2026 is the new 2006: Remembering the Turin Games

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A big internet trend at the moment is expressing nostalgia for the year 2016. Under the banner of "2026 is the new 2016," people are sharing old photos and remembering songs, TV shows, food trends and other pop-culture stuff from a decade ago.

Well, friends, no one has ever accused the Buzzer of being on trend. And, as you know, our main focus here is Olympic sports. So I thought I'd tweak this one a little and ask: what if 2026 is actually the new 2006?

Like our current year, 2006 featured a Winter Olympics in northern Italy. And, on a personal level, those Games in Turin happened to be my first assignment for CBC Sports. So here's a look back at some of the stuff I remember:

Canada owned it. 2006 was the first big test for the Own the Podium program, created a couple of years earlier with the goal of lifting Canada to the top of the medal table when it hosted the 2010 Games in Vancouver. The plan worked: Canada won a world-leading 14 golds in Vancouver — four more than any other country — and 26 medals overall. But the seeds were planted in Turin, where Canada's total medal count rocketed from 17 in 2002 to a then-national-record 24.

Cindy Klassen ruled the oval. Canada's top long track speed skater won a medal in five of the six women's events, including gold in the 1,500m. Two decades later, she still holds the record for the most medals by a Canadian at a single Olympics, winter or summer. Another marvellous Canadian speed skater in 2006 was Clara Hughes, who won gold in the women's 5,000m and silver in the team pursuit after earning a pair of bronze medals in