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Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics

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Canadian Olympic Committee logo
Canada sent 196 athletes and 220 support staff to the 2006 Winter Olympics.

As host of the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada was pressured to do well at the 2006 Games. The Canadian Olympic Committee's goal for 2006 was to have a top three finish in the medal count [link] or 25 total medals, as a start to reach their goal of having the highest medal count at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Canada had managed to increase its medal count at each Winter Olympics since the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, United States. World Cup results from the 2005-06 season seemed to indicate that Canada would have a good performance in Turin, Italy. Canada met one of those goals and nearly met the other by finishing third behind the United States and Germany with 24 medals.[link]. The Games were also the first litmus test for the increased athletic funding and resources pursued by the Own the Podium - 2010 program.

Another task for the Canadian contingent was to promote the 2010 Games, Vancouver and surrounding region, the province of British Columbia, as well as Canada as a nation. This was evident in the Canadian participation in the closing ceremonies of the Games and the establishment of the Canada House in Turin. The Games also provided opportunities for organizing committees to gather experience and strategies to run the Games in Vancouver.

Contents

Medals

  Gold Silver Bronze Total
  
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Canada's total medal count of 24 was the highest ever won by the nation in any Winter Olympics, and was the second highest total for the country at any Olympic games (summer or winter), exceeded only by the 44 medals won at the 1984 Summer Olympics which were boycotted by the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries. Not only did Canada increase its total medal count from the previous Winter Games for the 7th straight time (since 1980), but the total medal count was also the "best ever" for Canada for the 5th straight time (since 1992).

Canada won at least one medal in 10 of the 15 sport disciplines competed at the games, and gold medals in 6 different disciplines; both feats were unmatched by any other nation. Canada also had the most 4th and 5th place finishes (14 and 9 respectively) of any country in these games. These results support the effectiveness of the Own the Podium - 2010 program.

Cindy Klassen bests the total Olympic medals collected in a single Games by a Canadian, with 5 and bests the total Olympic medal count of any Canadian with 6. The previous record of 3 medals at a single Olympics was held by Gaetan Boucher for the 1984 Winter Olympics and Marc Gagnon at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, Clara Hughes ties the old mark of 5 career Olympic medals, held by Marc Gagnon and Phil Edwards. Sixteen of the 24 medals were won by female athletes. At age 50, Russ Howard became the oldest Canadian gold medallist in Olympic history.

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Other Top 10 finishes

4th place

5th place

6th place

7th place

8th place

9th place

10th place

Athletes by sport

Men's Combined
Name Downhill Slalom Run 1 Slalom Run 2 Total Final Rank
John Kucera 1:41.04 46.67 45.55 3:13.26 17th place
François Bourque 1:40.50 47.52 46.23 3:14.25 21st place
Manuel Osborne-Paradis 1:39.69 50.11 DNS - -
Ryan Semple 1:41.65 DNF - - -

Men's Downhill
Name Final Rank
Manuel Osborne-Paradis 1:50.45 13th place
Francois Bourque 1:50.70 16th place
John Kucera 1:51.55 27th place

Men's Giant Slalom
Name Run 1 Run 2 Total Final Rank
Francois Bourque 1:16.61 1:19.31 2:35.92 4th place
Thomas Grandi 1:17.23 1:19.65 2:36.88 10th place
Jean-Philippe Roy 1:17.36 Did not finish - -
Ryan Semple Did not finish - - -

Men's Slalom
Name Run 1 Run 2 Total Final Rank
Thomas Grandi 53.64 51.20 1:44.84 9th place
Michael Janyk 55.32 50.87 1:46.19 17th place
Patrick Biggs 54.38 Did not finish - -
Jean-Philippe Roy Did not finish - - -

Men's Super-G
Name Final Rank
Erik Guay 1:31.08 4th place
Francois Bourque 1:31.27 8th place
Manuel Osborne-Paradis 1:32.02 20th place
John Kucera 1:32.10 22nd place

