New Zealand at the 2006 Winter Olympics

New Zealand competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

New Zealand at the
2006 Winter Olympics
IOC codeNZL
NOCNew Zealand Olympic Committee
Websitewww.olympic.org.nz
in Turin
Competitors18 in 5 sports
Flag bearers Sean Becker (opening and closing)[1][2]
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)

The nation sent its largest team ever to the games with 18 athletes, 7 more than in Salt Lake City in 2002. New Zealand has only won a single Winter Olympics medal, a silver medal in Albertville.

Alpine skiing edit

New Zealand's top finisher in alpine skiing, Mickey Ross, survived a fall in the first run of the men's slalom to record a 31st-place finish.[3][4]

Athlete[4] Event Final
Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Total Rank
Nicola Campbell Women's giant slalom did not finish
Women's slalom 45.90 50.92 n/a 1:36.82 35
Erika McLeod Women's giant slalom did not finish
Women's slalom 47.96 52.61 n/a 1:40.57 40
Mickey Ross Men's slalom 1:03.30 54.50 n/a 1:57.80 31

Bobsleigh edit

The New Zealand team did not compete in the four-man bobsleigh due to injuries from a training run.[5] Mathew Dallow and Alan Henderson did compete in the two-man event, but did not qualify for the final run.[6]

Athlete[6] Event Final
Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Total Rank
Mathew Dallow
Alan Henderson
Two-man 56.61 56.79 57.46 did not advance 23
Mathew Dallow
Steve Harrison
Alan Henderson
Aaron Orangi
Four-man did not start

Curling edit

The New Zealand national men's team qualified for the games after placing 8th at the 2005 World Championships. The team heading to Turin was skipped by Sean Becker, out of Ranfurly CC. The New Zealand men's team is the first team from the southern hemisphere to compete in curling as an official sport at the Olympics. Australia had previously competed in curling at the Olympics, but that was as a demonstration sport.

Sean Becker's rink twice lost games late, including giving up two in the final end to fall to the eventual silver medalists from Finland. However, these were the only bright spots for the New Zealand side, which finished the round robin in last place, without a victory.[7]

Men's edit

Team: Sean Becker (skip), Hans Frauenlob, Dan Mustapic, Lorne Depape, Warren Dobson (alternate)

Round Robin
Draw 1
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
  New Zealand (Becker) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 3
  Sweden (Lindholm)   0 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 6

;Draw 2

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
  Great Britain (Murdoch)   0 1 4 0 0 0 3 0 2 X 9
  New Zealand (Becker) 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 X 5

;Draw 3

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
  United States (Fenson) 0 2 2 0 2 1 0 3 X X 10
  New Zealand (Becker)   2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 X X 4

;Draw 4

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
  Finland (Uusipaavalniemi)   0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 6
  New Zealand (Becker) 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 5

;Draw 6

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
  Switzerland (Stöckli)   2 0 0 0 2 0 1 3 0 1 9
  New Zealand (Becker) 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 7

;Draw 8

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final
  New Zealand (Becker) 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 5
  Italy (Retornaz)   0 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 6

;Draw 10

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
  Norway (Trulsen) 0 2 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 1 9
  New Zealand (Becker)   1 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 6

;Draw 11

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
  New Zealand (Becker)   0 0 0 0 1 0 0 X X X 1
  Canada (Gushue) 1 1 0 1 0 3 3 X X X 9

;Draw 12

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Final
  New Zealand (Becker) 0 1 0 0 0 0 X X X X 1
  Germany (Kapp)   2 0 3 2 2 1 X X X X 10
Standings
Rank Team Skip Won Lost
1   Finland Markku Uusipaavalniemi 7 2
2   Canada Brad Gushue 6 3
3   United States Pete Fenson 6 3
4   Great Britain David Murdoch 6 3
5   Norway Pål Trulsen 5 4
6   Switzerland Ralph Stockli 5 4
7   Italy Joel Retornaz 4 5
8   Sweden Peter Lindholm 3 6
9   Germany Andy Kapp 3 6
10   New Zealand Sean Becker 0 9

Skeleton edit

Skeleton provided New Zealand with its two best finishes in Turin, including its only top-10, from Ben Sandford. Sandford had the fifth fastest second run, but his slower first run left him in 10th place.[8]

Athlete[8] Event Final
Run 1 Run 2 Total Rank
Louise Corcoran Women's 1:01.06 1:02.03 2:03.09 12
Ben Sandford Men's 59.16 58.60 1:57.76 10

Snowboarding edit

All three New Zealand snowboarders in Turin competed in the halfpipe, with Juliane Bray being the closest to qualifying for the final, finishing 16th overall. Bray also entered the snowboard cross, but was unable to qualify for the knockout rounds.[8]

Halfpipe
Athlete[8] Event Qualifying Run 1 Qualifying Run 2 Final
Points Rank Points Rank Run 1 Run 2 Rank
Juliane Bray Women's halfpipe 17.1 23 32.2 10 did not advance 16
Kendall Brown Women's halfpipe 22.9 18 22.4 18 did not advance 24
Mitchell Brown Men's halfpipe 16.3 33 28.3 19 did not advance 25

Note: In the final, the single best score from two runs is used to determine the ranking. A bracketed score indicates a run that wasn't counted.

Snowboard Cross
Athlete Event Qualifying 1/8 Finals Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
Time Rank Position Position Position Position Rank
Juliane Bray Women's snowboard cross 1:34.45 20 did not advance 20

Flag bearer edit

Sean Becker, the captain of New Zealand's curling team, carried the flag for the New Zealand team in both the opening and closing ceremonies. There was some controversy about the later of these, as the position of closing ceremony flag bearer is usually reserved for the best-performed competitor from the country and the curling team had finished last in their competition.

Traditionally the New Zealand team flag bearer at an Olympic games wears a blessed Māori cloak called the Kotahu.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Flagbearers for the Opening Ceremony". Retrieved Mar 30, 2009.
  2. ^ "Flagbearers for the Closing Ceremony". Retrieved Mar 30, 2009.
  3. ^ "NZ Eye Medals at 2010 Winter Games". TMC News. February 27, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Torino 2006 Official Report - Alpine Skiing" (PDF). Torino Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. March 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  5. ^ "Kiwi team out after crash". Television New Zealand. February 24, 2006. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Torino 2006 Official Report - Bobsleigh" (PDF). Torino Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. March 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  7. ^ "Torino 2006 Official Report - Curling" (PDF). Torino Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. March 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  8. ^ a b c d "Torino 2006 Official Report - Skeleton" (PDF). Torino Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. March 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2009.

External links edit