Torino 2006

Olympic Winter Games Torino 2006 Medals

Front: Round medal without center, embodies the leitmotiv of Torino 2006 -- the piazza with graphic element of the Torino Olympic emblem at bottom.

Back: Olympic rings and legend of sport event at left with sports pictogram on right of center.

Medal edge: "XX Giochi Olimpici Invernali XX Jeux Olympiques d'Hiver XX Olympic Winter Games."

Ribbon: Red, Gold and Fushia
Medal presented in a wood and plastic curved stand

Designer: Dario Quatrini
Mint: Ottaviani International

Alpine skier Ted Ligety shocked the world with his gold-medal performance in the men's combined. Ligety, then a slalom specialist, and only first named to the U.S. national team a year before, finished 32nd in the downhill portion; however, he used his expertise in slalom to not only win the slalom portion but also the gold medal in men's combined.

Short track speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno won gold in the men's 500-meter and bronze in both the 1,000 and 5,000. Ohno is tied with Viktor An (Korea and Russia) for the most Olympic short track speedskating medals; each athlete has a total of eight Olympic medals.

The Torino prize medals are unique in that they are round with an empty space at the center, representing the Italian piazza, the center or hearbeat of life, with the ribbon wrapped around the medal. To highlight the three-dimensional characteristics of the medal, the surface was made using full and empty spaces, with shiny and satiny textures.