Torino: A Look Back

Before we look ahead to Vancouver, let’s take a minute to remember who and what made headlines for the United States at the Torino Games in 2006.

U.S. Snowboarders sweep- In its debut at the Olympics, snowboarding was dominated by U.S. riders on the both the men and the women’s side. 19-year-old Shaun White, American’s poster boy for high flying, extreme sports, picked up the gold medal in the men’s half pipe, while Danny Cass snagged the silver, and Seth Wescott grabbed gold in the men’s snowboard cross. On the women’s side, Hannah Teter (pictured right) displayed the laid back attitude that snowboarders are known for while she secured the gold medal in the women’s half-pipe, while 26-year-old Gretchen Bleiler took silver in the same event. Lindsey Jacobellis earned silver in the women’s snowboard cross and Alaska native Rosey Fletcher secured a bronze medal in the women’s parallel giant slalom. Snowboarding garnered much of their media attention during the games, not only for the novelty of it, but for the American control of the sport. This Sports Illustrated piece does a good job capturing the American dominance of the sport. It will be interesting to see if the event truly catches on with the rest of the world and isn’t just an American-dominated sport.

Bode Miller doesn't live up to the hype-Bode Miller grabbed the wrong kind of headlines before Torino, during the fall of 2005, when he claimed that he once skied wasted. Known for his late-night antics and his reckless and sometimes indifferent attitude towards skiing, Miller failed to win a medal at the games, his best finish being fifth place. This was more of a mess for Nike, and Miller’s other sponsors, than it was for Miller (however much of the media attacked Miller as well). His sponsors had hyped Bode as a superstar, then, when he failed to deliver, were left with a huge ad campaign for someone who has won as many Olympic medals as this guy. I doubt that Nike, or anyone else will be as quick to pin the “superstar” label on an athlete as quickly this time around.


U.S. Speedskaters dominate-With three distinct backgrounds, none of which were of the typical speedskater, Americans Shani Davis, Chad Hedrick (both pictured left) and Joey Cheek received significant attention and achieved success in their events. Davis, who garnered a gold in the men’s 1,000M and a silver in the 1,500M was the first person of African descent to medal at a winter games. Cheek, a known philanthropist and humanitarian took gold in the 500M, and silver in the 1,000M. Hedrick, an inline-skating Texan earned gold in the 5,000M, silver in the 10,000M and bronze in the 1500M. The three men played three different roles and the games, and collectively they appealed to a broad audience. They weren't without controversy however.