Estonia at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Estonia sent 27 athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Half of them competed in cross-country skiing, where Estonia won all of their three Turin Olympic medals. Olympic champion Andrus Veerpalu participated on his 5th Winter Olympics.

Estonia at the 2006 Winter Olympics
IOC code	EST
NOC	Estonian Olympic Committee
Website	www.eok.ee (in Estonian)
in Turin
Competitors	26 (17 men, 9 women) in 6 sports
Flag bearers	Eveli Saue (opening) Kristina Šmigun (closing)
Medals Ranked 12th	Gold 3 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 3
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)
1928 1932 1936 1948–1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Other related appearances
Soviet Union (1956–1988)

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	Andrus Veerpalu	Cross-country skiing	Men's 15 km classical
Gold	Kristina Šmigun	Cross-country skiing	Women's 15 km pursuit
Gold	Kristina Šmigun	Cross-country skiing	Women's 10 km classical

Competitors

The following is a list of the number of competitors participating at the Games per sport/discipline.

Sport	Men	Women	Total
Alpine skiing	1	1	2
Biathlon	5	1	6
Cross-country skiing	8*	5	13*
Figure skating	1	2	3
Nordic combined	1	—	1
Ski jumping	2	0	2
Total	18*	9	27*

*Including a reserve Raul Olle, who did not compete

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	Final
		Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Total	Rank
Tiiu Nurmberg	Women's giant slalom	1:08.39	1:16.70		2:58.09	34
	Women's slalom	48.77	54.21		1:42.98	44
Deyvid Oprja	Men's giant slalom	1:40.49	DNF		Did not finish
	Men's slalom	DNS			Did not start

Note: In the men's combined, run 1 is the downhill, and runs 2 and 3 are the slalom. In the women's combined, run 1 and 2 are the slalom, and run 3 the downhill.

Biathlon

Main article: Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	Final
		Time	Misses	Rank
Dimitri Borovik	Men's sprint	30:31.6	4	73
	Men's individual	1:03:25.8	5	70
Roland Lessing	Men's sprint	29:30.7	2	58
	Men's pursuit	41:53.47	6	51
	Men's individual	1:02:31.2	5	62
Janno Prants	Men's sprint	30:41.0	2	75
Eveli Saue	Women's sprint	24:55.4	1	47
	Women's pursuit	Lapped
	Women's individual	1:00:53.6	5	73
Indrek Tobreluts	Men's sprint	28:47.5	1	40
	Men's pursuit	40:25.80	4	43
	Men's individual	1:02:43.6	5	66
Priit Viks	Men's individual	1:04:08.1	5	75
Dimitri Borovik Indrek Tobreluts Roland Lessing Priit Viks	Men's relay	1:27:48.9	2 16	15

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Distance

Men

Athlete	Event	Final
		Total	Rank
Kaspar Kokk	15 km classical	40:51.7	35
	30 km pursuit	1:17:50.8	19
Jaak Mae	15 km classical	38:35.2	5
Priit Narusk	15 km classical	41:35.8	45
Aivar Rehemaa	30 km pursuit	1:19:51.4	32
	50 km classical	2:08:00.8	35
Andrus Veerpalu	15 km classical	38:01.3
Aivar Rehemaa Andrus Veerpalu Jaak Mae Kaspar Kokk	4 × 10 km relay	1:45:23.8	8

Women

Athlete	Event	Final
		Total	Rank
Tatjana Mannima	10 km classical	31:46.8	51
	30 km freestyle	1:30:42.1	41
Kaili Sirge	10 km classical	32:06.6	56
	30 km freestyle	Did not finish
Kristina Šmigun	10 km classical	27:51.4
	15 km pursuit	42:48.7
	30 km freestyle	1:23:22.5	8
Silja Suija	10 km classical	31:40.9	49
Piret Pormeister Silja Suija Kaili Sirge Tatjana Mannima	4 × 5 km	1:00:24.4	17

Sprint

Athlete	Event	Qualifying		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Total	Rank	Total	Rank	Total	Rank	Total	Rank
Peeter Kümmel	Men's sprint	2:21.60	38	Did not advance					38
Tatjana Mannima	Women's sprint	2:20.44	41	Did not advance					41
Priit Narusk	Men's sprint	2:22.19	41	Did not advance					41
Piret Pormeister	Women's sprint	2:24.67	54	Did not advance					54
Aivar Rehemaa	Men's sprint	2:26.09	54	Did not advance					54
Anti Saarepuu	Men's sprint	2:17.75	14 Q	2:20.7	2 Q	2:34.8	4	Final B 2:27.9	8
Kaili Sirge	Women's sprint	2:22.42	47	Did not advance					47
Priit Narusk Anti Saarepuu	Men's team sprint	n/a				18:07.4	7	Did not advance	14
Piret Pormeister Kaili Sirge	Women's team sprint	n/a				19:13.6	8	Did not advance	15

• Raul Olle was a reserve for the men's relay team, but did not race in any events at the Games.

