Cortina d’Ampezzo, 1956. A small town in the Dolomites, in an Italy that is still peasant rather than city, is preparing to host the seventh edition of Winter Olympic Games: the first organized in an Italian citythe first broadcast on television, the first in which a woman pronounces the Olympic oath in front of the world’s cameras: the skier from Vicenza Giuliana Minuzzo. «Cortina already brought with it a breath of fresh air, which would have changed the Winter Olympic Games forever… and the women were there, in that interstice of light that illuminated the future of sport. Few, but determined to write their page in history». So they write Antonella Stelitano and Adriana Balzarini in the book The women of Cortina 1956. Between the mountains and the spotlights, women were present in every role: not only athletes, but also judges, journalists, coaches, translators and even torchbearers, ready to leave an indelible mark with talent and determination.
Cortina 1956: a laboratory of modernity
That seventh Winter Olympics was for Italy a laboratory of modernity: a showcase of the new national well-being and one window on Europe in transformation. In this context, the female presence takes on a broader cultural and social meaning: women capable of innovating, leading and inspiring, both on and off the slopes. In the book The women of Cortina 1956, the authors maintain what yesOf 924 athletes, there were only 132 women, around 15.8% of the total. Few, but present. Cross-country and downhill skiers, not just skaters.
Sophia Loren, the godmother of Cortina ’56
Usually the Olympics don’t have a godmother, but that year they did: they did Sophia Loren. The actress became a symbol of worldliness and of all those women who were taking their space in the world of sport. Her presence supported that of the others and sent a clear message: here are the women of Cortina d’Ampezzo, they are there, they exist and they leave their mark. Seventy years later, as Italy prepares to host the Olympics again with Milan-Cortina 2026it is the perfect time to look back and celebrate those women who, then and now, they have written indelible pages in the history of sport and Olympic culture.
Giuliana Minuzzo, ski pioneer
Of Vicenza origins, Giuliana Minuzzo represents national pride and female empowerment in sport. The first woman to take the Olympic oath. On skis, she stood out at the time for her technique, speed and determination, gaining a place among the best Italian athletes of the time. Minuzzo came to the fore at a very young age in the 1949 women’s championships, coming third in the downhill race. Her figure is a symbol of how women knew how to make space for themselves in a still strongly male sporting world and became a source of inspiration for all subsequent generations.
Alberta Vianello, the only torchbearer
Among the female figures who left their mark at Cortina 1956, she certainly also stands out Alberta Vianellothe only woman to wear the Olympic torch on skates. Talented roller skating athlete, Vianello transformed a symbolic gesture into a moment of great visibility for women in sport. Alberta Vianello embodies the spirit of all the women of Cortina who, often invisible in the newspapers of the time, contributed in a concrete and creative way to the success of the Games. His figure remains a symbol of determination, elegance and courage.
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