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Beautiful, large gold winner's medal awarded to a member of the Swedish national ice hockey team at the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics. Gilt silver, 528 gm, 106 mm, designed by Quatrini and minted by Ottaviani International. The front features a fluid geometric design of the emblem of the Games at the bottom; the reverse has a polished pictogram of a hockey player below the engraved sport, “Ice Hockey,” with the left side engraved, “Men's,” below the Olympic rings. The edge is engraved in Italian, French, and English: "XX Giochi Olimpici Invernali, XX Jeux Olympiques d'Hiver, XX Olympic Winter Games." The uniquely designed medal has a hole at the center, through which the red, gold, and fuchsia ribbon is tied; the central hole was designed to suspend directly over the heart of the winning athlete as a unique symbol of life, energy, and human emotion. Complete with its original wood-and-plastic curved display case and cardboard storage box. A beautiful and impressive first-place Olympic prize—at the time, the Torino winner's medal was the largest ever issued.
Despite going 5 and 2 in the preliminary round, the men’s Swedish hockey team surged through the quarterfinals and semifinals with convincing wins over Switzerland (6-2) and the Czech Republic (7-3) before taking on an undefeated Finnish squad in the gold medal game. After trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Swedes roared back and tied the game 2-2 heading into the third. Legendary Swedish defenseman Nicklas Lidström scored the game-winning goal just 10 seconds into the period, and fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist stymied any attempt at a Finnish comeback. With his goal, Lidström became an exclusive member of the Triple Gold Club, adding an Olympic gold medal to go with his previous Stanley Cups with Detroit and his World Championship gold medal in 1991.