Figure skating

Main article: Figure skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	CD		SP/OD		FS/FD		Total
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Jelena Glebova	Ladies'	n/a		38.47	28	Did not advance			28
Diana Rennik Aleksei Saks	Pairs	n/a		39.72	18	78.41	15	118.13	17

Key: CD = Compulsory dance, FD = Free dance, FS = Free skate, OD = Original dance, SP = Short program

Nordic combined

Main article: Nordic combined at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	Ski Jumping		Cross-Country
		Points	Rank	Deficit	Time	Rank
Tambet Pikkor	Sprint	95.9	38	1:59	20:14.1 1:45.1	32
	Individual Gundersen	1:88.5	42	4:56	44:39.9 4:55.3	33

Note: 'Deficit' refers to the amount of time behind the leader a competitor began the cross-country portion of the event. Italicized numbers show the final deficit from the winner's finishing time.

Ski jumping

Main article: Ski jumping at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	Qualifying		First round		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Total	Rank
Jaan Jüris	Normal hill	107.0	32 Q	88.5	50	Did not advance		50
	Large hill	52.5	48	Did not advance
Jens Salumäe	Normal hill	117.5	15 Q	112.0	32	Did not advance		32
	Large hill	80.3	28 Q	99.4	24 Q	104.4	203.8	23

The Estonian Delegation

The Estonian Olympic Committee sent 28 athletes and 30 representatives to those games.

Representatives

NOC representatives were president Mart Siimann and secretary Toomas Tõnise. Estonian team representatives were delegation head: Martti Raju, press attaché Sven Sommer, Kristjan Oja in biathlon, Tiit Pekk in cross-country skiing and Gunnar Kuura in figure skating.

Team coaches

Kenneth Ellis – alpine skiing, Raini Pohlak and Hillar Zahkna – biathlon, Mati Alaver and Anatoli Šmigun – cross country skiing, Anna Levandi and Ardo Rennik – figure skating, Toomas Nurmsalu – Nordic combined, Hillar Hein – ski jumping.

Biathlon team: Egert Ispert and Tiit Orlovski biathlon service team, Margo Ool – biathlon massage therapist.

Cross-country skiing team: medical doctors and therapists (Tarvo Kiudma, Mihkel Mardna, Lauri Rannama, Meelis Albert) and service team (Margo Pulles, Peep Koidu, Kristjan-Thor Vähi, Are Mets, Magne Myrmo, Eero Bergman, Michael Hasler, Urmas Välbe, Oleg Ragilo, Raul Seema, Assar Jõepera).

VIP guests

• Arnold Rüütel – the President of the Republic of Estonia,
• Andrus Ansip – the Prime Minister of Estonia,
• Raivo Palmaru – the Minister of Culture,
• Urmas Paet – the Foreign Minister.

Judges

Kalju Valgus in biathlon.

Press

Gunnar Press, Jaan Martinson, Tarmo Paju, Mati Hiis (SL Õhtuleht), Andrus Nilk, Risto Berendsen, Tiit Lääne, Marko Mumm (Eesti Päevaleht), Veiko Visnapuu, Deivil Tserp, Priit Pullerits, Raigo Pajula (Postimees), Raul Ranne (Eesti Ekspress), Enn Hallik (Pärnu Postimees), Sulev Oll (Maaleht), Marko Kaljuveer, Lembitu Kuuse, Ivar Jurtšenko, Helar Osila, Anu Säärits, Tauno Peit, Teet Konksi, Valeri Tiivas (Eesti Televisioon), Tiit Karuks, Tarmo Tiisler, Erik Lillo, Hanno Tomber (Eesti Raadio), Margus Uba (European Broadcasting Union).

Estonian team at the opening ceremony

Flag bearer: Eveli Saue (biathlon)

• Athletes: Eveli Saue – biathlon and Tiiu Nurmberg – alpine skiing
• Representatives: Hillar Zahkna, Raini Pohlak, Egert Ispert, Margo Ool, Gunnar Kuura, Ardo Rennik, Kenneth Ellis, Mart Siimann, Toomas Tõnise and Sven Sommer.

Estonian 2006 Olympic Books

• Indrek Schwede – XX taliolümpiamängud. Torino 2006. Tallinn, Inreko Press, 2006.(ISBN 9985-9666-0-0) (in Estonian)
• Gunnar Press – Torino 2006. XX taliolümpiamängud. Tallinn, Ajakirjade Kirjastus, EOK, Postimees, SL Õhtuleht, 2006 (in Estonian)

External links

• EOK – Torino 2006 (in Estonian)