24 May 2007 – IOC SANCTIONS AUSTRIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE FURTHER TO THE INQUIRY INTO ANTI-DOPING VIOLATIONS AT THE TORINO 2006 GAMES
The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today unanimously decided to suspend the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Austria from receiving or applying for any grants or subsidies, whether direct or indirect, from the IOC in the amount of USD 1,000,000. (The full details of the decision are available on www.olympic.org).
The EB also ordered the NOC of Austria to demonstrate, no later than 30 June 2008, the results of its investigation into this matter and the …read more

25 April 2007 – The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today unanimously decided to declare permanently ineligible six athletes from the Austrian biathlon and cross-country skiing teams who competed at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games (see full details below). This decision excludes them from taking part in any future Olympic Games in any accredited capacity – be that as an athlete, coach, official, etc.
The EB approved the recommendations of the Disciplinary Commission (DC) set up by the IOC in February 2006 and composed of Dr Thomas Bach (chairman), Denis Oswald and Sergey Bubka.
IOC sets up …read more

Nawal El Moutawakel, one of the most famous Moroccan athletes, is an Olympian who won the women’s 400m hurdles at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Moutawakel’s the first Muslim and African female Olympic champion. Her winning the gold medal in her sport signals a breakthrough for other female athletes in Morocco, her home country and other Islamic nations.
Did you know that according to Wikipedia, “The King of Morocco declared that all girls born the day of her victory were to be named in her honour.”
Another trivia is that Moutawakel was one of the eight flag bearers at the Opening …read more

Three-time Olympian Kirsten Clark, the only skier to win four consecutive U.S. downhill titles, will retire after this month’s Alpine championships.
(Forbes)
She’s been in the competitive skiing circuit for the last thirteen years.
The Olympic Games she participated in are the following:
Nagano 1998
Salt Lake City 2002
Torino 2006
Clark won the silver medal in the super-G during the 2003 world championships.
Source: Forbes

YES. She’s back!
After a break from the international scene, six-time Olympic medallist Cindy Klassen leads Canada’s speedskating team in the World Cup final today, Friday, 02 March 2007.
Klassen took a much needed off time to replenish her energy and drive after her multiple medal performance during the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino. She did win five medals, after all.
Her scheduled races are the following:
Friday – 1,000 metres
Saturday – 1,500 metres
Sunday – 3,000 metres
Other Canadian speedskaters that will be joining her are Christine Nesbitt, Kristina Groves, Denny Morrison, and Clara Hughes.
The 2010 Olympics in Vancouver are always …read more

Kjetil Andre Aamodt received one of Norway’s top sports awards for his surprising gold medal in the super-giant slalom at the Turin Olympics.
[Chron.com]
The Aftenposten newspaper gives the award annually.
For the record, Aamodt already has eight Olympic medals and twelve medals from the World Championships he had competed in. He’s the only Alpine skier to have amassed those number of Olympic medals. His combined career tally of medals is an all time best.
According to Wikipedia, Aamodt is the first Alpine skier in the history of the Winter Olympic Games to win four gold medals following a win in the Super-G race …read more

I remember watching him on telly when he was awarded the gold in the last Winter Olympics at Torino. Then I hear in the news a bit of info about him. Born in Canada but now resides in Melbourne, Australia. He’s only 21 but is already rich beyond his years. He owns an internet pop-up advertising company. He is only the third Australian to win a gold medal in a Winter Games.
According to my sources, he still ranks second to Jeremy Bloom in the over-all World Cup Moguls standings. But hey, you have to give him credit for the gold …read more

Irina Slutskaya, a 27 year old Russian, holds the record of seven European titles, two world championships and a total of 40 gold medals, 21 silvers and 17 bronzes for all competitions she participated in.
Slutskaya started skating at the age of four and has been coached by Zhanna Gromova since she was six. She was the first Russian woman to win the European title. She won silver at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City — only the second Russian to win a medal in the women’s event. And she won bronze in the 2006 Winter Olympics in …read more

For all Light the Torch readers who are also into games.. video games, that is. Hehehe.
If you haven’t had enough of the last Winter games, you’ll love this.
I found a video game of the Olympic Winter Games. Torino 2006™.
It’s available in Playstation 2, XBox, and PC.
Read up on what’s offered plus you can watch the trailer at their website.

Note: I know it’s off-topic. I just thought you guys would like to know. :P

The Olympic Winter Games was hosted by the following cities:

Chamonix 1924 FRANCE

St. Moritz 1928 SWITZERLAND

Lake Placid 1932 USA

Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 GERMANY

St. Moritz 1948 SWITZERLAND

Oslo 1952 NORWAY

Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 ITALY

Squaw Valley 1960 USA

Innsbruck 1964 AUSTRIA

Grenoble 1968 FRANCE

Sapporo 1972 JAPAN

Innsbruck 1976 AUSTRIA

Lake Placid 1980 USA

Sarajevo 1984 YUGOSLAVIA

Calgary 1988 CANADA

Albertville 1992 FRANCE

Lillehammer 1994 NORWAY

Nagano 1998 JAPAN

Salt Lake City 2002 USA

Torino 2006 ITALY