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Tuesday, 28 February 2006 |
German Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulated Germany's team on Olympic medals haul
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany congratulated her country's Winter
Olympics side as they came top of the medals table in Turin winning 29
medals, including 11 golds, and edging out the USA with a total of nine
golds and 25 medals.
"All of you have confirmed impressively that Germany is and remains one
of the world's great winter sports nations," said Angela Merkel in a
message to the German team.
Three of the German-won golds were claimed by biathlete Michael Greis,
while the USA achieved their best-ever performance on foreign soil.
Austria were in third place, hosts Italy were at ninth position and 2002 winners Norway took the 13th.
America's medals were gained despite high-profile athletes like Alpine
skier Bode Miller and speed skater Chad Hedrick not doing as well as
expected.
Bode Miller went home with nothing and Chad Hedrick gained one each of
gold, silver and bronze medals but failed to achieve his goal of five
gold medals.
American officials said they were pleased with their side's
performance, but regretted pre-Olympics projections that the Americans
would match or better the record 34 medals taken at Salt Lake City in
2002.
Canada, which will be hosting the 2010 Games, had its best ever
performance at the Winter Olympics with 24 medals, including seven
golds and Austria, Sweden, China and South Korea also gave their best
ever performances.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 06 March 2006 )
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