Figure skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Ladies' singles

Figure skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Individual		men		ladies
Pairs		mixed

The women'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 30–31 January and 2 February 1956. Twenty-one women from eleven countries participated in the competition. The event was dominated by the American skaters and who won gold and silver. Tenley Albright, who overcame a significant injury two weeks before the start of the competition, was the Olympic champion.

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.^[1] 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.^[2] It was built to accommodate 6,000–7,000 people.^[2] Temporary seating was added for the figure skating competition that swelled the stadium's capacity to 14,000 people.^[3] 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 had yet to become an Olympic sport in 1956.^[4]

The competition was broken down into two disciplines. The first was a compulsory figures competition, which counted for 60% of the score. This was done on 30 January, with the competition beginning in such a heavy snowstorm that it was difficult for the judges to see the skaters' tracings. After the first day of competition Tenley Albright had the lead with 9 of 11 judges' first-place ordinals, with Carol Heiss second.^[5]

The second discipline was a free skating program, which counted for 40% of the final score. This final program was performed on 2 February.^[1] In the second day of competition Albright edged out Heiss by 1.6 points to claim the gold medal.^[6]

Albright won the event despite a serious leg injury sustained just weeks before the Olympics. While skating in practice Albright fell when her skate hit a rut in the ice. Her left skate blade sliced her right ankle to the bone, severing a vein.^[7] She also had to overcome polio, which she contracted in 1946.^[8] Carol Heiss won the silver medal. She later won gold at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, and married Hayes Jenkins, the men's champion at the 1956 Games.^[9] Ingrid Wendl from Austria won the bronze medal, the only Olympic medal of her career.

Results

Source:^[10][11]

Rank	Name	Nation	CF	FS	Points	Places
1	Tenley Albright	United States	1	1	169.67	12
2	Carol Heiss	United States	2	2	168.02	21
3	Ingrid Wendl	Austria	3	5	159.44	39
4	Yvonne Sugden	Great Britain	4	9	156.62	53
5	Hanna Eigel	Austria	5	4	157.15	52
6	Carole Jane Pachl	Canada	6	8	154.74	73
7	Hanna Walter	Austria	8	7	153.89	83.5
8	Catherine Machado	United States	10	3	153.48	86.5
9	Ann Johnston	Canada	7	10	152.56	94
10	Rosi Pettinger	United Team of Germany	11	6	152.04	101
11	Erica Batchelor	Great Britain	9	12	149.67	116
12	Sjoukje Dijkstra	Netherlands	12	15	145.80	140
13	Joan Haanappel	Netherlands	14	11	145.85	145.5
14	Beth Peach	Great Britain	13	13	144.75	151
15	Fiorella Negro	Italy	16	14	142.31	168.5
16	Karin Borner	Switzerland	15	16	141.69	171
17	Maryvonne Huet	France	17	19	138.30	194
18	Alice Fischer	Switzerland	18	20	137.69	203
19	Alice Lundström	Sweden	19	18	136.34	206
20	Jindra Kramperová	Czechoslovakia	21	17	136.67	209
21	Manuela Angeli	Italy	20	21	133.51	222

See also

• Olympic Games
• International Olympic Committee
• List of IOC country codes
• 1956 Winter Olympics

References

External links

• Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (1956). VII Olympic Winter Games: Official Report (PDF). Cortina d'Ampezzo. Retrieved 2010-03-02. 
• Findling, John E.; Pelle, Kimberly D. (1996). Historical Dictionary of the Modern Olympic Movement. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-28477-6. Retrieved 2010-03-03.