Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy)
The games in the Alpine village of Cortina d'Ampezzo started out worse than ever - during the opening ceremony, speed skater Gudio Caroli, skating on the ice with a torch at the last stage of the torch relay, tripped over tv cable and fell. The Olympic flame did not go out, but the impression of the solemn moment was blurred. In addition, there was a shortage of snow on the mountain slopes, which had to be imported from neighboring Austria. But the competition itself left good memories. Athletes from the USSR, who made their triumphant debut at the Winter Olympics, played an important role in the success of the Games. The performance of Soviet Olympians in the Italian Alps forever changed the balance of power in snow and ice sports.
| Z | WITH | B | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USSR | 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 |
Venue: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
January 26 - February 5, 1956
Number of participating countries - 32
Number of participating athletes -821 (134 women, 687 men)
Medal sets – 24
Winner in the team competition - USSR
Three main characters of the Games according to SE
Vsevolod Bobrov (USSR),
hockey
Tony Sailer (Austria),
skiing
Sikten Ernberg (Sweden),
ski race
RETREAT IN NORWEGIAN STYLE
Cortina d'Ampezzo was supposed to host the Winter Olympics back in 1944, but due to the war it implemented this project only 12 years later. The Italians' rivals in the fight for the 1956 Games were the American Colorado Springs and Lake Placid, as well as the Canadian Montreal. A convincing victory over its competitors did not prevent Cortina d’Ampezzo from taking the preparation of the Games very seriously. After the excellent 1952 Olympics in Oslo, the Italian NOC was afraid to lose face and therefore achieved unprecedented financial and organizational support from the authorities of its country. In addition to money, the organizing committee of the Games received at its disposal an entire regiment of carabinieri, who worked tirelessly to prepare for the Olympics.
The year 1956 was rich in major political events - the Suez crisis, the Hungarian uprising and the anti-Stalin 20th Congress of the CPSU. But all these upheavals took place after the end of the Games, which managed to take place in a relatively peaceful sporting struggle. The phenomenal success of the USSR team was accompanied by the failure of Norwegian athletes, triumphants of most previous Olympics. In Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Norwegians complained about the unusual conditions of the highlands, but main reason Their failure was their unwillingness to compete with Soviet athletes in the crown Scandinavian disciplines - cross-country skiing and speed skating.
"MAPLE LEAVES" HYSTERIC
The USSR national team brought 53 athletes to Italy and competed at the Games in all types of programs, except bobsleigh and figure skating. Our athletes failed to compete for medals only in ski jumping and biathlon, otherwise the performance was grandiose. Even in alpine skiing, Evgenia Sidorova won bronze in slalom. The main stars of the Games were the Soviet speed skaters, who took 4 first places out of 5 possible. Our skiers won a total of seven medals, including two gold, and the USSR hockey team ended Canada's 36-year dominance in the Olympic tournaments.
The team of Soviet hockey players, led by Vsevolod Bobrov, won seven out of seven matches in Cortina d’Ampezzo, including against the Americans (4:0) and the Canadians (2:0). The Maple Leaves, represented by the amateur club Kitchener Waterloo Dutchmen, also lost to the Americans. To cling to gold, in the last round the Canadians had to beat the USSR national team with a difference of four goals. But when in the first two periods the “Maple Leaves” never managed to break through our goalkeeper Nikolai Puchkov, the founders of hockey went into hysterics. They refused to go onto the site, demanding that the ice be refilled, and thanks to this they received an additional half-hour respite.
However, the Canadians still failed to turn the tide of the match with the USSR national team, and they were content with only third place. After the Olympics, Puchkov was the first Soviet hockey player to be offered a two-year contract worth $20,000 with the AHL team the Cleveland Barons. 33-year-old Bobrov also distinguished himself at the 1956 Olympics, scoring nine goals in seven matches. Four years earlier, this great athlete captained the USSR football team at the 1952 Summer Olympics. But after the arrest of Vasily Stalin in 1953, the dissolution of the Air Force team and due to increased pain in his injured knees, Bobrov decided to concentrate on his hockey career, which would last until 1957.
NEW HORIZONS
Only alpine skier Tony Sailer could compete in glory with the Olympians from the USSR at the 1956 Games. The Austrian won all three Alpine disciplines by a huge margin. After Sailer's performance at the Olympics, his popularity in his homeland turned out to be so great that a few years later he left the sport, began acting in films and even performed as a performer of pop songs. Although Sailer's three medals in Cortina d'Ampezzo were not the limit. Swedish lumberjack Sixten Ernberg won four awards (one gold, two silver and one bronze) on the ski slopes in the Dolomites.
