| Lebanon at the 1956 Winter Olympics | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| IOC code | LIB |
| NOC | Lebanese Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| inCortina d'Ampezzo, Italy | |
| Competitors | 3 (men) in 2 sports |
| Medals |
|
| Winter Olympics appearances (overview) | |
Lebanon competed at the1956 Winter Olympics inCortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, which was held from 26 January to 5 February 1956. This marked Lebanon's third appearance in aWinter Olympic Games. The nation sent three male skiers, competing in four events. SkierIbrahim Geagea participated in his third consecutive Winter Games, with his best finish being 42nd in themen's downhill event.Jean Keyrouz's 43rd in the same event marked his best result in the Games. Georges Gereidi's best result was 86th in themen's giant slalom event. Although he was disqualified, Gereidi's participation in the15 kilometre cross-country skiing race marked the first time that Lebanon competed in a discipline besides alpine skiing.
TheLebanese Olympic Committee was founded in 1946 and officially recognised by theInternational Olympic Committee on 22 November 1947.[1] A few months later, the nation made its debut in the1948 Winter Olympics inSt. Moritz, Switzerland. As such, their appearance in 1956 marked their third Winter Games appearance.[2] The 1956 Games were held inCortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February and hosted 821 athletes in 24 events from 32 different nations.[3]
Lebanon sent a total delegation of nine people:chef de mission Mansour Geagea, officials Louis Baz, Raoul Maghrabi, and Robert Nassif, and assistants Faas Chaleb and Michel Samen, along with the three skiiers:Ibrahim Geagea, Georges Gereidi, andJean Keyrouz, who competed in four different skiing events inalpine skiing andcross-country skiing. They were lodged at the Albergo Cortina for the duration of the Games.[4]
Lebanon sent three alpine skiers and competed in three alpine skiing events. In themen's downhill event, the country was represented byJean Keyrouz, a leading figure in the early history ofskiing in Lebanon and a founder of the Lebanese Ski Federation,[5] andIbrahim Geagea, who had previously represented the nation in the1948 and1952 Games in various alpine skiing events.[6] The competition took place on 3 February onTofane. Geagea, skiing in sixty-ninth position, posted a time of 4 minutes, 33 seconds, in his run, finishing in forty-second place in the forty-seven person field. Keyrouz, in eighty-first position, skied the route in 4 minutes, 57 seconds, good for a placement of forty-third, just behind Geagea.Toni Sailer ofAustria won the event with a time of 2 minutes, 52 seconds.[7][8]
Geagea, Keyrouz, and Georges Gereidi all competed in themen's giant slalom event, held on 29 January onMount Faloria. Of the three, Gereidi went first, skiing in ninety-fifth position. He finished his run in 5 minutes, 34 seconds, finishing in eighty-sixth place out of eighty-seven, almost two minutes ahead of last-place finisherChristos Papageorgiou ofGreece. Geagea skied in ninety-seventh position and finished with a time of 4 minutes, 10 seconds, good for a ranking of seventy-first. Last of the three to go was Keyrouz, who ran in 102nd position. He ran the course in 4 minutes, 40 seconds, which put him in eighty-first. Sailer of Austria also won this event, finishing with a time of 3 minutes.[9][10]
Geagea also competed in themen's slalom event, held on 31 January on Tofane. He ran in 102nd position and finished his first run in 2 minutes, 49 seconds, and his second run in 3 minutes, 18 seconds, for a grand total of 6 minutes, 8 seconds. He finished in last place out of 57 competitors, about fifteen seconds behind next-placing finisherLuis Molné ofSpain. Keyrouz, slated to run in the 98th position, was disqualified in the first run. Sailer once again won the event, completing his gold medal sweep of alpine skiing events.[11][12]
| Athlete | Event | Race 1 | Race 2 | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| Jean Keyrouz | Downhill | 4:57.6 | 43 | ||||
| Ibrahim Geagea | 4:33.1 | 42 | |||||
| Georges Gereidi | Giant Slalom | 5:34.8 | 86 | ||||
| Jean Keyrouz | 4:40.6 | 81 | |||||
| Ibrahim Geagea | 4:10.0 | 71 | |||||
| Jean Keyrouz | Slalom | DSQ | – | – | – | DSQ | – |
| Ibrahim Geagea | 2:49.7 | 59 | 3:18.9 | 57 | 6:08.6 | 57 | |
Although not listed in the official Olympic reports,Olympedia lists Gereidi as a competitor at themen's 15 kilometre race on 30 January at theStadio della neve, although he was disqualified prior to the race and did not record a time.Hallgeir Brenden ofNorway won the gold medal with a time of 49 minutes, 39 seconds.[13]
| Athlete | Event | Race | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | ||
| Georges Gereidi | 15 km | DSQ | – |