Women's Combined
Name Slalom Run 1 Slalom Run 2 Downhill Total Final Rank
Brigitte Acton 40.18 44.59 1:30.98 2:55.75 10th place
Emily Brydon 40.94 45.65 1:29.92 2:56.51 13th place
Shona Rubens DNF - - - -

Women's Downhill
Name Final Rank
Emily Brydon 1:58.97 20th place
Kelly Vanderbeek 1:59.63 24th place
Shona Rubens 2:00.30 26th place
Sherry Lawrence 2:00.47 27th place

Women's Giant Slalom
Name Run 1 Run 2 Total Final Rank
Genevieve Simard 1:01.47 1:09.26 2:10.73 5th place
Brigitte Acton 1:02.07 1:09.64 2:11.71 11th place
Christina Lustenberger Did not finish - - -

Women's Slalom
Name Run 1 Run 2 Total Final Rank
Brigitte Acton 44.75 47.15 1:31.90 17th place

Women's Super-G
Name Final Rank
Kelly Vanderbeek 1:33.09 4th place
Emily Brydon 1:33.50 9th place
Genevieve Simard 1:34.38 20th place
Sherry Lawrence 1:35.47 34th place

Men's 10 km Sprint

Men's 12.5 km Pursuit

Men's 20 km Individual

Women's 7.5 km Sprint

Women's 15 km Individual

Women's 4x6 km Relay

Men's Two-Man

Men's Four-Man

Women's Two-Woman

Sean Crooks was suspended for 5 days by the International Ski Federation for having excessive hemoglobin levels. He was able to participate in the men's sprint and 4x10 km relay.

Men's 15 km Classical

Men's 30 km Pursuit (15+15)

Men's 50 km Free, Mass Start

Men's Sprint

Men's Team Sprint

Men's 4x10 km Relay

Women's 10 km Classical

Women's 15 km Pursuit (7.5+7.5)

Women's Sprint

Women's Team Sprint

Women's 4x5 km Relay

Men's Curling Game Results

In the words of the Mayor of St. John's, Newfoundland, the gold medal at the Olympics was the biggest celebration in Newfoundland in "recent memory". Schools across the province cancelled classes in the afternoon to watch the game.

Women's Curling

Game Results

Men's individual

Women's individual

Pairs

Ice dancing

Aerials

Men's Aerials

Women's Aerials

Moguls

Jennifer Heil became the first Canadian woman to ever win gold in freestyle skiing after winning for women's moguls. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, she finished fourth and ended up a hundredth of a point off the podium.

Dale Begg-Smith, who won gold in men's moguls for Australia, was born in Canada and holds dual citizenship. He originally started skiing in Canada but found Canada's training program too restrictive. He moved to Australia to have more time to work on his business interests. Ironically, his win bumped Marc-Andre Moreau down to 4th place and off of the podium.

Men's Team

Women's Team

Hockey, like the previous two Olympics, attracted significant attention from Canadian fans. Many consider the Canadian men's team's performance in Turin as the most disappointing in years. In the last four games of the tournament, Canada failed to score in 11 of 12 periods, losing with the same score (2-0) against Switzerland, Finland, and in the quarter-finals against Russia. Hockey commentators, including Kelly Hrudey, commented that Canada did not play well as a team. The match against the Czech team was believed to be a better performance by the hockey team but the team lost to Russia two days after.

The quarter-final game against Russia was watched on television screens across the nation in the afternoon Canadian time. The intensity of the game increased as the scoreless tie extended into the third period.

However, in the Women's Hockey discipline, Team Canada dominated the field with numerous wins leading up to their gold medal winning game.

