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Italy has a perfect attendance at the Winter Olympic Games since it joined the inaugural edition in Chamonix, France in 1924. Most of Italy’s medals at the Winter Games have come from alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, luge, bobsleigh and speed skating. Italy is indeed one of the forces to be reckoned with in the Olympic Games and that doesn't look like it will change any time soon.

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Notable Italian athletes who have won at least six medals at the Winter Games include Stefania Belmondo 10 medals (2 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze) in country skiing, Manuela Di Centa 7 medals (2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze) in cross-country skiing, Armin Zöggeler 6 medals (2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze) in luge and Eugenio Monti 6 medals (2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze) in bobsleigh.

Italy has hosted the Winter Games twice. The first of these was the 1956 Winter Games which they hosted in Cortina d'Ampezzo. That year, they won a gold and two silver medals from the Winter Games making them 8th overall from a total of 32 participating nations in the Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games.

And then in 2006, Italy hosted the Winter Games in Turin where they also were one of the top 10 teams, 9th to be exact, taking home a total of 11 Olympic medals.

The country will again host the Winter Olympics in 2026 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Trivia

• Italian Luger Armin Zöggeler became the first athlete to achieve six Winter Olympic medals over six consecutive games, all in the men's singles event.
• The first disabled athlete to compete in both the Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympics was Italian Orazio Fagone - short track speed skating at the Winter Olympics from 1988 until 1994, and sledge hockey at the 2006 Winter Paralympics.
• Italian cross-country skiers and siblings Fulvio Valbusa (1992-2006) and Sabina Valbusa (1994-2010) each competed in five Winter Olympics.

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Related Pages

• About Sport in Italy
• Italy at the Summer Olympics
• More Winter Olympics Countries
• Winter Olympics main page.