COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.-Honoring the spirit of athleticism and international unity, the U.S. Postal Service issued a new postage stamp today, inspired by the Olympic Winter Games, featuring an illustration of a downhill skier on a slalom course. The 2006 Olympic Winter Games stamp was dedicated at the U.S. Olympic Complex in Colorado Springs, Colo., and coincides with the XXth Olympic Winter Games, which will be held February 10-26, 2006 in Torino, Italy. The 39-cent stamp, available only in Colorado Springs today, will be available nationwide tomorrow, Jan. 12.
"Long after the Olympic flame is extinguished, this stamp will keep the spirit of the Olympic Winter Games burning in our hearts," said Dean Granholm, Manager, Colorado/Wyoming District for the U.S. Postal Service. "It's a tribute to the unifying Olympic spirit and ideal of excellence."
"While the Olympic Winter Games happen every four years, ski and Olympic enthusiasts alike can enjoy the 2006 Games on beautiful stamps and commemorate the history of the competition," said Granholm.
Prompted by a growing group of snow-sport enthusiasts, the first Olympic Winter Games-initially called International Sports Week-were held at a small Alpine resort in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Figure skating, which first debuted at the Olympic Games in 1908 in London, can be performed on an indoor rink during summer, but other winter sports, such as bobsledding and skiing, required outdoor venues. The 1924 event attracted more than 250 athletes from 16 countries, spurring the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to agree to stage Olympic Winter Games separately from summer competitions.
In 2006, the Olympic Winter Games will include curling, bobsled, figure skating, ice hockey, luge, skeleton, speedskating, skiing and snowboarding. Some 2,500 world-class athletes-a word derived from the Greek word for "prize-seekers"-will compete amid snow and ice in front of an estimated 1.5 million spectators. This will be the second time Italy will host the Olympic Winter Games, as it hosted the VII Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956, and the third time overall, as Italy also staged the Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome in 1960. Most recently, the 2002 Olympic Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Stamps featuring Olympic themes have been popular with collectors since the first modern Olympiad in 1896, when Greece issued 12 Olympic-themed commemorative stamps. This year's 2006 Olympic Winter Games stamp, created by illustrator John Mattos of San Francisco, Calif., features a skier cutting into a turn at full speed.
Beginning in 1932, numerous U.S. stamps have honored the Olympic Games including the 2004 Olympic Games * Athens, Greece stamp issued to coincide with the games of the XXVIII Olympiad, which were held in that city.
Current U.S. stamps, as well as a free comprehensive catalog, are available by toll-free phone order at 1-800-STAMP-24. A wide selection of stamps and other philatelic items is also available at the Postal Store at www.usps.com/shop. Beautifully framed prints of original stamp art for delivery straight to the home or office are available at www.postalartgallery.com.