Men's Team:

Performance 



Game
Opponent
Score
Win/Loss




1
Italy
7-2
W




2
Germany
5-1
W




3
Switzerland
2-0
L




4
Finland
2-0
L




5
Czech Republic
3-2
W




6
Russia
2-0
L (Elim.)





Roster







Women's team 


Performance




Game
Opponent
Score
Win/Loss




1
Italy
16-0
W




2
Russia
12-0
W




3
Sweden
8-1
W




Semi-final
Finland
6-0
W




Final
Sweden
4-1
W
Gold medal		



Roster
(Final results)



AthletePositionGoalsAssistsPoints


Melody DavidsonCoach


Charline LabontéG000


Kim St-PierreG000


Gillian FerrariD000


Becky KellarD011


Carla MacLeodD213


Caroline OuelletteD549


Cheryl PounderD224


Colleen SostoricsD011


Meghan AgostaF314


Gillian AppsF7714


Jennifer BotterillF167


Cassie CampbellF055


Danielle GoyetteF426


Jayna HeffordF347


Gina KingsburyF033


Cherie PiperF7815


Vicky SunoharaF123


Sarah VaillancourtF246


Katie WeatherstonF415


Hayley WickenheiserF51217


Totals4664110








Men's singles 



Women's singles



Men's Doubles





Individual Gundersen



Large Hill Sprint





Men's 500 m



Men's 1000 m



Men's 1500 m



Men's 5000 m relay



Women's 500 m 



Women's 1000 m



Women's 1500 m 
 


Women's 3000 m relay 





Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards won a bronze medal in Skeleton, thus becoming the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal in the event. A day later, Duff Gibson became the first Canadian to win a Gold medal in the event after taking the Men's Gold. Fellow Canadian Jeff Pain won the Silver medal, and there were chances of a Bronze as well; however, their teammate placed fourth.


Gibson, 39, became the oldest competitor to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympics history, surpassing Al MacInnis as the oldest Canadian to win a gold medal. MacInnis won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics on the Canadian men's hockey team.


Men's



Women's





Men's Large Hill Individual



Men's Normal Hill Individual Jump
 


Men's Large Hill Team Competition






Giant Slalom

Men's Parallel Giant Slalom
 


Women's Parallel Giant Slalom




Halfpipe

Men's Halfpipe


In Men’s Halfpipe, there were two qualifying runs. The top 6 men from each qualifying run were advanced to the finals. In the first qualifying run, the top 6 scores ranged from 39.4 - 43.8 points. In the second qualifying run, the top 6 scores ranged from a 37.9 - 45.3 points.  Shaun White from the United States won the gold medal with a final run score of 46.8 points. Andy Finch of the United States had the lowest final score of 24.7 points and took 12th place. 





Women's Halfpipe


In Women’s Halfpipe, there were two qualifying runs. The top 6 women from each qualifying run were advanced to the finals. In the first qualifying run, the top 6 scores ranged from 34.5 - 44.9 points. In the second qualifying run, the top 6 scores ranged from a 34.8 - 43.1 points.  Hannah Teter from the United States won the gold medal with a final run score of 46.4 points. Chikako Fushimi of Japan had the lowest final score of 15.6 points and took 12th place. 






Snowboard Cross

Men's Snowboard Cross
 


Women's Snowboard Cross 





Canada became the first country to set a new record at the 2006 Winter Olympics when both its men's and women's teams set an Olympic record in the qualifying round of the team pursuit.


Cindy Klassen set or tied several medal records. She became the first Canadian to win five medals in one Olympics, winning a gold (1500 m), two silver medals (Team Pursuit, 1000 m) and two Bronze medals (3000 m, 5000 m). Her bronze medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics gives her a total of six medals and the title of the most decorated Canadian Olympian, winter or summer. Tied at five medals for Canada are short track speed skater Marc Gagnon, track athlete Dr. Phillip Edwards, and speed skater Clara Hughes, who won her fourth and fifth medal at the 2006 Olympics. In addition to the Canadian medal records, Klassen also tied Eric Heiden to win the most medals by a speed skater at a single Olympics. 


Men's 500 m



Men's 1000 m



Men's 1500 m



Men's 5000 m



Men's 10000 m



Men's Team Pursuit



Women's 500 m



Women's 1000 m



Women's 1500 m



Women's 3000 m



Women's 5000 m



Women's Team Pursuit




Flag Bearer

Women's ice hockey player Danielle Goyette carried the flag for Canada in the opening ceremony. Cross-country skier Beckie Scott, bobsledder Pierre Lueders, long-track speedskaters Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes all said that they would not submit their names to carry the flag. 


