- Wheelchair curling at the 2006 Winter Paralympics
-
Wheelchair curling
at the IX Paralympic Winter Games
Venue Pinerolo Palaghiaccio Competitors 8 teams from 8 nations Medalists 
Canada 
Canada
United Kingdom 
Great Britain
Sweden 
Sweden2010» Wheelchair curling at the 2006 Winter Paralympics was played at the Pinerolo Palaghiaccio, in Pinerolo, 30 km southwest of Turin. Wheelchair curling was making its first appearance at the Paralympic Games and took the form of a mixed team event, open to athletes with a physical disability in the lower part of the body that required the everyday use of a wheelchair.
Teams from eight nations, each containing five athletes, entered with four teams advancing from a group stage to a knockout round. Canada won the sport's first Paralympic gold medal beating Great Britain in the final. Sweden won the bronze medal.[1]
Contents
Medalists
Medal Team 
Canada (Chris Daw, Gerry Austgarden, Gary Cormack, Sonja Gaudet, Karen Blachford)
United Kingdom (Frank Duffy, Michael McCreadie, Tom Killin, Angie Malone, Ken Dickson)
Sweden (Jalle Jungnell, Glenn Ikonen, Rolf Johansson, Anette Wilhelm, Bernt Sjoeberg)Preview
Wheelchair curling is played according to the rules of the World Curling Federation, the only modification is that there is no sweeping and stones may be played by hand while leaning over the side of the wheelchair, or pushed by a delivery stick. To be allowed to compete athletes must have a physical disability in the lower part of the body that required the everyday use of a wheelchair .Teams are mixed but must contain at least one member of each sex.[2] Wheelchair curling was first introduced in Switzerland in 2000 and the first World Championships were held in the same country in 2002. It is governed by the World Curling Federation (WCF); as of 2009, 24 of the WCF's member associations were involved in the sport.[3]
This was the first appearance of the sport at the Paralympic Games; the International Paralympic Committee had granted official medal status to mixed gender wheelchair Curling in March 2002. The organising committee of the Turin Games in 2006 agreed to include wheelchair curling in their programme.[4]
The British team, competing as Scotland and made up of Frank Duffy, Ken Dickson, Tom Killin, Angie Malone and Michael McCreadie had won the gold medal at the World Championships in January 2005 in Glasgow; Denmark and Switzerland won the silver and bronze medals. Britain had also won the 2004 World Championships, and were considered favourites for a medal.[5][6][7]
Event summary
Eight teams competed and the format was a round-robin tournament; each nation played all others in a group stage with the top four qualifying for medal playoffs. Canada topped the group, Great Britain finished second and Sweden finished third, all three qualifying for the semifinals. Denmark and Norway finished joint fourth and faced each other in a tie-breaker match to decide who took the final position in the semifinals; Norway beat Denmark 4-3 to advance.
The semifinals saw first seeds Canada play Norway and Great Britain face Sweden. Canada beat Norway 5-4 and Great Britain stole three in the 1st end of their game, going on to win 7-3 win. Sweden only managed to curl 35% as a team, with skip Jalle Jungnell struggling at 23% for the game. Sweden and Norway met in the bronze medal match, the Swedes won 10-3.
