Kobe Bryant at age 12 playing grown men of Italy.

This celebration of the Games was held from 26 January to 5 February 1956. The city was originally slated to host the 1944 event but that was cancelled due to World War II. The Cortina Games were unique in that all of the venues except one were within walking distance of each other.

Thirty-two nations—the largest number of participating Winter Olympic countries to that point—competed in the four disciplines and twenty-four events. The Soviet Union made its Winter Olympics debut and won more medals than any nation. Austrian Toni Sailer became the first person to sweep all three alpine skiing events in a single Olympics. The figure skating competition was held outdoors for the last time at these Games. Logistically, the only problem encountered was a lack of snow at the alpine skiing events. To remedy this, the Italian army transported large amounts of snow to ensure the courses were adequately covered.

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1956 Winter Olympics:

1 — Soviet Union: 7 Gold, 3 Silver, 6 Bronze = 16 Total
2 — Austria: 4 Gold, 3 Silver, 4 Bronze = 11 Total
3 — Finland: 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze = 7 Total
4 — Switzerland: 3 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze = 6 Total
5 — Sweden: 2 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Bronze = 10 Total
6 — United States: 2 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze = 7 Total
7 — Norway: 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze = 4 Total
8 — Italy: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 0 Bronze = 3 Total
9 — Germany: 1 Gold, 0 Silver, 1 Bronze = 2 Total
10 — Canada: 0 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze = 3 Total

Before Muhammad Ali, there was an 18 year old named Cassius Clay (178 lbs) that entered the Light Heavyweight division of the 1960 Rome Olympics. Clay went 5-0 on his way to winning gold.

He received a first round bye, and then went on to win his next fight due to a referee stoppage in the 2nd round. He would then finish off his last three fights with convincing unanimous decisions.

The gold medal fight was against Poland’s Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, who was making a return trip to the Olympics after winning bronze in Melbourne 1956.

Cassius Clay vs Zbigniew Pietrzykowsky: 1960 Olympics Video

They defeated Italy 3-2 on penalty kicks.