Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill

The men's alpine skiing downhill event of the 1956 Winter Olympics at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, was held on Friday, 3 February, at 11:00 a.m.. The starting elevation on the Olimpia - Tofana run was 2,282 m (7,487 ft) above sea level and the course length was 3.461 km (2.15 mi), with a vertical drop of 902 m (2,959 ft) and just 15 control gates.

Men's downhill at the VII Olympic Winter Games
Alpine skiing
Venue	Olimpia - Tofana Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
Date	3 February 1956
Competitors	75 from 27 nations
Winning time	2:52.2
Medalists
Toni Sailer  Austria Raymond Fellay  Switzerland Anderl Molterer  Austria

Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Downhill	men	women
Giant slalom	men	women
Slalom	men	women

It was the final alpine event of the games and the third straight victory for Toni Sailer of Austria.[1] His average speed was 72.355 km/h (45.0 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 5.238 m/s (17.2 ft/s).

It was the third appearance of the downhill event at the Winter Games, which debuted in 1948. Seventy-five alpine skiers from 27 nations competed.[2]