2006 Games Fast Facts

• These are the 20th Olympic Winter Games.
• 85 nations are expected to participate at the 2006 Games.
• The Torino Games will be held February 10-26.
• The Games will take place at 14 Olympic venues with nine outdoor and five indoor facilities in Torino and surrounding areas.
• The two mascots for the Games are Neve and Gliz. Neve has a snowball for a head and she represents respect, loyalty and friendship. Gliz is her male counterpart and has an ice cube for a head. He represents energy, passion, innovation and entertainment.

The networks of NBC Universal (NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC HD and Universal HD) will provide 416 total hours of coverage, more than any Winter Olympics in history. The Torino Games will be held February 10-26, and will include the most live coverage of a Winter Games ever.

Torino Fast Facts

• Torino is in northwest Italy near the borders of Switzerland and France.
• Torino is the fourth-largest Italian city, behind Rome, Milan and Naples.
• Torino is the largest city ever to host an Olympic Winter Games, with a metropolitan area population of 2.2 million and a city population of 870,000.
• Torino was the film capital of the world from 1906 to 1916 and still has the highest proportion of movie screens to inhabitants in Italy.
• Torino is the birthplace of Tic-Tacs and Nutella, and the home of carmaker Fiat and soccer powerhouse Juventus.
• These are the third (second Winter) Olympic Games to be held in Italy. The first were the 1956 Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo and the second were the 1960 Summer Games in Rome.