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IX Paralympic Winter Games
Host city	Turin, Italy
Nations participating	39
Athletes participating	486
Events	58 in 4 sports
Opening ceremony	March 10
Closing ceremony	March 19
Officially opened by	Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Athlete's Oath	Fabrizio Zardini
Paralympic Torch	Silvia Battaglio Aroldo Ruschioni
Stadium	Stadio Olimpico

The 2006 Winter Paralympic Games, the ninth winter Paralympics, took place in Turin, Italy from 10 to 19 March 2006. These were the first Winter Paralympic Games to be held in Italy, also the first Paralympics to use the new paralympics logo.

Medal count

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	13	13	7	33
2	Germany	8	5	5	18
3	Ukraine	7	9	9	25
4	France	7	2	6	15
5	United States	7	2	3	12
6	Canada	5	3	5	13
7	Austria	3	4	7	14
8	Japan	2	5	2	9
9	Italy	2	2	4	8
10	Poland	2	0	0	2
11	Belarus	1	6	2	9
12	Norway	1	1	3	5
13	Australia	0	1	1	2
13	Spain	0	1	1	2
13	Switzerland	0	1	1	2
13	Slovakia	0	1	1	2
17	Czech Republic	0	1	0	1
17	Great Britain	0	1	0	1
19	Sweden	0	0	1	1
	Total	58	58	58	174

Sports

The Games featured 58 medal events in five disciplines of four sports. As with other Paralympic Games, medals are awarded for each classification within each event. The sport of wheelchair curling made its Paralympic debut at these games.^[1]

• Alpine skiing
• Sledge hockey
• Nordic skiing
  • Biathlon
  • Cross-country skiing
• Wheelchair curling

Venues

The sport venues were also used during the Winter Olympics, although not all Olympic venues were in use for the Paralympics.

Alpine skiing events were held at Sestriere. Cross-country skiing and biathlon events were held at Cesana San Sicario. All skiing athletes were accommodated in the Paralympic Village in Sestriere.

Ice sledge hockey was held in Turin, and wheelchair curling was held in Pinerolo. These athletes were accommodated in Paralympic Village in Turin.

Calendar

Participants

Thirty-nine National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) entered athletes at the 2006 Winter Paralympics. This was an increase of three from the 36 represented at the 2002 Winter Paralympics. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants from each NPC.

Participating nations. Green: fewer than 5 athletes; blue: 5-9; orange: 10-19; red: 20 or more.

A total of 486 athletes participated in the Games, 385 male and 101 female. This is an increase from the 430 athletes participated in 2002. Despite overall increase of delegates and athletes, the following nations who participated in the 2002 Winter Paralympics did not send athletes to Turin.

•  Estonia
•  Netherlands

Mexico is the only country who had sent an athlete to these Games but not the Winter Olympic Games in 2006.

Other information

Aster, mascot of Paralympic Games in Turin

These are the second Paralympic Games to be held in Italy, which hosted the first Summer Paralympics in Rome in 1960.

These are the first Paralympic Games to feature a live webcast of events, hosted by ParalympicSport.TV.

The Games mascot is Aster, a star-shaped snowflake similar in design to the Olympic mascots Neve and Gliz.

Aster, Mascot of the XI Winter Paralympic Games

See also

• 2006 Winter Olympics

References

External links

• Torino 2006
• Torino 2006 Paralympic Games (English)
• ParalympicSport.TV
• International Paralympic Committee