The Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games have come to an end after 9 days of action packed competition. A total of 477 athletes from 39 countries competed in four sports - Alpine Skiing, Ice Sledge Hockey, Nordic Skiing (Biathlon and Cross Country) and Wheelchair Curling. Two countries, Mexico and Mongolia, took part in Winter Paralympics for the first time.

The medal tally was topped by Russia with 13 gold, followed by Germany with 8 gold and Ukraine, France and USA joint with 7 gold each. Ukraine has seen an exciting development, moving from 18th place at the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Paralympics to a third at these Games in Torino.

A total of 162,974 tickets were sold during the Games. Several competitions, for example the finals of Ice Sledge Hockey and Wheelchair Curling as well as the Opening Ceremony, were sold out. In an act of solidarity, the Canadian Paralympic Committee, US Paralympics and non profit organization Charity & Sport joined together and provided approximately EUR 10,000 to allow athletes from Kazakhstan and Mongolia to compete at the Torino 2006 Winter Paralympics.

A new record was set in the area of media representatives covering the Games; 1,012 written press, photographers, rights holding broadcasters and non-rightsholding broadcasters were present. The Host Broadcaster provided more than 130 hours of live coverage. The IPC's internet TV channel www.paralympicsport.tv saw approximately 40,000 unique viewers from 105 countries, watching an average of four and a half hours. Most viewers came from the USA, Italy, Canada, Germany and Japan but the player drew around 5% new viewers every day.

For more information or to watch IPC TV, click here.