Cortian 1956 Slalom men

One of the media darlings of these Olympics was Austrian alpine skier Anton Sailer. The 20-year-old Kitzbuhel native swept the three Alpine events slalom, giant slalom, and downhill. It was the first sweep in Olympic history. Following his dominating performances in the slalom and giant slalom, Salier looked to be in trouble in the downhill before the event even began.

He broke a strap on one his boots and didnt have a spare. Fortunately for Sailer, Hansl Senger, an Italian trainer, removed his own strap and gave it to the Austrian. Sailer also survived a near fall and still won the race by 3 ½ seconds. Sailer became the first alpine skier to win three goal medals. Defeating his opponents by large margins, Sailer quickly gained the nickname "the Blitz from the Kitz." He became a national hero and was awarded the Austrian government's highest medal, the Golden Cross of Merit. He later became a singer and movie actor.

The Games, however, got off to a rough start. Like the previous Oslo Olympics, the Italian resort experienced an uncharacteristic lack of snow in the 24 days leading up to the Games. The Italian Army was called upon to remedy the situation, transporting truckloads of snow down from the Dolomite Alps. Next, a sudden winter storm swept through, dumping 14 inches of snow in the area.

The region then experienced an unexpected thaw followed by a sudden freeze. Athletes who had come to practice and train at the facilities found the icy and slick conditions extremely dangerous. The Italian Army was again called in to level and blanket the grounds with more imported snow. Ultimately, this second wave of snow had to be removed because of a heavy snowfall on the day of the Opening Ceremony.

Attendance at the Games was a bit low. Only 143,401 tickets were sold, but a new medium was allowing viewers across Europe to watch the Olympics. The Italian television station RAI provided live coverage of the Games to eight European countries. More than 400 journalists, 76 radio reporters, 16 international and 12 national agencies descended on Cortina D'Ampezzo to cover the Games.

One of the big success stories involved the stunning debut of the Soviet team at the Winter Olympics. The Soviets won 16 medals, the most of any nation. They dominated the speed skating competition, sweeping all of the events except for the 10,000-metre race.

The Soviets also showed a definitive mastery of hockey. Prior to the Second World War, hockey had never been played in Russia, but in 1956 they won Olympic gold. The United States and Canada battled for second and third place. It was a humbling defeat for Canada, which had always dominated Olympic hockey and failed to win gold only once prior to 1956.

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