during the Olympics, and state of the art venues, Turin became not only an important sport center for Europe and Italy, but also a tourist destination amongst the greatest in Europe.
