February 9, 2005 – This Thursday, February 10 marks the one-year
countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Turin,
Italy which will be held on February 10, 2006.

The goal for the Canadian team, as set by the Canadian Olympic Committee
and Canada’s winter sport federations, is for Canada to finish in the top
three countries in the medal count in Turin. This would require the
Canadian team of approximately 200 athletes to come home with about 25
medals. Canadian athletes are expected to compete in all sports over the
17 days of the Olympic Games in Turin.

Canadian athletes have been posting better results on the World Cup circuit
and at World Championship events this season over last season, which bodes
well for the Canadian team in Turin. A summary of Canadian results as of
February 7, 2005 is available at
http://www.olympic.ca/EN/games/olympic/winter/turin/files/worldcup.pdf.

Canada has been improving its performance at Olympic Winter Games since
Calgary in 1988, where the team placed 12th overall, to the last Games in
Salt Lake City where the team placed fourth behind the United States,
Germany, and Norway. Canada won a best ever 17 medals in Salt Lake City 
seven gold, three silver and seven bronze. A breakdown of the Canadian
medal winners for the 2002 Games and previous Olympic Games is available at
http://www.olympic.ca/EN/games/olympic/index.shtml.

The final event of the 20th Olympic Winter Games in Turin is the gold medal
men’s Ice Hockey game on February 26, 2006 at 2 p.m. local time at
Palasport Olimpico. The women s gold medal game will be played on
February 20, 2006 at 8:30 p.m. local time.