Madagascar at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Madagascar at the 2006 Winter Olympics
IOC code	MAD
NOC	Comité Olympique Malgache
in Turin
Competitors	1 (1 man) in 1 sport
Flag bearers	Mathieu Razanakolona (opening and closing)
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)
2006 2010–2014 2018 2022 2026 2030

Madagascar competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The country's participation at the Games marked its Winter Olympics debut, although it had competed in the Summer Olympics since 1964. The delegation consisted of a single alpine skier, Mathieu Razanakolona, who did not win any medals.

Background

Madagascar first competed at the Summer Olympics at the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Japan. They participated on nine occasions prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics, where they made their Winter Olympics debut in Turin, Italy.^[1] They sent a single alpine skier, Mathieu Razanakolona.^[2]

Razanakolona was born in Quebec, Canada; his mother was Canadian but his father was from Madagascar.^[3] He and his brother Philippe sought to bring international attention to the African island nation of Madagascar by having Mathieu become the first person to represent the country at the Winter Olympics. While Mathieu competed in the skiing, Philippe ran the non-profit organisation rAzAlpin.org to support this.^[4] Prior to the Turin Games, Mathieu had competed in a single FIS Alpine Ski World Cup event in Schladming, Austria, where he was disqualified after straddling a gate.^[2]

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics

The sole Malagasy athlete at the Games, Mathieu Razanakolona, competed in the men's giant slalom and slalom.^[5] He was the flag bearer at both the opening and closing ceremonies.^[6][7]

Competing in the giant slalom on 20 February, he finished his first run in a time of one minute and 39.1 seconds, placing him in 43rd place out of the 47 skiers who completed the run.^[8] His second run of the day saw an improvement in both time and placement, finishing in 31st place with a time of one minute and 27.33 seconds.^[9] This placed him in 39th place overall, with a combined time of three minutes and 6.43 seconds, only ahead of China's Li Guangxu and Ivan Borisov of Kyrgyzstan.^[10] However, his slalom competition was not as successful, as he failed to finish his first run, thus eliminating himself from the competition.^[11]

Alpine skiing

Athlete	Event	Final
		Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Total	Rank
Mathieu Razanakolona	Men's giant slalom	1:39.10	1:27.33	n/a	3:06.43	39
	Men's slalom	did not finish

References

1. "Madagascar". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
2. Thompson, Anna (14 February 2006). "Ask Anna – Part Two". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
3. "Razanakolona purgera sa peine dans la communauté". La Presse (in French). 11 April 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
4. "Razanakolona brothers' Olympic adventure". Study in Canada. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
5. "Mathieu Razanakolona". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
6. "Flagbearers for the Opening Ceremony". Olympic.org. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
7. "Flagbearers for the Closing Ceremony". Olympic.org. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
8. "Alpine Skiing at the 2006 Torino Winter Games: Men's Giant Slalom Run 1". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
9. "Alpine Skiing at the 2006 Torino Winter Games: Men's Giant Slalom Run 2". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
10. "Alpine Skiing at the 2006 Torino Winter Games: Men's Giant Slalom". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
11. "Alpine Skiing at the 2006 Torino Winter Games: Men's Slalom Run 1". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.