 |
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
VIIth WINTER GAMES |
January 26 -
February 5, 1956 |
Mascot - none |
32 countries,
820 athletes (132 women) |
4 sports, 24 events |
Opening -
President Giovanni Gronchi |
Torch lit by -
Guido Caroli (figure skating) |
Candidates:
Colorado Springs, Lake Placid, Montreal |
 This was Italy's turn. Originally scheduled to host the
1944 Games, Cortina finally got its chance. Cortina, one of the most
beautiful winter resorts in the world, hosted the seventh edition of the
winter Olympics. The oath was read by Giuliana Minuzzo. She was the
first woman to do so in the history of the Olympics. The Olympic flame
was lit at the Campidoglio in Rome and blessed by the Pope. A live television broadcast came
to the Winter Games for the first time, as Italian television (RAI)
provided live coverage. The Games saw the arrival of a new national team
at the quadrennial Olympic gathering: the Soviet Union. And did the
Soviets make an impression. East and West German athletes competed
together under a unified flag.
But the Soviet Union, competing
in its first Olympic Winter Games, was the major story. Soviets won 7 of 24 events. Austrian skier Toni Sailer was a dominating force of
his own, sweeping the downhill, slalom and giant slalom by a large
margin. This feat was duplicated by Jean-Claude Killy twelve years
later.
The Soviet Union swept all but
the 10,000m in the speed skating events. The 10,000m was won by Sweden's
Sigvard Ericsson, leaving Norway without a gold medal in speed skating
for the first time in 24 years. The Norwegians did have better luck in
the area of cross-country skiing, with 1952 defending gold medallist Hallgeir Brenden again winning gold. However the Norwegians suffered
more disappointment in ski jumping, in which their highest finish was
ninth.
The Americans performed well in
figure skating, with Hayes Jenkins picking up where Dick Button left
off. Jenkins won the men's competition, while Tenley Albright won the
ladies' competition, with teammate Carol Heiss taking the silver.
Italy and Switzerland won the
two- and four-man bobsled events respectively. The Soviet Union once
again made its presence felt in winning the hockey competition without
losing a game; beating both USA (4-0) and the Canadian masters (2-0). In something of a surprise, the United States finished
second, and the Canadians third, marking the first time the Americans
finished in front of the Canadians in Olympic competition.
Competing in its first Winter
Olympic Games, the Soviet Union led the medals table with 16.
|
1924
1928
1932
1936
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010 |
|
|
4
sports, 24 events |
U
R
S |
A
U
T |
F
I
N |
S
U
I |
S
W
E |
U
S
A |
N
O
R |
I
T
A |
G
E
R |
|
BOBSLEIGH |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
2 |
ICE HOCKEY |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
SKATING |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Figure Skating |
|
1 |
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
3 |
Speed Skating |
4 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
5* |
SKIING |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alpine Skiing |
|
3 |
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
6 |
Cross-Country Skiing |
2 |
|
2 |
|
1 |
|
1 |
|
|
7 |
Nordic Combined |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
Ski Jumping |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
TOTAL |
7 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
25 |
* 2 gold medals
awarded in 1500m Speed Skating
GOLD MEDAL
WINNERS
(2 new events)
(17 Men, 6 Women, 1 Combined Events)
|
BOBSLEIGH
M\Two-Man: Lamberto della Costa/Giacomo Conti, Italy
M\Four-Man: Switzerland
ICE HOCKEY
Men's Team: Soviet Union |
SKIING
ALPINE SKIING
M\Downhill: Anton Sailer, Austria
M\Slalom: Anton Sailer, Austria
M\Giant Slalom: Anton Sailer, Austria
W\Downhill: Madeleine Berthod, Switzerland
W\Slalom: Renee Colliard, Switzerland
W\Giant Slalom: Ossi Reichert, Germany
CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING
M\15km Classical: Hallgeir Brenden, Norway
M\30km Classical: Veikko Hakulinen, Finland
M\50km Classical: Sixten Jernberg, Sweden
M\4x10km Relay: Soviet Union
W\10km Classical: Lyubov Baranova, USSR
W\3x5km Relay: Finland
NORDIC COMBINED
M\Individual: Sverre Stenersen, Norway
SKI JUMPING
M\K-90 Individual: Antti Hyvarinen, Finland
|
|
SKATING
FIGURE SKATING
M\Singles: Hayes Alan Jenkins, United States
W\Singles: Tenley Albright, United States
Pairs: Elisabeth Schwartz/Kurt Oppelt, Austria
SPEED SKATING
M\500m: Yevgeny Grishin, USSR
M\1500m: Yevgeny Grishin, USSR & Yuri Mikahilov, USSR (tie)
M\5000m: Boris Shilkov, USSR
M\10000m: Sigvard Ericsson, Sweden |
|
Country
|
G
|
S |
B |
TTL |
USSR |
7 |
3 |
6 |
16 |
Austria |
4 |
3 |
4 |
11 |
Finland |
3 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
Switzerland |
3 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
Sweden |
2 |
4 |
4 |
10 |
United
States |
2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
Norway |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
Italy |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
Germany |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
Canada |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Japan |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Hungary |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Poland |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
TOTAL
|
25 |
23 |
24 |
72 |
|
