The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the VII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956. A total of 821 athletes representing 32 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in these Games in 24 events across 8 disciplines.[1] The Olympic program was similar to four years prior, with two new cross-country events added to the competition. Both men and women competed at these Games, though women only contested events in alpine skiing, figure skating, and cross-country skiing. The Soviet Union attempted to secure the inclusion of a women's speed skating event, but this was rejected by the IOC at its 49th session in Athens in 1954.[2] Women would compete in speed skating four years later at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics.[3]
A total of 131 athletes won medals in Cortina d'Ampezzo.[4] In their Winter Olympic debut,[1] athletes from the Soviet Union won sixteen medals, seven of which were gold. Both medal totals were the most of any NOC at the Games. Two of these seven medals were earned in a single event, the 1500 meters speed skating competition, when two Soviet skaters tied for first place in a world record time.[5] Athletes from Austria and Sweden won the second and third most medals, with 11 and 10 respectively. Of the 32 NOCs that competed in Cortina d'Ampezzo, 13 won at least one medal. Host nation Italy won three medals, all in bobsleigh.[6]
Cross-country skier Sixten Jernberg of Sweden won four medals, and Austrian Toni Sailer won three gold medals in alpine skiing, both of which were the most of any athlete in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Tenley Albright improved on her silver medal from four years prior in Oslo to win the gold medal in ladies figure skating.[7] The Soviet Union won six medals—exactly half of the medals awarded—in speed skating, with two each being won by Yevgeny Grishin and Oleg Goncharenko. Grishin would repeat his performance with golds in the same two events four years later in Squaw Valley.[8]
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's downhill[9] |
Toni Sailer Austria
|
Raymond Fellay Switzerland
|
Anderl Molterer Austria
|
| Men's giant slalom[10] |
Toni Sailer Austria
|
Anderl Molterer Austria
|
Walter Schuster Austria
|
| Men's slalom[11] |
Toni Sailer Austria
|
Chiharu Igaya Japan
|
Stig Sollander Sweden
|
| Women's downhill[12] |
Madeleine Berthod Switzerland
|
Frieda Dänzer Switzerland
|
Lucille Wheeler Canada
|
| Women's giant slalom[13] |
Ossi Reichert United Team of Germany
|
Putzi Frandl Austria
|
Thea Hochleitner Austria
|
| Women's slalom[14] |
Renée Colliard Switzerland
|
Regina Schöpf Austria
|
Yevgeniya Sidorova Soviet Union
|
|
See also: Bobsleigh at the 1956 Winter Olympics |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's two-man |
 Italy (ITA)[15]Italy I Lamberto Dalla Costa Giacomo Conti |
Italy (ITA)[15] Italy II Eugenio Monti Renzo Alverà |
 Switzerland (SUI)[16]Switzerland I Max Angst Harry Warburton |
| Men's four-man |
Switzerland (SUI)[16] Switzerland I Franz Kapus Gottfried Diener Robert Alt Heinrich Angst |
Italy (ITA)[15] Italy II Eugenio Monti Ulrico Girardi Renzo Alverà Renato Mocellini |
 United States (USA)[17]USA I Arthur Tyler William Dodge Charles Butler James Lamy |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's[25] |
Hayes Alan Jenkins United States
|
Ronnie Robertson United States
|
David Jenkins United States
|
| Ladies'[26] |
Tenley Albright United States
|
Carol Heiss United States
|
Ingrid Wendl Austria
|
| Pairs |
 Austria (AUT)[27]Sissy Schwarz Kurt Oppelt |
 Canada (CAN)[28]Frances Dafoe Norris Bowden |
 Hungary (HUN)[29]Marianna Nagy László Nagy |
|
See also: Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's individual[35] |
Sverre Stenersen Norway
|
Bengt Eriksson Sweden
|
Franciszek Gąsienica Groń Poland
|
|
See also: Ski jumping at the 1956 Winter Olympics |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's individual[36] |
Antti Hyvärinen Finland
|
Aulis Kallakorpi Finland
|
Harry Glaß United Team of Germany
|
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| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 500 metres[37] |
Yevgeny Grishin Soviet Union
|
Rafayel Grach Soviet Union
|
Alv Gjestvang Norway
|
| Men's 1500 metres[5] |
Yevgeny Grishin Soviet Union
|
None awarded[a] | Toivo Salonen Finland
|
| Yuri Mikhaylov Soviet Union
| |||
| Men's 5000 metres[38] |
Boris Shilkov Soviet Union
|
Sigvard Ericsson Sweden
|
Oleg Goncharenko Soviet Union
|
| Men's 10000 metres[39] |
Sigvard Ericsson Sweden
|
Knut Johannesen Norway
|
Oleg Goncharenko Soviet Union
|
Athletes who won multiple medals during the 1956 Winter Olympics are listed below.
| Athlete | Nation | Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sixten Jernberg |  Sweden (SWE)
|
Cross-country skiing | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Toni Sailer | Austria (AUT)
|
Alpine skiing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Veikko Hakulinen |  Finland (FIN)
|
Cross-country skiing | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Pavel Kolchin |  Soviet Union (URS)
|
Cross-country skiing | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Yevgeny Grishin | Soviet Union (URS)
|
Speed skating | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Lyubov Kozyreva | Soviet Union (URS)
|
Cross-country skiing | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Sigvard Ericsson | Sweden (SWE)
|
Speed skating | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Fyodor Terentyev | Soviet Union (URS)
|
Cross-country skiing | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Renzo Alverà | Italy (ITA)
|
Bobsleigh | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Eugenio Monti | Italy (ITA)
|
Bobsleigh | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Radya Yeroshina | Soviet Union (URS)
|
Cross-country skiing | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Anderl Molterer | Austria (AUT)
|
Alpine skiing | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Sonja Edström | Sweden (SWE)
|
Cross-country skiing | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Oleg Goncharenko | Soviet Union (URS)
|
Speed skating | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |