1956 winter Olympics

1.1956 winter Olympics

The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games (French: Les VII^esJeux olympiques d'hiver; Italian: VII Giochi olimpici invernali), was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956.

VII Olympic Winter Games

Emblem of the 1956 Winter Olympics[note 1]
Host city	Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
Nations	32
Athletes	821 (687 men, 134 women)
Events	24 in 4 sports (8 disciplines)
Opening	26 January
Closing	5 February
Opened by	President Giovanni Gronchi
Cauldron	Guido Caroli
Stadium	Stadio Olimpico Del Ghiaccio
Winter
← Oslo 1952 Squaw Valley 1960 →
Summer
← Helsinki 1952 Melbourne 1956 →

Cortina, which had originally been awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, beat out Montreal, Colorado Springs and Lake Placid for the right to host the 1956 Games. The Cortina Games were unique in that many of the venues were within walking distance of each other. The organising committee received financial support from the Italian government for infrastructure improvements, but the rest of the costs for the Games had to be privately financed. Consequently, the organising committee was the first to rely heavily on corporate sponsorship for funding.^[1]

Thirty-two nations—the largest number of countries participating in the Winter Olympics until then—competed in the four sports and twenty-four events. Austrian Toni Sailer became the first person to sweep all three alpine skiing events in a single Olympics. The figure skating competition was held outdoors for the last time at these Games. Logistically, the only problem encountered was a lack of snow at the alpine skiing events. To remedy this, the Italian army transported large amounts of snow to ensure the courses were adequately covered.

Politics did not affect the 1956 Winter Games as at the Summer Games in Melbourne, Australia, where the Soviet repression of the Hungarian Revolution and the Suez War caused many nations to boycott the Games. The Cortina Olympics were the first Winter Olympics televised to a multi-national audience.^[1] These were the first Olympic Games under the IOCPresidency of Avery Brundage.