| Bobsleigh at the VII Olympic Winter Games | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy |
| Dates | 27 January – 4 February 1956 |
| Competitors | 101 from 14 nations |
| Bobsleigh at the 1956 Winter Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Two | men |
| Four | men |
At the 1956 Winter Olympics , two bobsleigh events were contested. [1]
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-man |  Italy (ITA)Italy I Lamberto Dalla Costa Giacomo Conti | Italy (ITA) Italy II Eugenio Monti Renzo Alverà |  Switzerland (SUI)Switzerland I Max Angst Harry Warburton |
| Four-man | Switzerland (SUI) Switzerland I Franz Kapus Gottfried Diener Robert Alt Heinrich Angst | Italy (ITA) Italy II Eugenio Monti Ulrico Girardi Renzo Alverà Renato Mocellini |  United States (USA)USA I Arthur Tyler William Dodge Charles Thomas Butler James Lamy |
 | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2010) |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | United States | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (3 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956, were a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956.
Eugenio Monti was an Italian bobsledder and alpine skier. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the bobsleigh, with ten World championship medals and 6 Olympic medals including two golds. He is known also for his acts of sportsmanship during the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, which made him the first athlete ever to receive the Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy.
Victor Emery is a Canadian athlete and businessman. Emery was born in Montreal, Quebec. He is a gold medallist in the four man bobsleigh pilot from the 1964 Olympic Winter Games, as well as the 1965 World Championships.
Jamaica competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They competed in one sport, Bobsledding, in both the two-man and four-man events and finished outside the medal places in both competitions. Athletes were recruited from the Jamaica Defence Force, which saw Dudley Stokes, Devon Harris, and Michael White become the first members of the team. Caswell Allen was the fourth man, but was injured prior to the start of the Olympics and was replaced by Chris Stokes, who was only in Canada to support his brother and new teammate Dudley.
Paul Aste was an Austrian bobsledder and luger who competed during the 1950s and the 1960s. He also took the Olympic Oath for athletes at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.
Francis William Tyler was an American bobsledder who competed in the late 1940s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal in the four-man event at St. Moritz in 1948.
Lorenz Nieberl was a West German bobsledder who competed in the early 1950s. At the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, he became the first person to win both the two-man and four-man competitions at the same Winter Olympics. Nieberl also finished sixth in the four-man event at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Franz Kapus was a Swiss bobsledder who competed in the 1950s. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal in the four-man event at Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956.
Harry Warburton was a Swiss bobsledder who competed in the mid-1950s. He won the bronze in the two-man event at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The Eugenio Monti Olympic Track was a bobsleigh and skeleton track located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. It was named after Eugenio Monti (1928–2003), who won six bobsleigh medals at the Winter Olympic Games between 1956 and 1968 and ten medals at the FIBT World Championships between 1957 and 1966. It was featured in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, held after the 1981 FIBT World Championships, before the track was shortened to its current configuration. In January 2008, after one last bobsleigh race tournament, the track was closed.
The four-man bobsleigh results at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The competition was held on Friday and Saturday, 3 and 4 February 1956.
The two-man bobsleigh results at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The competition was held on Friday and Saturday, 27 and 28 January 1956.
André Marius Robin was a French bobsledder who competed in the 1950s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of fifth in the two-man event at Oslo in 1952 Winter Olympics. In the four-man event he finished eleventh.
Olle Oskar Axelsson was a Swedish bobsledder who competed in the 1950s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of eighth in the two-man event at Oslo in 1952.
Karl Wagner was an Austrian bobsledder who competed in the 1950s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of fifth in the four-man event at Oslo in 1952.
The two-man bobsleigh competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was held at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia on 20–21 February. The German team of André Lange and Kevin Kuske were the defending Olympic champions in this event. Switzerland's team of Ivo Rüegg and Cedric Grand were the defending world champions in this event. The test event held at the Olympic venue was won by the German duo of Thomas Florschütz and Marc Kühne. The last World Cup event prior to the 2010 Games took place in Igls, Austria on 23 January 2010 and was won by the Swiss duo of Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter while Rüegg won the overall World Cup in the two-man event.
The four-man bobsleigh competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was held at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia, on 26–27 February. The German team of André Lange, René Hoppe, Kevin Kuske, and Martin Putze were the defending Olympic champion in this event. America's team of Steve Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler, and Curtis Tomasevicz were the defending world champions in this event. The test event was won by the Latvian team of Jānis Miņins, Daumants Dreiškens, Oskars Melbardis, and Intars Dambis. The last World Cup event prior to the 2010 Games place took place in Igls, Austria on 24 January 2010 and was won by the German team of Lange, Hoppe, Kuske, and Putze. Holcomb of the United States won both the four-man and the combined World Cups.
Monaco sent a delegation to complete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 12–28 February 2010. The Monégasque team consisted of three athletes: alpine skier Alexandra Coletti and a two-man bobsleigh team of Sébastien Gattuso and Patrice Servelle. The bobsleigh team finished 19th in their event, as did Coletti in her best event, the women's super combined.
For the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, a total of eight sports venues were used. All of the venues used were new or rebuilt. To make use of television coverage for the first time in the Winter Olympics, the cross-country skiing stadium was constructed to allow the best coverage. Five of the venues used for these games would appear in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only twenty-five years later.