Ernberg became famous for his rare athletic dedication. He never had a mentor, yet he pushed himself to practice until he coughed blood. At the same time, Sixten never smoked, and only allowed himself a glass of beer at Christmas. From the mid-1950s to the 1960s, the Swede was considered the strongest marathon skier in the world, winning a total of 15 medals at the Olympics and World Championships. True, at the 1956 Games Ernberg was helped by the illness of the leader of the USSR national team, Pavel Kolchin, because of which the Soviet skier was able to perform at his best only in the relay.
Figure skating tournament for the last time in Olympic history was held on an outdoor skating rink. But the ice offered by the organizers of the 1956 Games to representatives of speed skating disciplines was considered ideal.
Together with the USSR athletes, Finnish ski jumpers had a hand in the failure of the Norwegians. They used a new aerodynamic flight style, which allowed them to take two first places in flying ski competitions.
The great contribution of the 1956 Olympics to history winter sports organization of television broadcasts is considered. For the first time, a picture from Cortina d'Ampezzo was transmitted to 22 countries. The organizers of the Games did not receive any money for the sale of television rights, but the successful experiment with TV opened new horizons for winter sports. The first Olympic sponsorship contract was signed in Italy - FIAT became the official carrier of the Games. One of the features of the event in Cortina d’Ampezzo was also the performance of the united German team, which for the first time included GDR athletes.
The VII Winter Olympic Games were held in the Italian city of Cortina d'Ampezzo from January 26 to February 5, 1956.
The Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo were supposed to take place back in 1944, but as you know, at that time World War II was raging in Europe.
On April 27, 1949, in Rome, at the 43rd session of the IOC, Cortina d'Ampezzo was elected by an absolute majority as the capital of the VII Winter Olympic Games.
One of the main factors that influenced this choice was the presence of a large number of world-class sports facilities. Back at the turn of the 20s and 30s, world championships in skiing and alpine skiing were held here.
By the start of the 1956 Olympic Games, Cortina d'Ampezzo had been completely transformed.
In addition to the existing sports facilities, a modern stadium with four-tier stands was built.
The new eighty-meter springboard turned out to be one of the best in the world. The prepared high-altitude high-speed track allowed skaters to reach speeds unavailable in other places.
The VII Winter Games were unique for their time for several reasons.
- For the first time, most of the costs of organizing and holding the Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo were borne not by the state, but by attracted sponsors.
- The 1956 games were the first to be broadcast live on television. Owners of television receivers in 22 countries could follow the battles of the Olympians.
- During the construction of Olympic venues, the interests of spectators were taken into account as much as possible. Almost all of them were within walking distance of each other.
The opening ceremony
According to tradition, the ceremony began with a parade of participants.
For the first time, the Soviet Union team was among the participants in the opening parade of the White Olympics.
For the first time, the USSR national team took part in the parade, as well as in the Olympic Games. The standard bearer of our team was speed skater Oleg Goncharenko.
Italian President Giovanni Gronchi addressed the crowd with a solemn speech and declared the games open.
After this, speed skater Guido Caroli appeared at the stadium with the Olympic torch in his hands, who became the main character of perhaps the main curiosity in the entire history of the Olympics.
While heading towards the Olympic cauldron, the athlete tripped over a thick television cable and fell! The torch, which went out as a result of this fall, had to be lit right on the spot.
Only after this did Karolyi reach the bowl and light a fire over the stadium.
For the first time in the history of the Games, the Olympic oath was taken by a woman - Italian alpine skier Giuliana Quenal-Minuzzo, bronze medalist of the 1952 Games in Oslo.
Countries and participants
The VII Winter Olympic Games surpassed all previous ones in terms of the number of participants. 924 athletes took part in them, including 146 women from 33 countries. For the first time, representatives of the Soviet Union arrived at the Winter Olympics - 53 people who participated in competitions in skiing, speed skating and hockey. GDR athletes made their debut as part of the united German team at the Winter Olympic Games.
USSR at the 1956 Winter Games
For the first time in the history of the Winter Olympics, the team of the Soviet Union took part in the competition.
