Italia

Italian Olympic Facts

• Ciao and welcome to Italy (Italia in Italian)! Italy is a country in southern Europe. It is known as "Bel Paese" or beautiful country. Italy is famous for beautiful paintings, sculptures, historic buildings, and delicious foods.

Italian Olympic Facts

Italy has hosted the Olympic Games three times.

• The 1956 Winter games in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

• The 1960 Summer games in Rome, • The 2006 Winter in Turin.

Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956

• This was the year the Soviet Union first took part in the games.

• The Cortina Games were the last Games at which the figure skating competitions took place outdoor

• For the first time in the history of the Games, the Olympic Promise was made by a female athlete

Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956

• The Body PositionIn the ski jumping competition, the Finnish team introduced a new aerodynamic style, of holding the arms flat against the body rather than over the head in a diving position.

Rome 1960 Olympic games

Cassius Clay of the US, also known as Muhammad Ali, became famous by winning the light-heavyweight gold medal.

The Games in Rome were the last Games in which racism was tolerated, with the banning of the once Racist South Africa for 32 Years.

Turin 2006

With a population of more than 900,000, Turin became the largest city ever to host the Olympic Winter Games.

Turin 2006

• Live video coverage• For the first time, live video coverage of the

Olympic Games was available on mobile phones.

Turin 2006

• Oldest athlete• Duff Gibson of Calgary, Canada became the

oldest athlete in the history of the Winter Games by winning a gold medal. On the day he won, he was 39 years and 190 days’ old.

Turin 2006

US speed skater Joey Cheek won a gold medal in the 500 metres event and a silver at 1,000 metres. His gold medal earned him $25,000 which he donated to charity.

Turin 2006

Saw the introduction of snowboard cross.