1956 Winter Olympics / Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing at the VII Olympic Winter Games
information
venue	Cortina d'Ampezzo
Competition venue	Tofana / Monte Faloria
Nations	29
Athletes	183 (59 women, 124 men)
date	January 26 - February 3, 1956
decisions	6th
← Oslo 1952 Squaw Valley 1960 →

At the VII Olympic Games in 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo , six competitions were held in alpine skiing . The venue for all races was the Tofana , with the exception of the men's giant slalom on Monte Faloria . The top three in downhill , giant slalom and slalom received not only Olympic medals but also world championship medals, as these competitions also counted as the 14th Alpine World Ski Championships . Only World Cup medals were awarded in the combination .

Olympic record

Medal table

space	country				total
1	Austria	3	3	3	9
2	Switzerland	2	2	-	4th
3	Germany	1	-	-	1
4th	Japan	-	1	-	1
5	Canada	-	-	1	1
	Sweden	-	-	1	1
	Soviet Union	-	-	1	1

Medalist

Men competitor gold silver bronze Departure Toni Sailer Raymond Fellay Andreas Molterer Giant slalom Toni Sailer Andreas Molterer Walter Schuster slalom Toni Sailer Chiharu Igaya Stig Sollander

Women competitor gold silver bronze Departure Madeleine Berthod Frieda Danzer Lucille Wheeler Giant slalom Ossi Reichert Josefa Frandl Dorothea Hochleitner slalom Renée Colliard Regina Schöpf Yevgenia Sidorova

Results men

Departure

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	AUT	Toni Sailer	2: 52.2
2	SUI	Raymond Fellay	2: 55.7
3	AUT	Andreas Molterer	2: 56.2
4th	SUI	Roger dust	2: 57.1
5	EUA	Hans-Peter Lanig	2: 59.8
6th	ITA	Gino Burrini	3: 00.2
7th	TCH	Kurt Hennrich	3: 01.5
8th	FRA	Charles Bozon	3: 01.9
9	ITA	Bruno Burrini	3: 02.4
10	SWE	Stig Sollander	3: 05.4
12	EUA	Sepp Behr	3: 07.7
13	SUI	Hans Forrer	3: 08.0
19th	EUA	Karl Zillibiller	3: 21.6
20th	EUA	Josef Schwaiger	3: 22.2
26th	LIE	Franz Beck	3: 36.8
40	LIE	Leopold Schädler	4: 23.7

Date: February 3, 11:00 am
Slope: " Olimpia Tofana "
Start: 2282 m, Finish: 1380 m
Difference in altitude: 902 m, route length: 3461 m
Gates: 15

75 participants, 47 of them in the rating. Retired u. a .: Adrien Duvillard (FRA), Chiharu Igaya (JPN), Walter Schuster (AUT), Josef Rieder (AUT).

Giant slalom

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	AUT	Toni Sailer	3: 00.1
2	AUT	Andreas Molterer	3: 06.3
3	AUT	Walter Schuster	3: 07.2
4th	FRA	Adrien Duvillard	3: 07.9
5	FRA	Charles Bozon	3: 08.4
6th	AUT	Ernst Hinterseer	3: 08.5
7th	EUA	Hans-Peter Lanig	3: 08.6
8th	EUA	Sepp Behr	3: 11.4
9	FRA	François Bonlieu	3: 11.8
10	ITA	Gino Burrini	3: 12.3
17th	SUI	Georges Schneider	3: 17.3
18th	SUI	Roland Bläsi	3: 17.3
19th	SUI	Martin Julien	3: 18.2
26th	EUA	Josef Schwaiger	3: 23.5
27	SUI	Raymond Fellay	3: 23.9
59	LIE	Franz Beck	3: 52.6
67	LIE	Leopold Schädler	4: 03.5
70	LIE	Theodor Sele	4: 09.5
73	LIE	Ewald Eberle	4: 11.6

Date: January 29, 10:30 am
Slope: "Ilio Colli - Monte Faloria "
Start: 2336 m, Finish: 1713 m Difference in
altitude: 623 m, route length: 2660 m
Gates: 71

95 participants, 87 of them in the rating. Retired u. a .: Guttorm Berge (NOR).