In the final Great Britain faced Canada. Trailing 6–3 in the final end British skip Frank Duffy had an opportunity with the last stone of the tournament for an open hit of a Canadian stone that would have scored four for Britain and won them the gold medal. He threw too hard and the shot tracked an inch wide allowing Canada to score one and win 7-4.[8]
Teams
The following athletes represented their nations in the 2006 Paralympic wheelchair curling tournament;[8]
Team Roster Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Great BritainFrank Duffy Michael McCreadie Tom Killin Angie Malone Ken Dickson 
SwitzerlandUrs Bucher Manfred Bolliger Cesare Cassani Madeleine Wildi Erwin Lauper 
DenmarkKenneth Ørbæk Rosita Jensen Jørn Kristensen Sussie Pedersen Bjarne Jensen CanadaChris Daw Gerry Austgarden Gary Cormack Sonja Gaudet Karen Blachford SwedenJalle Jungnell Glenn Ikonen Rolf Johansson Anette Wilhelm Bernt Sjoeberg 
United StatesJames Joseph Augusto Perez Jim Pierce Danell Libby Wes Smith 
ItalyEgidio Marchese Andrea Tabanelli Pierino Gaspard Rita Dal Monte Emanuele Spelorzi 
NorwayRune Lorentsen Geir Arne Skogstad Paul Aksel Johansen Lene Tystad Trine Fissum Results
Group
- Final standings
Country W L Canada5 2 Great Britain4 3 Sweden4 3 Denmark4 3 Norway4 3 Switzerland3 4 Italy2 5 United States2 5 - Session 1
Team Result Great Britain3 Switzerland4 Team Result Denmark3 Canada6 Team Result Sweden6 United States4 Team Result Italy3 Norway9 - Session 2
Team Result United States3 Norway10 Team Result Sweden1 Italy7 Team Result Switzerland1 Canada5 Team Result Great Britain5 Denmark3 - Session 3
Team Result Sweden5 Canada4 Team Result Great Britain6 Norway7 Team Result Italy4 Denmark5 Team Result Switzerland2 United States6 - Session 4
Team Result Denmark6 United States4 Team Result Italy0 Switzerland14 Team Result Great Britain7 Sweden2 Team Result Norway6 Canada7 - Session 5
Team Result Italy5 Great Britain8 Team Result Canada4 United States5 Team Result Denmark7 Norway3 Team Result Sweden5 Switzerland6 - Session 6
Team Result Switzerland2 Denmark8 Team Result Norway4 Sweden7 Team Result Canada7 Great Britain6 Team Result United States1 Italy6 - Session 7
Team Result Canada5 Italy3 Team Result United States2 Great Britain5 Team Result Norway5 Switzerland4 Team Result Denmark2 Sweden10 Tie-breaker
Team Result Norway4 Denmark3 Medal round
Semifinal 2 Great Britain (GBR)7 3 Sweden (SWE)3 Gold medal final SF2 Canada (CAN)7 Semifinal SF1 Great Britain (GBR)4 1 Canada (CAN)5 TB1 Norway (NOR)4 Bronze medal match SF2 Sweden (SWE)10 SF1 Norway (NOR)2 See also
References
- General
- "Results Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games Wheelchair curling mixed". International Paralympic Committee. http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/results.html?competition=2006PWG&gender=x&sport=curling&discipline=&event=&eclass=. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- Specific
- ^ "Curling at the Paralympics". World Curling Federation. http://www.worldcurling.org/curling-at-the-paralympics. Retrieved 22 April 2002.
- ^ "Sport Profiles, Wheelchair Curling". Australian Paralympic Committee. http://www.paralympic.org.au/Sport/SportProfiles/WheelchairCurling.aspx. Retrieved 13 April 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Wheelchair Curling on the Paralympic Winter Stage". World Curling Federation. http://www.worldcurling.org/_upload/downloads/9_Paralympian_3_2009_Wheelchair_Curling.pdf. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
- ^ "About Wheelchair Curling". World Curling Federation. http://www.worldcurling.org/wheelchair-curling. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
- ^ British Paralympic Committee (30 October 2005). "GB announces strong curling team for Winter Paralympic Games". British Wheelchair Curling Association. http://www.zen7542.zen.co.uk/BWCA/GB%20announces%20strong%20curling%20team%20for%20Winter%20Paralympic%20Games.htm. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ^ Doug Gillon (28 February 2006). "Ready, willing and able quintet curling for gold Scottish rink are GB's strongest medal contenders at Paralympics, says Doug Gillon". The Herald. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/ready-willing-and-able-quintet-curling-for-gold-scottish-rink-are-gb-s-strongest-medal-contenders-at-paralympics-says-doug-gillon-1.27769. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ^ "Turin welcomes Winter Paralympics". BBC Sport. 10 March 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/4428162.stm. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
- ^ a b "Canada take GOLD at Torino Paralympics". wheelchaircurling.com. http://wheelchaircurling.com/torino.htm. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
External links
- Torino 2006
- Torino 2006 Paralympic Games (English)
- ParalympicSport.TV
- International Paralympic Committee
Events at the 2006 Winter Paralympics (Turin) Wheelchair curling at the Winter Paralympics 
2006 • 2010List of medalistsCategories:- 2006 Winter Paralympics events
- 2006 in curling
- Wheelchair curling at the Paralympics
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