Our team was given a very ambitious task to achieve a team victory, which was successfully completed.
The main focus was on skiers, speed skaters and hockey players.
In alpine skiing, we could, in principle, count on medals, but in ski jumping and winter combined it was extremely difficult to fight for high positions.
Figure skating and bobsleigh were not represented in our team at all.
At that time, these sports were taking their first timid steps in our country.
The USSR national team at the 1956 Winter Olympics included 55 athletes from 11 cities of 4 republics of the union.
The debut turned into a real triumph for Soviet athletes.
7 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze medals were won, which allowed us to confidently take first place in the team competition.
The first Soviet winners of the Winter Olympic Games were:
Speed skater Evgeny Grishin - at distances of 500 m and 1500 m (shared the second victory with Mikhailov).
Speed skater Boris Shilkov - at a distance of 5000 m.
Speed skater Yuri Mikhailov - at a distance of 1500 m (shared the victory with Grishin).
Skier Lyubov Kozyreva - in the 10 km race.
USSR men's ski team in the 4x10 km relay.
USSR national ice hockey team.
Hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Special mention should be made of the victory of the USSR national hockey team and its leader Vsevolod Bobrov.
Bobrov was a unique athlete who went down in history as a player who played both hockey and football equally brilliantly. Suffice it to say that he was the captain of the USSR national football team at the 1952 Summer Olympics and the hockey team at the 1956 Winter Games. Moreover, it was under his leadership that the triumphant march of Soviet hockey players began for more than 30 years, who had no equal on the world stage.
At the 1956 Olympics, the USSR hockey team, having won all matches, including over the teams of Canada, with a score of 2:0, and the USA, with a score of 4:0, confidently took first place. The “invincible” Canadians also lost to the US team, with a score of 4:1, and were forced to settle for third place.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the VII Winter Olympic Games was preceded by demonstration performances of figure skaters who became Olympic champions and medalists of the Games in pairs and singles among women and men.
The ceremony would have been opened to the sounds of heralds' trumpets. The arrival of IOC President Avery Brundage was accompanied by an escort of young athletes.
Afterwards, the flag bearers of the participating countries and a group of 6 Italian athletes entered the arena, carrying an unfurled banner of the IOC flag, given to them by representatives of Norway, the host country of the previous 1952 Games.
The national anthems of Greece, the progenitor of the Olympic Games, Italy, the current host of the Games, and the United States, the host country of the VIII Winter Olympic Games in 1960, were performed.
Avery Brundage solemnly announced the closure of the 1956 VII Winter Olympic Games and handed over the IOC flag to the mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo for safekeeping.
1956).
Choosing the capital of the Games
| Election of the capital of the XVI Summer Olympic Games | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | A country | 1st round | 2 round | 3 round | 4th round | |
| Melbourne | Australia Australia | 14 | 18 | 19 | 21 | |
| Buenos Aires | Argentina Argentina | 9 | 12 | 13 | 20 | |
| Los Angeles | USA USA | 5 | 4 | 5 | - | |
| Detroit | USA USA | 2 | 4 | 4 | - | |
| Mexico City | Mexico Mexico | 9 | 3 | - | - | |
| Chicago | USA USA | 1 | - | - | - | |
| Minneapolis | USA USA | 1 | - | - | - | |
| Philadelphia | USA USA | 1 | - | - | - | |
| San Francisco | USA USA | - | - | - | - | |
Kinds of sports
Participating countries
 |
Kenya |
Athletes from five countries competed only in the Stockholm equestrian events and were not represented at the Games in Australia:
The equestrian competitions had to be held in Stockholm rather than in Melbourne due to the strict quarantine on the import of animals in Australia.
At the congress international federation in swimming (FINA), for the first time, representatives of the Soviet Union were included in the international technical committees: in swimming - V. Kitaev, in water polo - A. Yu. Kistyakovsky and in diving - S. Efimova.