Scott, Klassen and Hughes all had events within two days of the opening ceremonies and believed that not participating in the opening ceremonies would give them a better chance at a finishing well in their events. Lueders turned down the chance because at the time it appeared that his bobsleigh partner, Lascelles Brown, would not be granted Canadian citizenship. Afterwards, Lueders said he would carry the flag but said that Brown would be a much better choice.


Some criticized these choices, including hockey analyst Don Cherry, who called the athletes unpatriotic and said that other athletes would have loved to have had the opportunity. Others, including past flag bearer Catriona LeMay Doan spoke in favour of their decisions, saying that the opening ceremonies were a long process and took a lot of energy. She criticized Don Cherry, saying that many athletes in the past had turned down the flag-bearing opportunity at the opening ceremonies in order to focus on their competition, and that Don Cherry, having never participated in international athletic competition, does not have the right to be critical of Olympic athletes.


After winning five medals (more than any other Canadian at a Winter Games), Cindy Klassen accepted the selection as the flag bearer for the closing ceremonies.



Other Participation

As the host nation of the next Winter Games, Canada had the role to promote the 2010 Winter Olympics, its host city, its host province, and the country over the duration of these Games. Canada House was a log cabin constructed with Canadian pine wood and it was one of 12 nation's houses established in Turin. The pavilion opened its doors to the public on January 23, 2006 at piazza Valdo Fusi, in the city centre and would remain open until March 20 at the conclusion of the Paralympic Winter Games. Aside from showcasing Canadian culture, the building would host meetings for companies from British Columbia and Italy who would be interested to develop business partnerships. The building would be donated to the city of Turin and would be transferred to a new city park after the Games. 


During the closing ceremonies of these Games, there was a brief segment in which Canada delivered a preview of the 2010 Games. This included a choreographed program featuring Avril Lavigne, raising of the Canadian flag, and singing of O Canada by opera star Ben Heppner, himself a B.C. native. The handover of the Games was highlighted by Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan, a quadriplegic, accepting and waving the Olympic flag. Aside from the flag handed from the mayor of Turin Sergio Chiamparino, the City of Vancouver is now the custodian of the actual Olympic flag lowered at Stadio Olimpico during the closing ceremonies.


B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, himself a Vancouver native, and Governor General Michaëlle Jean attended the Games' competitions and closing ceremonies. They also availed themselves to the news media, sharing their thoughts about British Columbia and Canada welcoming the world in 2010. The federal government was represented by the attendance of Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay at the closing ceremonies.


A number of Canadian citizens with dual citizenship have competed for other countries and served as their respective flag bearers:


In Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, himself from a Canadian Olympic city, Calgary, which hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, said in a statement that the Olympic flame had begun the journey to Vancouver. [link]



Notes



References






External link






 Nations at the 2006 Winter Olympics


 Albania | Algeria | Andorra | Argentina | Armenia | Australia | Austria | Azerbaijan | Belarus | Belgium | Bermuda | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Brazil | Bulgaria | Canada | Chile | China | Costa Rica | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | Ethiopia |  Finland | FYR Macedonia | France | Georgia | Germany | Great Britain and Northern Ireland | Greece | Hong Kong, China | Hungary | Iceland | India | Iran IR | Ireland | Israel | Italy | Japan | Kazakhstan | Kenya  | Korea DPR | Korea Republic | Kyrgyzstan | Latvia | Lebanon | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Madagascar | Moldova | Monaco | Mongolia | Nepal | Netherlands | New Zealand | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | San Marino | Senegal | Serbia and Montenegro | Slovakia | Slovenia | South Africa | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Tajikistan | Chinese Taipei | Thailand | Turkey | Ukraine | United States | U.S. Virgin Islands | Uzbekistan | Venezuela | Non-competing nations




Canada at the Winter Olympics


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