Bobsleigh at the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games

The history of bobsledding at Cortina dated back half a century although competition began in rather primitive conditions on a snow covered mountain road. The Olympic course was originally built in 1923 then modernised in 1936 to a standard where it rivaled the more established European tracks. The track hosted World Championships in 1937 (two man) and 1939 (four man) and, after a further upgrade to the track in 1948, again in 1950 and 1954. The Olympic course of sixteen curves measured 1.7 km with a vertical drop of 153m.