Portugal at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Portugal debuted in Olympic competition at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, and have appeared in every Summer Olympics since. The nation made its first appearance in a Winter Olympic Games in 1952. Since then, their attendance has been sporadic, with the country making its second appearance in the 1988 Winter Games. They participated in 1994 and 1998, but missed the 1992 and 2002 editions.[1] Thus, the Turin Olympics were the nation's fifth appearance at a Winter Olympics.[1] The Portuguese delegation to Turin consisted of a single cross-country skier, Danny Silva. He would go on to be the only athlete to represent Portugal again at the 2010 Winter Olympics.[2] Silva was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening ceremony[3] and the closing ceremony.[4]

Danny Silva was 32 years old at the time of the Turin Olympics.[2] His only event was the 15 kilometre classical race, in which he posted a time of 54 minutes and 34 seconds. This placed him 93rd out of 96 competitors who finished the race, and over 16 minutes behind the gold medal time.[5]