Norway sent 74 athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. At the 2002 Winter Olympics Norway won the most gold medals, and before the Turin games, Norwegian sports officials were aiming for more than the 25 medals they won in Salt Lake City — the president of the Norwegian Skiing Federation Sverre Seeberg was quoted saying he thought Norway would win 25 medals in the skiing events alone (alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping). The Norwegian Olympic Committee aimed for Norway to be the best nation measured in the number of gold medals. However, Norway won only two gold medals in the games, the lowest amount since 1988. In addition to the skiing events, Norway also qualified athletes in biathlon, curling, skeleton, snowboarding and speed skating. In addition to IOC qualifying times, the Norwegian Olympic Committee have required that athletes need to place themselves once in the top six or twice in the top twelve in major individual events in the sport to be selected. Curler Pål Trulsen served as flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Medalists |width="70%" align="left" valign="top"| |width="30%" align="left" valign="top"| Alpine skiing 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 Men Women Cross-country skiing On 9 January the selection of four male athletes for the sprint event was made public. Following the conclusion of the individual events at the 2006 Norwegian Championships, a further thirteen skiers were selected. The Norwegian director of cross-country skiing sport, Bjørnar Håkensmoen, received "terribly many" reactions after he announced the team on 21 January, and the following day the newspaper Aftenposten asked him whether he "regretted" not selecting Petter Northug, who had won both the double pursuit and the relay (as part of a team representing Strindheim IL) at the Norwegian Skiing Championship. Distance Men Women Sprint Curling The curling teams for men and women were nominated following the 2005 European Curling Championships, where Pål Trulsen and his team won gold for men, while Dordi Nordby finished fourth with her team. Trulsen's team were the reigning Olympic champions, while Nordby had finished seventh in 2002 and fifth in 1998. Men's Team: Pål Trulsen (skip), Lars Vågberg, Flemming Davanger, Bent Ånund Ramsfjell, Torger Nergård (alternate) Round Robin Draw 1