Results of the Games
Ten countries that have won the most medals
| Place | A country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
USSR || 37 || 29 || 32 || 98 |
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| 2 |
USA || 32 || 25 || 17 || 74 |
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| 3 |
Australia || 13 || 8 || 14 || 35 |
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| 4 | Hungary | 9 | 10 | 7 | 26 |
| 5 |
Italy || 8 || 8 || 9 || 25 |
||||
| 6 |
Sweden || 8 || 5 || 6 || 19 |
||||
| 7 |
United German Team || 6 || 13 || 7 || 26 |
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| 8 |
UK || 6 || 7 || 11 || 24 |
||||
| 9 |
Romania || 5 || 3 || 5 || 13 |
||||
| 10 |
Japan || 4 || 10 || 5 || 19 |
Games in philately
- USSR postage stamp series, 1956
Write a review of the article "1956 Summer Olympics"
Literature
- Lyubomirov N. I., Pashinin V. A., Frolov V. V. Olympic Games. Melbourne. 1956 - M.: Soviet sport, 1957. - 571 p.
- Kuleshov A. P., Sobolev P. A. In Faraway Melbourne. Essays on the XVI Olympic Games. - M.: Physical culture and sport, 1958. - 358 p.
- Olympic Year 1956. - M.: Physical Culture and Sports, 1958. - 285 p.
see also
Notes
Excerpt describing the 1956 Summer Olympics
The captured officers were separated from the soldiers and ordered to go ahead. There were about thirty officers, including Pierre, and about three hundred soldiers.The captured officers, released from other booths, were all strangers, were much better dressed than Pierre, and looked at him, in his shoes, with distrust and aloofness. Not far from Pierre walked, apparently enjoying the general respect of his fellow prisoners, a fat major in a Kazan robe, belted with a towel, with a plump, yellow, angry face. He held one hand with a pouch behind his bosom, the other leaned on his chibouk. The major, puffing and puffing, grumbled and was angry at everyone because it seemed to him that he was being pushed and that everyone was in a hurry when there was nowhere to hurry, everyone was surprised at something when there was nothing surprising in anything. Another, a small, thin officer, spoke to everyone, making assumptions about where they were being led now and how far they would have time to travel that day. An official, in felt boots and a commissariat uniform, ran from different sides and looked out for the burned-out Moscow, loudly reporting his observations about what had burned and what this or that visible part of Moscow was like. The third officer, of Polish origin by accent, argued with the commissariat official, proving to him that he was mistaken in defining the districts of Moscow.
-What are you arguing about? - the major said angrily. - Whether it’s Nikola, or Vlas, it’s all the same; you see, everything burned down, well, that’s the end... Why are you pushing, isn’t there enough road,” he turned angrily to the one walking behind who was not pushing him at all.
- Oh, oh, oh, what have you done! - However, the voices of prisoners were heard, now from one side or the other, looking around the fire. - And Zamoskvorechye, and Zubovo, and in the Kremlin, look, half of them are gone... Yes, I told you that all of Zamoskvorechye, that’s how it is.
- Well, you know what burned, well, what’s there to talk about! - said the major.
Passing through Khamovniki (one of the few unburned quarters of Moscow) past the church, the entire crowd of prisoners suddenly huddled to one side, and exclamations of horror and disgust were heard.
- Look, you scoundrels! That's unchrist! Yes, he’s dead, he’s dead... They smeared him with something.
Pierre also moved towards the church, where there was something that caused exclamations, and vaguely saw something leaning against the fence of the church. From the words of his comrades, who saw better than him, he learned that it was something like the corpse of a man, stood upright by the fence and smeared with soot on his face...
– Marchez, sacre nom... Filez... trente mille diables... [Go! go! Damn it! Devils!] - curses from the guards were heard, and the French soldiers, with new anger, dispersed the crowd of prisoners who were looking at the dead man with cutlasses.
Along the lanes of Khamovniki, the prisoners walked alone with their convoy and carts and wagons that belonged to the guards and were driving behind them; but, going out to the supply stores, they found themselves in the middle of a huge, closely moving artillery convoy, mixed with private carts.
At the bridge itself, everyone stopped, waiting for those traveling in front to advance. From the bridge, the prisoners saw endless rows of other moving convoys behind and ahead. To the right, where the Kaluga road curved past Neskuchny, disappearing into the distance, stretched endless rows of troops and convoys. These were the troops of the Beauharnais corps who came out first; back, along the embankment and across the Stone Bridge, Ney's troops and convoys stretched.
Davout's troops, to which the prisoners belonged, marched through the Crimean Ford and had already partly entered Kaluzhskaya Street. But the convoys were so stretched out that the last convoys of Beauharnais had not yet left Moscow for Kaluzhskaya Street, and the head of Ney’s troops was already leaving Bolshaya Ordynka.
