Under the sign of the six rings: Cortina d'Ampezzo already hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics
Image: Keystone
Perfectly prepared: Dressing the Swiss team before their departure to Italy
Image: Keystone
Adventurous journey: The Swiss team in front of a Postbus
Image: Keystone
In the open air: the opening ceremony took place in the open-air ice stadium in 1956
Image: Keystone
One of three Swiss gold medals: Pilot Franz Kapus with his pushers Robert Alt, Gottfried Diener and Heinrich Angst won with the four-man bobsleigh
Image: Keystone
Number 1: Renée Colliard from Geneva triumphed in the slalom in 1956
Image: Keystone
Racing down the mountain: Madeleine Berthod from Vaud was unbeatable in the downhill
Image: Keystone
Bright-eyed man, serial winner and later actor: the "Blitz von Kitz" Toni Saier was the big star in Cortina in 1956
Image: Keystone
Under the sign of the six rings: Cortina d'Ampezzo already hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics
Image: Keystone
Perfectly prepared: Dressing the Swiss team before their departure to Italy
Image: Keystone
Adventurous journey: The Swiss team in front of a Postbus
Image: Keystone
In the open air: the opening ceremony took place in the open-air ice stadium in 1956
Image: Keystone
One of three Swiss gold medals: Pilot Franz Kapus with his pushers Robert Alt, Gottfried Diener and Heinrich Angst won with the four-man bobsleigh
Image: Keystone
Number 1: Renée Colliard from Geneva triumphed in the slalom in 1956
Image: Keystone
Racing down the mountain: Madeleine Berthod from Vaud was unbeatable in the downhill
Image: Keystone
Bright-eyed man, serial winner and later actor: the "Blitz von Kitz" Toni Saier was the big star in Cortina in 1956
Image: Keystone
70 years ago, Cortina d'Ampezzo hosted the sports world once before. But in the winter of 1956, one essential commodity was missing in the Dolomites: snow. Switzerland wins gold three times.
26.01.2026, 05:30
26.01.2026, 06:50
SDA
Cortina d'Ampezzo will "always be remembered as the Winter Games of records", wrote the Swiss specialist newspaper "Sport" on its front page on February 8, 1956, three days after the closing ceremony of the seventh Winter Olympics. The writer was not quite right. The record figures mentioned, 32 (participating countries), 947 (athletes competing) and 24 (number of competitions), look rather modest today, 70 years later.
In contrast to the following Summer Games in Melbourne, which were boycotted by some nations - including Switzerland and Liechtenstein - due to the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian uprising and the Suez crisis, Cortina was lucky and was largely spared political tensions. The noble vacation resort in the Dolomites had prevailed over the three North American candidates Montreal, Colorado Springs and Lake Placid in the selection process, having already been the venue once before in 1944.
The biggest challenge in 1956 was the winter with little snow. The Italian army had to cart the white snow into the mountains by the truckload to make the competitions possible. The Swiss athletes were successful. Madeleine Berthod from Vaud won gold in the downhill, Renée Colliard from Geneva in the slalom and Franz Kapus from Zurich with his four-man bobsleigh team. Once again, the women's skiing and bobsleigh competitions will be held in Cortina.
The big star in 1956 was the Austrian Toni Sailer. The "Lightning from Kitz" triumphed in all three men's races at the age of 20 - with a 3.5 second lead in the downhill, 4 seconds in the slalom and an incredible 6.2 seconds in the giant slalom.
