1956 Winter Olympics

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VII Olympic Winter Games
The emblem is a stylized snowflake with the Olympic rings and a star, the emblem of the Italian National Olympic Committee.
Host city	Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
Nations participating	32
Athletes participating	821 (687 men, 134 women)
Events	24 in 4 sports
Opening ceremony	January 26, 1956
Closing ceremony	February 5, 1956
Officially opened by	Giovanni Gronchi
Athlete's Oath	Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo
Olympic Torch	Guido Caroli
Stadium	Stadio Olympica

The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The USSR debuted in these Winter Olympics. They immediately showed their strength by winning more medals than any other nation.

Contents 1 Highlights of the Games 1.1 Medal winners 2 Participating nations 3 Medal count 4 References

[edit] Highlights of the Games

• In the Alpine Skiing Toni Sailer won all the events (Downhill, Slalom and the Giant Slalom).
• The USSR won the Games with 16 medals, 7 of them being gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze.

[edit] Medal winners

• Alpine skiing
• Bobsleigh
• Figure skating
• Ice hockey
• Nordic skiing
  • Cross-country skiing
  • Nordic combined
  • Ski jumping
• Speed skating

[edit] Participating nations

A total of 32 nations sent athletes to Cortina d'Ampezzo. Bolivia, Iran, and the USSR competed at the Winter Games for the first time. Korea, Liechtenstein, and Turkey returned after having missed the 1952 Winter Olympics. Argentina, Denmark, New Zealand, and Portugal did not compete at these Games, after having participated in 1952.

Athletes from West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) competed together as the United Team of Germany at these Games, an arrangement that would continue for the following two Olympiads.

Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Bulgaria Canada Chile Czechoslovakia Finland France Great Britain

Greece Hungary Iran Iceland Italy Japan South Korea Lebanon Liechtenstein Netherlands Norway

Poland Romania Spain Switzerland Sweden Turkey United States United Team of Germany Soviet Union Yugoslavia

[edit] Medal count

Main article: 1956 Winter Olympics medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games:

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	7	3	6	16
2	Austria	4	3	4	11
3	Finland	3	3	1	7
4	Switzerland	3	2	1	6
5	Sweden	2	4	4	10
6	United States	2	3	2	7
7	Norway	2	1	1	4
8	Italy (host nation)	1	2	0	3
9	United Team of Germany	1	0	1	2
10	Canada	0	1	2	3

[edit] References

• International Olympic Committee – Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 main page
• Cortina 1956 – official report, digitized copy online

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