Having passed the Crimean Ford, the prisoners moved a few steps at a time and stopped, and moved again, and on all sides the crews and people became more and more embarrassed. After walking for more than an hour the few hundred steps that separate the bridge from Kaluzhskaya Street, and reaching the square where Zamoskvoretsky Streets meet Kaluzhskaya, the prisoners, squeezed into a heap, stopped and stood at this intersection for several hours. From all sides one could hear the incessant rumble of wheels, the trampling of feet, and incessant angry screams and curses, like the sound of the sea. Pierre stood pressed against the wall of the burnt house, listening to this sound, which in his imagination merged with the sounds of a drum.
Several captured officers, in order to get a better view, climbed onto the wall of the burnt house near which Pierre stood.
- To the people! Eka people!.. And they piled on the guns! Look: furs... - they said. “Look, you bastards, they robbed me... It’s behind him, on a cart... After all, this is from an icon, by God!.. These must be Germans.” And our man, by God!.. Oh, scoundrels!.. Look, he’s loaded down, he’s walking with force! Here they come, the droshky - and they captured it!.. See, he sat down on the chests. Fathers!.. We got into a fight!..
- So hit him in the face, in the face! You won't be able to wait until evening. Look, look... and this is probably Napoleon himself. You see, what horses! in monograms with a crown. This is a folding house. He dropped the bag and can't see it. They fought again... A woman with a child, and not bad at all. Yes, of course, they will let you through... Look, there is no end. Russian girls, by God, girls! They are so comfortable in the strollers!
Again, a wave of general curiosity, as near the church in Khamovniki, pushed all the prisoners towards the road, and Pierre, thanks to his height, saw over the heads of others what had so attracted the curiosity of the prisoners. In three strollers, mixed between charging boxes, they rode, sitting closely on top of each other, dressed up, in bright colors, rouged, women shouting something in squeaky voices.
From the moment Pierre became aware of the appearance of a mysterious force, nothing seemed strange or scary to him: not the corpse smeared with soot for fun, not these women hurrying somewhere, not the conflagrations of Moscow. Everything that Pierre now saw made almost no impression on him - as if his soul, preparing for a difficult struggle, refused to accept impressions that could weaken it.
The train of women has passed. Behind him were again carts, soldiers, wagons, soldiers, decks, carriages, soldiers, boxes, soldiers, and occasionally women.
Pierre did not see people separately, but saw them moving.
All these people and horses seemed to be being chased by some invisible force. All of them, during the hour during which Pierre observed them, emerged from different streets with the same desire to pass quickly; All of them equally, when confronted with others, began to get angry and fight; white teeth were bared, eyebrows frowned, the same curses were thrown around, and on all faces there was the same youthfully determined and cruelly cold expression, which struck Pierre in the morning at the sound of a drum on the corporal’s face.
Just before evening, the guard commander gathered his team and, shouting and arguing, squeezed into the convoys, and the prisoners, surrounded on all sides, went out onto the Kaluga road.
They walked very quickly, without resting, and stopped only when the sun began to set. The convoys moved one on top of the other, and people began to prepare for the night. Everyone seemed angry and unhappy. For a long time, curses, angry screams and fights were heard from different sides. The carriage driving behind the guards approached the guards' carriage and pierced it with its drawbar. Several soldiers from different directions ran to the cart; some hit the heads of the horses harnessed to the carriage, turning them over, others fought among themselves, and Pierre saw that one German was seriously wounded in the head with a cleaver.
It seemed that all these people were now experiencing, when they stopped in the middle of a field in the cold twilight of an autumn evening, the same feeling of an unpleasant awakening from the haste that gripped everyone as they left and the rapid movement somewhere. Having stopped, everyone seemed to understand that it was still unknown where they were going, and that this movement would be a lot of hard and difficult things.
The prisoners at this halt were treated even worse by the guards than during the march. At this halt, for the first time, the meat food of the prisoners was given out as horse meat.
VII Winter Olympic Games were held in the Italian Cortina d'Ampezzo from January 26 to February 5, 1956.
Select city
The famous Italian winter resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo was supposed to host the Winter Olympic Games back in 1944, but they were canceled due to World War II. After the war, Cortina fought for the right to host the 1952 Games, but lost to Oslo. But when choosing the capital, VII White Olympics, it was ahead of its competitors - Colorado Springs, Lake Placid and Montreal - by a huge advantage. 37 IOC members voted for the Italian city, only 10 for all other contenders (for the Canadian Montreal - seven, for the American Colorado Springs and Lake Placid - two and one, respectively).
Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956
Preparation for the Games
The VII Winter Games were unique for their time for several reasons.
Firstly, financing. For the first time, most of the costs of organizing and holding the Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo were borne not by the state, but by attracted sponsors.
Secondly, television. The 1956 games were the first to be broadcast live on television. Owners of television receivers in 22 countries could follow the battles of the Olympians.
Thirdly, infrastructure. Italian observers sent to Oslo in 1952 concluded that Cortina's sports facilities did not meet Olympic standards. And by 1956, a modern Ice stadium with four-tiered stands that accommodated 12 thousand spectators was erected in the resort town, ski, alpine skiing and bobsleigh tracks were put in order, the new springboard in Cortina d'Ampezzo then became one of the best, and Italian know-how - a speed skating track on a floating ice floe at an altitude of 1,750 meters above sea level - made it possible to update more than one world record. The organizers tried to arrange all the Olympic venues so that one could easily and quickly walk from one to another. In addition, when constructing sports facilities, the interests of television. For example, the ski slope “looked” to the south so that the sun at sunrise or sunset would not spoil the “picture”.
Springboard in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Games emblem
The emblem of the Games was stylized as a snowflake with the image of a star, in the center of which there are five Olympic rings. It vaguely resembled the emblem of the Italian National Olympic Committee. It was selected from 86 options developed by 79 artists. According to the results of the competition, first place was shared by the Milanese Franco Rondinelli and artist Bonilauri from Genoa.
Emblem
Pennant with the symbols of the Games
Official Games Poster
The Games symbol depicted on the poster was chosen from 86 designs submitted by various artists. The winner was Franco Rondinelli from Milan. The published circulation was 40,000 copies, translated into 4 languages.
Participating countries
A then-record number of athletes took part in the 1956 Winter Olympics: 821 people (134 women and 687 men) from 32 countries.
The teams of Greece, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Chile, South Korea, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Iran, Iceland, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Norway took part in the VII Winter Olympic Games , the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, USA, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Hungary, USSR and Italy.
Among the debutants were athletes from the USSR, the German Democratic Republic (they competed in a joint team with the Federal Republic of Germany), Bolivia and Iran.
Kinds of sports
Compared to the Oslo Games in Olympic program There were only minor changes - the distance of the men's cross-country skiing race was reduced from 18 to 15 kilometers, a 30-kilometer pursuit was added, as well as a women's 3x5-kilometer relay race. Demonstration species present at all previous Winter Games, in 1956 were completely absent.
Main types (in brackets - the number of medals played): bobsleigh (2), alpine skiing (6), speed skating (4), Nordic combined (1), cross-country skiing (6), ski jumping (1), figure skating (3), ice hockey (1).
USSR at the 1956 Winter Games
When releasing a delegation to the Winter Olympic Games for the first time, the Soviet government, naturally, demanded exclusively a team victory. Chairman of the physical education committee Nikolai Romanov a detailed medal plan was drawn up, the main focus of which was on ski racers, speed skaters and hockey players. In addition, there was a ghostly hope for a medal in alpine skiing. At the same time, sports officials were aware that it would be extremely difficult to fight for high positions in ski jumping and combined events. But figure skaters and bobsledders did not go to Italy at all. In the first case, due to lack of competitiveness, in the second - due to " mortal danger for the life of athletes" of the discipline itself, which was not cultivated in the Union.
The USSR team, which debuted at the 1956 Winter Olympics, consisted of 55 athletes from 11 cities and towns of 4 union republics.
For almost a year, Soviet athletes conducted targeted preparations for the Olympics - first in various regions of their native country, then in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.
But reality exceeded all expectations. The Soviet Union team made a triumphant debut at the Olympic Games. Soviet athletes won 16 medals (7 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze). As a result, both in terms of the number of gold medals and the total number of medals, the USSR national team confidently took first place in the team medal standings of the Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Among the Soviet athletes who became Olympic champions:
2 times - speed skater Evgeniy Grishin- at distances of 500 m and 1500 m (shared the second victory with Mikhailov).
Skater Boris Shilkov- at a distance of 5000 m.
Skater Yuri Mikhailov- at a distance of 1500 m (shared the victory with Grishin).
