TURIN 2006

  • 10–26 February 2006
  • 84 official medal events.
  • 2,508 competitors from 80 countries.
  • Finnish team: 94 athletes (90 participated in official events).

Finland won medals in eight different sports at the Olympic Winter Games of 2006, more than any other European nation. Matti Hautamäki won silver in ski jumping, as did Mikko Ronkainen in moguls skiing. Tanja Poutiainen became the first ever Finnish Olympic medallist in Alpine skiing, and Markku Koski did likewise in snowboarding. In cross-country skiing Finland returned to the ranks of medal nations, if only by virtue of one bronze. Nordic combined yielded the same end result, even if more had been expected. The most surprising Finnish medal came in curling, where the men’s team skipped by Markku Uusipaavalniemi advanced to the Olympic final. The only thing that was still missing was a gold medal. On the last day of the Games the Finnish men’s ice hockey team, which had went undefeated in the Olympic tournament and beaten Russia 4–0 in the semi-final, faced Sweden in the final. Unfortunately, the game finished in a 2–3 defeat and the Games ended without a Finnish victory.

Medal Standings

GSBTotal
1Germany1112629
2USA99725
3Austria97723
4Russia86822
5Canada710724
6Sweden72514
7South Korea63211
8Switzerland54514
9Italy50611
10France3249
Netherlands3249
12Estonia3003
13Norway28919
14China24511
15Czech Republic1214
16Croatia1203
17Australia1012
18Japan1001
19Finland0639
20Poland0112
21Bulgaria0101
Slovakia0101
Great Britain0101
Belarus0101
25Ukraine0022
26Latvia0011

 
Finland won medals in many different sports at the Turin Games of 2006, none of which were gold, however. Markku Uusipaavalniemi (on the back) skipped his team to silver, the first ever Finnish Olympic medal in curling.
(Sports Museum of Finland/Hannu Lindroos)

FINNISH MEDALS

2006 Torino / Turin

6 silver
3 bronze

Silver: 
Alpine skiing, giant slalom WTanja Poutiainen
Curling M(Markku Uusipaavalniemi,
Kalle Kiiskinen,
Wille Mäkelä,
Teemu Salo,
Jani Sullanmaa)
Freestyle skiing,
moguls M
Mikko Ronkainen
Ice hockey Mteam*
Ski jumping, normal hillMatti Hautamäki
Ski jumping,
team competition
(Janne Ahonen,
Matti Hautamäki,
Janne Happonen,
Tami Kiuru)
Bronze: 
Snowboarding,
halfpipe M
Markku Koski
Cross-country skiing,
team sprint (Cl) W
(Virpi Kuitunen,
Aino-Kaisa Saarinen)
Nordic combined,
team competition
(Hannu Manninen,
Anssi Koivuranta,
Antti Kuisma,
Jaakko Tallus)

team*

(Niklas Bäckström, Antero Niittymäki, Fredrik Norrena, Aki Berg, Lasse Kukkonen, Toni Lydman, Antti-Jussi Niemi, Petteri Nummelin, Teppo Numminen, Sami Salo, Kimmo Timonen, Niklas Hagman, Jukka Hentunen, Jussi Jokinen, Olli Jokinen, Niko Kapanen, Mikko Koivu, Saku Koivu, Antti Laaksonen, Jere Lehtinen, Ville Nieminen, Ville Peltonen, Jarkko Ruutu, Teemu Selänne)

Cross-country skiing styles: (Cl) Classical,
(Fr) Freestyle

M Men
W Women