Figure skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Men's singles

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Men's singles
at the VII Olympic Winter Games
Figure skating pictogram.svg
Dates29 January-1 February
Competitors16 from 11 nations
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Hayes Alan Jenkins US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Ronald Robertson US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg David Jenkins US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
  1952
1960  

The men's figure skating competition at the 1956 Winter Olympics took place at the Olympic Ice Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The competition was held on 29 January and 1 February 1956. Sixteen men from eleven countries participated in the competition. The event was dominated by the American skaters who swept the medals. Hayes Jenkins and his brother, David Jenkins, won gold and bronze respectively. [1] [2]

Contents

==Competition==]] The event was held outdoors at the Ice Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the host city for the Games. This would be the last time that the figure skating events were held outdoors at an Olympic Games. [3] The Ice Stadium was the focal point of the Games. It was used not only for figure skating but also for the opening and closing ceremonies. [4] The stadium was built to accommodate 6,000–7,000 people. [4] Temporary seating was added for the figure skating competition that swelled the stadium's capacity to 14,000 people. [5] The ladies' competition was the first figure skating event held at the Games. It was followed by the men's competition and then the pairs. Ice dancing was not contested as it had yet to become an Olympic sport in 1956. [6]

The competition was broken down into two disciplines. The first was a compulsory figures competition, which counted for 60% of the score. This was held on 29 January under near-perfect ice conditions. After a nervous start on the first figure, Hayes Jenkins recovered to hold a narrow lead over his teammate Ronald Robertson at the end of the day, with David Jenkins only slightly behind. [7] [8]

The second discipline was a free skating program, which counted for 40% of the final score. This final program was performed on 1 February. [3] Due to the very cold weather, the ice was extremely hard, causing some of the competitors to skate cautiously. Hayes Jenkins' program, skated to the music "Scheherazade", included jumps and spins blended with connecting steps and choreography. Robertson's program emphasized showmanship with crowd-pleasing jumps and spins, but had less connecting choreography. Robertson narrowly won the free skating with six first places, but Hayes Jenkins' lead from the compulsory figures held up to give him the gold medal. David Jenkins struggled with the hard ice and fell twice in his program, but held his position after the figures to take the bronze medal. [8]

David Jenkins went on to win the gold medal in the men's competition at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. Hayes Jenkins retired from competitive skating after the 1956 season, and later married Carol Heiss who was the women's silver medalist at the 1956 Games and gold medalist at the 1960 Games. [1]

Results

Source: [9] [10]

RankNameNationCFFSPointsPlaces
1 Hayes Alan Jenkins US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 12166.4313
2 Ronald Robertson US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 21165.7916
3 David Jenkins US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 33162.8227
4 Alain Giletti Flag of France.svg  France 44159.6337
5 Karol Divín Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 55154.2549.5
6 Michael Booker Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 66154.2653.5
7 Norbert Felsinger Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 78150.5567
8 Charles Snelling Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada 97150.4267
9 Alain Calmat Flag of France.svg  France 89148.3577
10 Tilo Gutzeit Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany 1011141.0890
11 François Pache Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 1110139.3995
12 Hans Müller Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 1212135.28112
13 Allan Ganter Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1314132.41114
14 Darío Villalba Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 1416127.30128
15 Kalle Tuulos Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 1515124.50137
16 Charles Keeble Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1613123.93137

See also

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The women's giant slalom at the 1956 Winter Olympics was held on 27 January in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. It was run on the Canalone run on Mount Tofana. The course was 1,366 metres (4,482 ft) long with a 408 metres (1,339 ft) vertical drop. There were 46 gates that the women had to navigate. Forty-four women from sixteen countries competed. German skier Ossi Reichert won the event while Austrians won silver and bronze.

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The women's slalom at the 1956 Winter Olympics was held on 30 January. It was run on the Col Druscie. The course was 456 metres (1,496 ft) in length with a 175 m (574 ft) vertical drop. There were forty-one gates on the first run and forty-five gates for the second run. Forty-eight women from sixteen countries entered in the race. Twelve women were disqualified during the two runs. Swiss skier Renée Colliard won gold over Austrian Regina Schöpf, who placed second, and Russian Yevgeniya Sidorova who won the bronze.

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References

  1. 1 2 Findling and Pelle (1996), p. 261
  2. "Figure Skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics: Singles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Figure Skating at the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  4. 1 2 Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (1956), pp. 124–133
  5. Findling and Pelle (1996), p. 260
  6. Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (1956), pp. 662–677
  7. Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (1956), p. 663
  8. 1 2 "The Olympics: 1956", Skating magazine, March 1960
  9. Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (1956), p. 662–667
  10. Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (1956), p. 665