Torino 2006: What Kind of Olympic Winter Games Were They?
A Preliminary Account From an Organizational and Economic Perspective
Piervincenzo Bondonio and Nadia Campaniello 

Citius, Altius, Fortius! To what extent does the motto of the Olympics relate to Torino 2006? Has the XXth edition of the Olympic Winter Games (OWG) continued the positive trend whereby each edition, with only a few exceptions, surpasses the one before? In which areas have there been improvements, if any? To what extent have the targets set by the bid promoters and the organizers been achieved, or missed? Finally, on what foundations and from which perspectives have Turin and its surrounding Olympic valleys managed to plan, and how are they preparing to make
Another aspect that characterized Torino 2006 was the location, geographical, and topographical characteristics of the competition and training venues. The competition venues were distributed between Turin (a city of approximately 900,000 inhabitants and the main city in the province of the same name) and the greater Piedmont region. Turin hosted the ice competitions (except for curling), the opening and closing ceremonies, and most of the medal ceremonies, held in the central Piazza Castello, renamed Medals Plaza, which became one of the signature showcases of the XXth OWG. Turin also established villages for the athletes, the Olympic Family, media, and media centres. Pinerolo (the venue for curling), Torre Pellice (for hockey training), and six districts in the Susa and Chisone Valleys (for snow sports, with two Olympic villages) completed the Olympic competition/training matrix of facilities. This decision, deliberately taken by promoters of the Turin bid, involved: (1) fitting out a very large area during the run-up to the Games, (2) solving the complex problems of coordinating and managing multiple institutions due to the various public