cortina 1956 winter olympics

The Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo represent a historic milestone in many ways. The first Olympic Games hosted by Italy, celebrated in Rome with the lighting of a symbolic torch in the Capitoline Hill, paves the way for the subsequent 1960 Summer Games to be awarded to the Italian capital.

The 1956 Cortina Winter Games is the first to have full television coverage, broadcast live in several European countries thanks to a pioneering technical and organizational effort by Radiotelevisione Italiana and the Eurovision network.

For the first time, a female athlete takes the Olympic Oath: Giuliana Minuzzo, bronze medalist at Oslo 1952, took the honor.

The Soviet Union’s national team makes its debut in Cortina 1956, immediately scooping up medals and  finishing at the top of the medal table. Italy places eighth, with one gold and two silver medals, all in bobsleigh. 

Nation: Italy

Athletes: 821 (134 women, 687 men)

Nations: 32

Medal Table: USSR, Austria, Finland

Cortina 1956 Winter Olympic Games, Madeleine Berthod (CH) wins the gold medal and Frieda Dänzer (CH) wins silver at the finish line of the women's downhill race. © 1956 / Pressefoto / Von Der Becke, Heinrich
Cortina 1956 Winter Olympic Games, American figure skater Carol Heiss on the ice rink in front of the Cristallo Hotel, Mario Capuano collection
Cortina 1956 Winter Olympic Games, Madeleine Berthod (CH) wins the gold medal in the women's downhill race. © 1956 / Foto Ghedina, Cortina d'Ampezzo
Cortina 1956 Winter Olympic Games, The Olympic flag waves against the backdrop of the Tofana mountain mass. © 1956 / International Olympic Committee (IOC)