For the first time, a nation managed to occupy the entire podium in an Olympic Alpine competition, which has only been repeated in 1994 (men's combination), 1998 (women's combination) and 2006 (men's slalom).

slalom

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	AUT	Toni Sailer	3: 14.7
2	JPN	Chiharu Igaya	3: 18.7
3	SWE	Stig Sollander	3: 20.2
4th	United States	Brooks Dodge	3: 21.8
5	SUI	Georges Schneider	3: 22.6
6th	FRA	Gérard Pasquier	3: 24.6
7th	FRA	Charles Bozon	3: 26.2
8th	FRA	Bernard Perret	3: 26.3
9	EUA	Benedikt Obermüller	3: 27.5
10	SUI	René Rey	3: 27.7
11	SUI	Raymond Fellay	3: 32.1
12	AUT	Othmar Schneider	3: 35.8
25th	EUA	Karl Zillibiller	4: 00.2
34	EUA	Rochus Wagner	4: 17.4
35	LIE	Franz Beck	4: 17.8
45	LIE	Theodor Sele	4: 47.8
49	LIE	Ewald Eberle	5: 01.8
53	LIE	Leopold Schädler	5: 09.9

Date: January 31, 10:30 a.m.
Piste: "Col Drusciè"
Start: 1748 m, finish: 1497 m Difference in
altitude: 251 m, route length: 617 m
Goals: 79 (1st run), 92 (2nd run)

89 participants, 57 of them in the rating. Retired u. a .: Sepp Behr (EUA), Guttorm Berge (NOR), Andreas Molterer (AUT), Josef Rieder (AUT), Wallace Werner (USA).

This slalom evidently raised most of the questionable issues of alpine ski races: on the one hand there was a new snowfall that did not last and also poor visibility (the upper part of the route was in the fog), on the other hand both course setters (Dr. Otto Menardi and Prof. Fred . Rösner) set a record number of goals. In this competition, which lasted over four hours (there were 3½ hours between the first and second run alone), there had been an extremely large number of falls, the spectators were already happy when they saw another runner finish. With Toni Sailer, the best still won. The Swiss Georges Schneider drove almost the entire second run with a broken ski tip. Adrien Duvillard , just 0.2 seconds behind Sailer after the first round, had risked everything - and lost due to a fall. Igaya achieved the greatest improvement in rank: classified in 6th place with 90.2 seconds, the Japanese won the silver medal. But there were still many reports after the race that practically all medal winners had been disqualified for goal errors. The result was only officially confirmed at 8 p.m., as was already known after the end of the race. Winner Toni Sailer had start no. 15, but you can see him on the winning photos with the number 135; it was a replacement start number, because not only he, but all of the ÖSV runners competing in the second run had forgotten the original number in the hotel.

Results women

Departure

space	country	sportswoman	Time (min)
1	SUI	Madeleine Berthod	1: 40.7
2	SUI	Frieda Danzer	1: 45.4
3	CAN	Lucille Wheeler	1: 45.9
4th	ITA	Giuliana Chenal Minuzzo	1: 47.3
	AUT	Hilde Hofherr	1: 47.3
6th	ITA	Carla Marchelli	1: 47.7
7th	AUT	Dorothea Hochleitner	1: 47.9
8th	FRA	Josette Nevière	1: 49.2
9	NOR	Borghild Niskin	1: 49.5
10	United States	Gladys Werner	1: 49.6
12	AUT	Trude Klecker	1: 50.6
13	AUT	Josefa Frandl	1: 51.0
15th	SUI	Rosmarie Reichenbach	1: 51.6
20th	EUA	Ossi Reichert	1: 52.3
25th	SUI	Hedi Beeler	1: 54.0
29	EUA	Hannelore Glaser-Franke	1: 54.7
32	EUA	Sonja Sperl	1: 57.8

Date: February 1st, 11:30 am
Slope: “Canalone Tofana”
Start: 2114 m, Finish: 1612 m
Difference in altitude: 502 m, route length: 1552 m
Gates: 20

47 participants, 44 of them in the evaluation. Retired u. a .: Annemarie Buchner (EUA).

