Seth Wescott of the USA soars through the sky in the qualifying round of the Snowboard Cross competition. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
	The United States' hockey goalie John Grahame (47) covers up a loose puck as defenseman Jordan Loepold (4) holds off Latvia's Aleksandrs Semjonovs. (AP Photo/Gene J.Puskar)
	Resi Stiegler of the United States stands on the side of the Women's Combined Downhill course. The event was cancelled due to poor weather conditions on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
	Bronze medalist Toby Dawson of the USA reacts during the flower ceremony of the Men's Moguls. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Olympic Athletes are in Turino, Italy for the Winter Games

The Winter Olympics have an Italian flavor this year.

The Olympics match athletes from countries around the world. Winter Olympics sports include hockey, figure skating, and skiing.

The Olympics are held every four years. This year they are in Turino, Italy. Athletes from 85 countries are competing.

The United States has a solid team

America got its first gold medal in the 5,000-meter speedskating competition. Chad Hedrick won that event easily. Winners get gold medals. Second-place finishers get silver medals. Third-place finishers get bronze medals.

Hedrick was going to compete in five events total. He is confident he can do well in all of them.

“I didn't come here to win one gold medal,” he said.

Figure skating is always a popular event. Michelle Kwan was a big story early in the Games. She is a very popular skater, but has never won a gold medal.

Kwan made the 2006 Olympic team despite injuries from a fall at the U.S. Championships. Then, in Turino, she got hurt again during practice. Kwan withdrew from the Games.

“If I don't win gold, it's OK,” Kwan said. “I've had a great career. This is the sport, and it's beautiful.”

Emily Hughes replaced Kwan. Hughes at 16 is the younger sister of Sarah Hughes who won a figure skating gold medal in the 2002 Olympics.

Several Wisconsin athletes are also competing.

They include Casey FitzRandolph. He is a speedskater from the Madison area. FitzRandolph won the gold medal in the 500 meters in 2002.

Repeating success

The 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City, Utah.   The United States did very well there. Its athletes won 34 medals. That is a record.

The next Winter Olympics are in 2010 in Vancouver, Canada.

The Summer Olympics are also held every four years. They will be in Beijing, China, in 2008. London, England, hosts them in 2012.

Summer sports include basketball, track and field, and gymnastics.  

The Olympic Games have a long history. They date back more than 2,700 years. They were first held in Greece. Those games were played for mythical Olympian gods.

The summer Olympics were held until the year 339. They resumed in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The modern Winter Olympics began in 1924 in Chamonix, France.