Skier Lyubov Kozyreva- in a 10 km race.
USSR men's ski team in the 4x10 km relay.
USSR national ice hockey team.
Medal count
The USSR national team with 7 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze medals confidently won the unofficial team competition. The Austrians came second (4-3-4), the Finns came third (3-3-1). Defeated five Winter Olympics The Norwegians unexpectedly took only seventh place (2-1-1).
For the first time, representatives of the USSR, Poland and Japan became Olympic champions.
Gold, silver and bronze medals of the Games
Torch relay
The torch relay across Italy was carried out along the following route: by plane from Rome to Venice, and then to Cortina d'Ampezzo by ski relay.
Torch of the Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Before leaving Rome, the Olympic flame was kept in a special bowl on a tripod, which arrived from Olympia (Greece), which was installed in a temple at the foot of the Capitoline Hill.
Olympic champion Helsinki 1952 in the 50 km walk. Giuseppe Dordoni lights a torch on the steps of the Temple of Jupiter in Rome, from where it will be transported to Venice by a special Italian Air Force aircraft
In the presence of honored guests who were in the Senatorial Palace, the Olympic torch was handed over to the torchbearer.
After the singing of the Italian national anthem, accompanied by a military escort and in the presence of spectators, the first torchbearer headed for Ciampino Airport in a car.
Departure of Olympic champion Giuseppe Dordoni from Rome to Venice
On January 23 and 24, at night, the Olympic flame was kept in the town halls of Treviso and Belluno, respectively.
On the night of January 25-26, the torch was in the Aosta shelter of the Tofana mountain range (at an altitude of 2098 m above sea level) under the protection of mountain riflemen of the Italian army.
On the morning of January 26, 1956, the athletes continued the torch relay. Their progress from the slopes of the mountain was illuminated by multi-colored flashes of rockets, and then through the town - the capital of the Games, accompanied by joyful spectators.
The carefully laid out plan was carried out in full, except that the plane's landing at Venice airport was delayed due to heavy fog.
Olympic flame on gondolas in Venice
At 11 hours 37 minutes on January 26, 1956, the finish of the torch relay took place (Olympic Stadium, Cortina d'Ampezzo - lighting of the fire in the Olympic Cup).
The last torchbearer was an Italian speed skating champion Guido Caroli, and he was entrusted with lighting the Olympic flame in the bowl Central Stadium VII Winter Olympic Games.
The opening ceremony
The opening ceremony began as usual with a parade of participating countries.
For the first time, the USSR national team took part in the parade, as well as in the Olympic Games. The standard bearer of the Soviet team at the opening ceremony was a speed skater Oleg Goncharenko, who later became a bronze medalist twice at the 1956 Games (at distances of 5000 m and 10,000 m).
USSR national team at the opening of the Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The banner is carried by Oleg Goncharenko
Then President of Italy Giovanni Gronchi addressed the audience with a solemn speech and announced the opening of the VII Winter Olympic Games.
After this, an athlete-torchbearer appeared at the stadium - speed skater Guido Caroli, carrying the Olympic flame. And then the main curiosity of the opening ceremony happened - Guido tripped over a television cable and fell! As a result, the Olympic flame went out and had to be re-lit. The second time, Karolyi was able to carry the fire and lit it over the stadium.
Guido Caroli with the Olympic flame
Then it was the turn of the Olympic Oath. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, it was uttered by a woman - an Italian alpine skier. Juliana Kenal-Minuzzo(bronze medalist at the 1952 Oslo Games).
Afterwards, the Olympic flag was raised over the stadium, and the ceremony ended with a parade of teams from participating countries leaving under the stands.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the VII Winter Olympic Games was preceded by demonstration performances of figure skaters who became Olympic champions and medalists of the Games in doubles and singles among women and men.
The ceremony would have been opened to the sounds of heralds' trumpets. Arrival of the IOC President Avery Brundage accompanied by an escort of young athletes.
Afterwards, the flag bearers of the participating countries and a group of 6 Italian athletes entered the arena, carrying an unfurled banner of the IOC flag, given to them by representatives of Norway, the host country of the previous 1952 Games.
The national anthems of Greece, the progenitor of the Olympic Games, Italy, the current host of the Games, and the United States, the host country of the VIII Winter Olympic Games in 1960, were performed.
