 At the men´s event, the favorite, Dick Button won.At the women´s event, however, the favorite, Eva Pawlik of Austria, who had been the Olympic runner-up behind Barbara Ann Scott one year before and who had just won the European title in 1949, dropped out because of a broken boot heel just before the free program.which provided Alena Vrzáňová of Czechoslovakia with the opportunity to win the gold medal.