CORTINA D’AMPEZZO 1956
- 26 January – 5 February 1956
- 24 official medal events.
- 821 competitors from 32 countries.
- Finnish team: 34 athletes (31 participated in official events).
Two new events were added in the Olympic Nordic skiing program at the Cortina Games, with Finland winning gold in both of them. Veikko Hakulinen won the 30-kilometre race, but even more exhilarating for the Finns was the victory in women’s cross-country relay race, where Siiri Rantanen sprinted past the Soviet skier on the final leg. Finnish ski jumpers had revolutionised their sport in the past few years by introducing a new aerodynamic style. Any one of the four Finns was favoured to win in Cortina, and in the end it was Antti Hyvärinen who was crowned the first Finnish Olympic ski jumping champion. Competition for medals was intensified in many sports by the debut of the Soviet Union at Olympic Winter Games. Toivo Salonen’s bronze is still the last Finnish Olympic medal in men’s speed skating. The Finnish Olympic Committee decided not to send the ice hockey team to the Cortina Games – the last time this has happened in Finnish Olympic history.