Avery Brundage solemnly announced the closure of the 1956 VII Winter Olympic Games and handed over the IOC flag to the mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo for safekeeping.
Then a fireworks salute was given to mark the end of the Games.
From November 22 to December 8, 1956, the Games of the XVI Olympiad were held in Melbourne, Australia.
For the first time, the games were held on the green continent in the Southern Hemisphere.
This explains the timing of the competition. The very beginning of summer in southern latitudes.
Due to the strict quarantine rules in force in Australia at the time regarding the import of animals, the Olympic equestrian tournament was held in Sweden from June 10 to 17, 1956.
Opening of the Equestrian Olympics in Stockholm
USSR national team at the Olympic Games in Melbourne 1956
The Soviet Union team has come a long way to the Olympic Games in Melbourne.
At that time there were no passenger aircraft capable of covering long distances.
Therefore, our athletes first had to travel across the entire country by train from Moscow to Vladivostok, and then get to Australia on the Georgia ship.
The motor ship "Georgia" on the roadstead in Australia
On the streets of Olympic Melbourne
The main Olympic stadium of the 1956 Olympics
3,178 athletes from 67 countries took part in the Games.
The Duke of Edinburgh, husband of the Queen of England, arrived at the opening ceremony of the 1956 Olympic Games
Olympic flame at Melbourne Stadium
The USSR team included 283 athletes from 39 cities and towns of 11 union republics. Soviet athletes participated in all Olympic competitions except field hockey.
USSR national team at the opening ceremony of the 1956 Olympics
Our team was the best, winning 37 gold, 29 silver and 32 bronze medals.
The greatest success fell to the lot of Soviet gymnasts.
During the artistic gymnastics competition, the Soviet flag was raised 11 times in one hour and the Soviet anthem was played. USSR gymnasts took home 11 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals, becoming absolute champions.
The gold medals were won by Olympic debutante Larisa Latynina, who later became the most titled participant in the Olympic Games.
Larisa Latynina on the podium
The real hero of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics was the Soviet athlete Vladimir Kuts, who won victories at distances of 5 and 10 thousand meters.
Vladimir Kuts main character Melbourne Olympics
Vladimir Kuts and his defeated rivals from the British team
Football at the Melbourne Olympics
The Olympic Games in Melbourne were a real triumph for the team Soviet Union on football.
The final match between the national teams of the USSR and Yugoslavia took place on the closing day of the Olympics, December 8, 1956.
Team compositions:
Yugoslavia: Radenkovic, Koscak, Radovic, Šantek, Spajic, Krstic, Šekularac, Papec, Antic, Veselinović, Mujic.
USSR: Yashin, B. Kuznetsov, Bashashkin, Ogonkov, Maslenkin, Netto (k), Tatushin, Isaev, Simonyan, Salnikov, Ilyin.
Coach - G. D. Kachalin.
Goal: Ilyin (48).
Here's what USSR national team captain Igor Netto said about that game:
The last match with the Yugoslav team took place, according to tradition, on the closing day of the Olympic Games. Everything was solemn and festive. All of Melbourne rushed to the stadium. Flags with tightly woven rings fluttered.
Our match with Yugoslavia was the final chord. Of course, we were in a very fighting mood. We really wanted the huge, vibrant competition to end with our success.
I think the match was a success. It was a success for both teams. It was a strong-willed and masterful fight, worthy high level world Olympics. It was a good game. For a long time, neither we nor the Yugoslavs managed to create a tangible advantage. The pace was high. 
But gradually the initiative passed to us. A lot of experience took its toll. The denouement came in the fiftieth minute. We attacked. A pass from the right followed. Anatoly Isaev intercepted the ball with his head in a high jump and immediately threw it to Anatoly Ilyin, who rushed towards the goal. He also headed the ball into the goal without hesitation. All this took a split second.
Goal. Score 1:0! This goal was later called golden. It was he who brought us gold medals.
In the remaining time, the Yugoslav players played energetically. But we strived no less energetically not only to maintain the score, but also to increase it.
The USSR Anthem sounded solemnly and majestically over the stadium. The President of the International Olympic Committee, Brundage, presented us with gold medals for the winners of the football tournament of the XVI Olympic Games.
I. NETTO. "This is football." Publishing house "Physical culture and sport", 1974.
On the same day, the ceremonial closing of the 1956 games in Melbourne took place.
Home with victory. Soviet Olympians aboard the Georgian
