The VII Winter Olympic Games in the Italian Dolomites were the first to be followed by viewers on television.
From 26 January to 5 February 1956, Cortina welcomed 821 athletes from 32 countries, 41 of them from Czechoslovakia. The star of the Games was Austrian skier Toni Sailer, who won all three alpine events. Nordic athletes dominated cross-country skiing – Hallgeir Brenden took the 15 km, Veikko Hakulinen the 30 km and Sixten Jernberg the 50 km – while Antti Hyvärinen won the ski jumping. The Soviet Union, at its first Winter Olympics, collected 16 medals including ice hockey gold. Czechoslovakia finished fifth in hockey, and in Czech the word “Cortina” long remained a byword for failure.
Key facts
- VII Winter Olympics, 26 Jan – 5 Feb 1956, Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy)
- 821 athletes from 32 countries, 41 from Czechoslovakia, first televised Winter Games
- Toni Sailer: 3 alpine skiing golds
- Ice hockey: USSR gold, Czechoslovakia 5th
Find at FANzone
Olympia card 1956 – H. Brenden · V. Hakulinen · A. Hyvärinen · F. Terentjev · Olympic category · Collectible cards category