Turin and its surrounding mountains are hosting what organizers are promising will be the most beautiful edition of the Winter Olympics ever staged.
It certainly started in the right way with a spectacular opening ceremony at Turin's Stadio Olimpico - a
show featuring 250 professionals and 3,000 volunteers, screened to millions of viewers worldwide.
Over 120 major international figures attended the opening ceremony including 22 heads of state and sovereigns, 23 prime ministers and US First Lady Laura Bush.
The highlight was when former Italian Winter Olympian Stefania Belmondo - the winner of 10 cross-country skiing Olympic medals, including two golds - lights the Olympic Flame cauldron.
Sofia Loren acted as the patroness of the Ceremony, alongside Yoko Ono and the American actress Susan Sarandon. At their arrival they said they were very excited to have been invited to take part in this world celebration.
The show’s costumes were “signed†by Giorgio Armani. The Italian designer in fact created the clothes for one of the most fascinating moments of the whole evening: the entrance of the Italian flag. The atelier Moschino, instead, designed the clothes for the athletes parade. Miss Italia, Edelfa Chiara Masciotta, flag-bearer for Italy, will wear a special dress designed to pay tribute to Torino.
Protagonists of the Opening Ceremony were also the actor and director Adriano Giannini and the top model Eva Herzigova. A significant part of the show was when Italy's “lord of the ringsâ€: nothing to do with Tolkien’s saga, but one of the most loved and winning athletes of Italian sport, Jury Chechi, officially opened the ceremony.
Despite some initial worries everything seems to be running smoothly. The Olympic facilities were finished on time and look good while a recent series of heavy snowfalls chipped in to the preparations too, helping put the competition courses in the mountains in perfect condition.
After months of wrangling, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Italian government also reached a compromise agreement over drugs checks.
Doping is a criminal offence in Italy, so the IOC was terrified at the prospect of seeing competitors caught taking performance-enhancing drugs behind bars. Italy refused to waive its strict doping legislation for
the duration of the Turin Olympics, but has agreed not to prosecute athletes who fail drugs tests.
The authorities are carrying out a massive security operation aimed at warding off the threat of attacks on
spectators, athletes and visiting dignitaries. Over 2,500 athletes from all over the world are in Turin
to take part in 84 Olympic competitions, with 252 medals up for grabs.
These include Alpine skiing greats like Bode Miller, Hermann Maier and Janica Kostelic and the mighty US,
Canadian, Swedish and Russian ice-hockey teams. The host nation has high hopes of piling up a rich medal
haul with its 183-strong team, the biggest Italy has ever fielded at an edition of the Winter Games.
The goal is to surpass the tally of 13 medals - four golds, four silvers and five bronzes - notched up in 2002 in
Salt Lake City.
Some even dream of beating the total of 20 medals, including seven golds, the Azzurri brought home from Lillehammer in 1994, although experts say this is unlikely.
Italy's hottest gold-medal prospects are 32-year-old Armin Zoeggeler, the reigning men's luge Olympic champion, and Giorgio Rocca in the slalom.
Organizers stress that, as well as being a festival of sport, the Turin Olympics will also leave a legacy of modern facilities and transport infrastructure to the region of Piedmont for the future.
The Turin Games can also boast that they are the most environmentally-friendly event of this scale ever to be held. This has been recognised by the European Commission and green groups.
The Olympic facilities have been designed in a way that minimizes their impact on the environment and they are equipped with the latest energy- and water-saving technology. Organizing committee TOROC has implemented a programme to offset the carbon emissions generated by the event with, among other things, the planting of trees.
TOROC has also put on a rich programme of cultural events - including film screenings, exhibitions, concerts and theatre performances - to keep the sporting festival company. Italy has hosted the Winter Olympics once before - in 1956 in Cortina.
Turin is also the venue for the Winter Paralympics, March 10-19.
