Italy had 2 more Gold than Austria, and only 2 less than Canada and Russia. 
Impressive, but it easily could have been better. 

The FUTURE: Turin (Torino) will be the Site of the 2006 Winter Olympics, that 
is astonishingly ahead of schedule in it's preparations. 
The capital of the Piedmont area, only 30 miles from the French border, in a 
six-minute segment in Sunday night's closing ceremony led one to expect a distinctly 
Italian but thoroughly up-to-date take on the Olympics featuring sport, 
technology and, of  course, style.

Italy has hosted the Summer Games, once in Rome in 1960, and
the Winter Olympics once in 1956, at Cortina d'Ampezzo, in 
the Province of Veneto, only 20 miles from the Austrian border. 
======================================================
THE PAST-  2002 ITALIAN MEDAL WINNERS 

Women's Downhill
Silver--Isolde Kostner

Women's Super-G
Gold--Daniela Ceccarelli
Bronze--Karen Putzer

Men's 4X10km Relay
Silver--(Fabio Maj; Giorgio di Centa; Pietro Piller Cottrer; Cristian Zorzi)

Men's 1.5km Sprint
Bronze--Cristian Zorzi

Women's 15km Freestyle
Gold--Stefania Belmondo

Women's 30km Classical
Gold--Gabriella Paruzzi
Silver--Stefania Belmondo

Ice Dancing
Bronze--Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio

Luge, Men's Singles
Gold--Armin Zoeggeler

Men's 5000 Relay
Silver--(Maurizio Carnino; Fabio Carta; Nicola Franceschina; Nicola Rodigari)

Women's Parallel Giant Slalom
Bronze--Lidia Trettel
--------------------------------------------------
GOLD--Daniela Ceccarelli, Stefania Belmondo, Gabriella Paruzzi, Armin 
Zoeggeler

DOUBLE MEDAL WINNERS:
Stefania Belmondo, Gold and Silver
Cristian Zorzi, Silver and Bronze
================================================
THE FUTURE

VIEW FROM TURIN IS IMPRESSIVE

Organizers in northwest Italy are 'almost astonishingly 
ahead of schedule' for the 2006 Winter Games.
      
By Alan Abrahmson 
Los Angeles Times 
Staff Writer
February 25, 2002

SALT LAKE CITY -- No less an authority than Jean-Claude Killy says that the 
Winter Games of 2006, in Turin, Italy--the city Italians call Torino--ought 
to be fantastic.

Killy was the skiing star of the 1968 Grenoble Winter Games. He ran the 1992 
Winter Games in Albertville, France.

He was the IOC's No. 2 official in charge of monitoring progress for the Salt 
Lake Games. Now he's the IOC's chief liaison to the Turin Games. "Italy and 
Torino have the roots, l'histoire, to organize something very special," Killy 
said in an interview.

"Very Mediterranean. Very culturistic. It will be very different," not 
better, not worse, just different, he later emphasized, "from here."

If the six-minute Torino segment in Sunday night's closing ceremony is any 
indication, expect a distinctly Italian but thoroughly up-to-date take on the 
Olympics featuring sport, technology and, of course, style.

No matter that it was freezing cold Sunday night.

In what was billed as a "celebration of Italian fashion," models wearing 
Valentino, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana outfits sashayed along stages in the 
Stadium, as if Salt Lake City were a natural place to show off haute couture.

The Italians also trotted out the musical standard "Volare"--but it was sung 
by pop diva Irene Grandi.

The after-show invite for selected guests read, "See you in Torino 2006. The 
adventure begins. With a party."

One of the key differences between Turin and Salt Lake is that, unlike here, 
there are no plans there to take over a downtown parking lot and make it an 
Olympics medals plaza.

Turin, in northwest Italy, capital of the country's Piedmont region, already 
offers scores of arcades and plazas where people naturally gather "to make 
celebrations," said the former mayor of the city, Valentino Castellani, now 
president of the Torino 2006 organizing committee.

About 40% of the venues for 2006 need construction work. But Castellani and 
others said plans are on schedule--as long as the work starts this year.

Asbestos was recently discovered at the proposed site of the bobsled run; a 
decision on whether to move it will be made next month.

The organizing committee's other priorities include a make-over of the figure 
skating arena, an architectural "masterpiece" from 1961 in need now of 
renovation, Castellani said.

Also on tap for this year are the signing of various marketing deals. 
Castellani said deals are ready--simply waiting for the end of the Salt Lake 
Games. Torino 2006 expects an operating budget surplus of about $25 million.

Capital costs are projected to total about $1.4 billion, with considerable 
funding provided by national and local government.

Castellani expressed hope that security at the Games may not need to be as 
tight in four years. Perhaps, he said, "The world will not be in an 
emergency, let's say better than it is now."

David Neal, a senior NBC producer who has visited Turin within recent months 
and is one of the few Americans with an insider's knowledge of preparations 
for the 2006 Games, said the organizing committee is "almost astonishingly 
ahead of schedule."

Also impressive, he and others said, is the level of organization within the 
committee. In large measure, that's due to stability. Unlike the Athens 2004 
Summer Games organizing committee, which has seen considerable turnover, 
Castellani, deputy president Evelina Christillin and others have been working 
together toward 2006 for years--before Turin even was awarded the Games, in 
1999.

"Being the same for four years means something," Christillin said.

Turin has a reputation as something akin to the Detroit of Italy--a city 
known more for its considerable manufacturing and industrial concerns than as 
an internationally renowned tourist destination.

With the 2006 Games, Castellani said, "Our goal is to be one of the important 
cities in Europe."

Christillin said: "We can never pretend to be Florence or Rome. But when a 
[visitor] comes, they are surprised."