Giant slalom

space	country	sportswoman	Time (min)
1	EUA	Ossi Reichert	1: 56.5
2	AUT	Josefa Frandl	1: 57.8
3	AUT	Dorothea Hochleitner	1: 58.2
4th	United States	Andrea Mead-Lawrence	1: 58.3
	SUI	Madeleine Berthod
6th	CAN	Lucille Wheeler	1: 58.6
7th	NOR	Borghild Niskin	1: 59.0
8th	FRA	Marysette Agnel	1: 59.4
9	AUT	Regina Schöpf	2: 00.6
10	FRA	Josette Nevière	2: 00.8
11	SUI	Frieda Danzer	2: 00.9
12	EUA	Marianne Strange	2: 01.4
14th	SUI	Annemarie Waser	2: 02.3
19th	EUA	Hannelore Glaser-Franke	2: 02.7
27	EUA	Annemarie Buchner	2: 05.0
33	AUT	Trude Klecker	2: 08.5

Date: January 27, 11:00 am
Slope: "Canalone Tofana"
Start: 2012 m, finish: 1612 m,
altitude difference: 408 m, route length: 1366 m,
gates: 46

49 participants, 44 of them in the ranking. Retired u. a .: Betsy Snite (USA).

Because of the bad snow conditions, the route from Monte Faloria was relocated to the Tofana downhill route .

slalom

space	country	sportswoman	Time (min)
1	SUI	Renée Colliard	1: 52.3
2	AUT	Regina Schöpf	1: 55.4
3	URS	Yevgenia Sidorova	1: 56.7
4th	ITA	Giuliana Chenal Minuzzo	1: 56.8
5	AUT	Josefa Frandl	1: 57.9
6th	NOR	Inger Bjørnbakken	1: 58.0
	NOR	Astrid Sandvik
8th	FRA	Josette Nevière	1: 58.3
9	FRA	Marysette Agnel	1: 58.8
10	SUI	Frieda Danzer	1: 58.9
12	AUT	Dorothea Hochleitner	2: 01.0
14th	EUA	Hannelore Glaser-Franke	2: 04.7
15th	SUI	Hedi Beeler	2: 05.1
17th	SUI	Madeleine Berthod	2: 08.3
21st	EUA	Annemarie Buchner	2: 18.5
24	AUT	Hilde Hofherr	2: 23.5

Date: January 30th, 11:00 am
Piste: “Col Drusciè”
Start: 1673 m, Finish: 1498 m Difference in
altitude: 175 m, route length: 456 m
Gates: 41 (1st run), 45 (2nd run - course setter Hermann Nogler)

48 participants, 35 of them in the ranking. Retired u. a .: Ossi Reichert (EUA), Lucille Wheeler (CAN).

Winner Colliard had already set a time with start number 1 that none of the competitors could match.

World Championship

Combination (men)

space	country	athlete	Points
1	AUT	Toni Sailer	00.00
2	FRA	Charles Bozon	12.65
3	SWE	Stig Sollander	16.92
4th	SUI	Raymond Fellay	18.39
5	NOR	Asle Sjåstad	27.25
6th	ITA	Bruno Burrini	30.43

No Olympic medals were awarded for the combined competition, only World Cup medals. The positions were determined according to a point system from the results of the downhill, giant slalom and slalom.

Combination (women)

space	country	sportswoman	Points
1	SUI	Madeleine Berthod	09.85
2	SUI	Frieda Danzer	11.19
3	ITA	Giuliana Chenal Minuzzo	12.31
4th	AUT	Dorothea Hochleitner	12.79
5	NOR	Borghild Niskin	13.80
	AUT	Josefa Frandl

No Olympic medals were awarded for the combined competition, only World Cup medals. The positions were determined according to a point system from the results of the downhill, giant slalom and slalom.

Web links

• Overview of all races in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
• Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Vorarlberger Nachrichten, February 1, 1956, p. 8.
2. ^ "Toni Sailer's second Olympic victory" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 1, 1956, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
3. ↑ Regina Schöpf injured again . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 26, 1956, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
4. ↑ " Experienced the last four Swiss Olympic victories". Sport Zurich, January 27, 1964.