1956 Summer Olympics

Games of the XVI Olympiad

Emblem of the 1956 Summer Olympics
Host city	Melbourne, Australia / Stockholm, Sweden
Nations	72
Athletes	3,314 (2,938 men, 376 women)
Events	151 in 17 sports (23 disciplines)
Opening	22 November 1956
Closing	8 December 1956
Opened by	The Duke of Edinburgh[1][a]
Cauldron	Ron Clarke[1]
Stadium	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Summer ← Helsinki 1952 Rome 1960 → Winter ← Cortina 1956 Squaw Valley 1960 →

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1956 Summer Olympics
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The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international

These Games were the first to be staged in the Southern Hemisphere and Oceania, as well as the first to be held outside Europe and North America. Melbourne is the most southerly city ever to host the Olympics. Due to the Southern Hemisphere's seasons being different from those in the Northern Hemisphere, the 1956 Games did not take place at the usual time of year, because of the need to hold the events during the warmer weather of the host's spring/summer (which corresponds to the Northern Hemisphere's autumn/winter), resulting in the only summer games ever to be held in November and December. Australia hosted the Games for a second time in 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, and will host them again in 2032 in Brisbane, Queensland.

The Olympic equestrian events could not be held in Melbourne due to Australia's strict quarantine regulations,^[2] so they were held in Stockholm five months earlier. This was the second time the Olympics were not held entirely in one country, the first being the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, with some events taking place in Ostend, Belgium and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Despite uncertainties and various complications encountered during the preparations, the 1956 Games went ahead in Melbourne as planned and turned out to be a success. Started during the 1956 Games was the "Parade of Athletes" at the closing ceremonies.

Nine teams boycotted the Games for various reasons.

The Soviet Union won the most gold medals, and the most medals overall.

One of the most notable events of the games was a controversial water polo match between the Soviet Union and the defending champions, Hungary. The Soviet Union had recently suppressed an anti-Soviet revolution in Hungary and violence broke out between the teams during the match, resulting in numerous injuries. When Hungary's Ervin Zádor suffered bleeding after being punched by Soviet Union's Valentin Prokopov, spectators attempted to join the violence, but they were blocked by police. The match was cancelled, with Hungary being declared the winner because they were in the lead.

Host city selection

Melbourne was selected as the host city over bids from

respectively.

1956 Summer Olympics bidding results^[10]

City	Country	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
Melbourne	Australia	14	18	19	21
Buenos Aires	Argentina	9	12	13	20
Los Angeles	United States	5	4	5	—
Detroit		2	4	4	—
Mexico City	Mexico	9	3	—	—
Chicago	United States	1	—	—	—
Minneapolis		1	—	—	—
Philadelphia		1	—	—	—
San Francisco		0	—	—	—
Montreal	Canada	0	—	—	—

Prelude

Many members of the

Notwithstanding these concerns, the field of candidates eventually narrowed to two Southern Hemisphere cities, these being Melbourne and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Melbourne was selected, in 1949, to host the 1956 Olympics by a one-vote margin. The first sign of trouble was the revelation that Australian equine quarantine would prevent the country from hosting the equestrian events.^[2] Stockholm was selected as the alternative site, so equestrian competition began on 10 June, five and a half months before the rest of the Olympic Games were to open.

The above problems of the Melbourne Games were compounded by bickering over financing among Australian politicians. Eventually, in March 1953, the State Government accepted a £2 million loan from the Commonwealth Government to build the Olympic Village, which would accommodate up to 6,000 people, in Heidelberg West. After the Olympics, the houses in the village were handed back to the Housing Commission for general public housing.^[11]

At one point, IOC President Avery Brundage suggested that Rome, which was to host the 1960 Games, was so far ahead of Melbourne in preparations that it might be ready as a replacement site in 1956. Construction of sporting venues was given priority over the athlete's village.^[12] The village was designed as a whole new suburb with semi-detached houses and flats. For the first time both sexes were to reside in the same buildings, separated only by fence.^[12]

As late as April 1955, Brundage was still doubtful about Melbourne and was not satisfied by an inspection trip to the city. Construction was well under way by then, thanks to a $4.5 million federal loan to Victoria, but it was behind schedule. He still held out the possibility that Rome might have to step in.

By the beginning of 1956, though, it was obvious that Melbourne would be ready for the Olympics.^[13]

Participation and boycotts

Egypt, Iraq, Cambodia and Lebanon announced that they would not participate in the Olympics in response to the Suez Crisis when Egypt was invaded by Israel, the United Kingdom, and France.

The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Liechtenstein boycotted the event in protest of the

The People's Republic of China chose to boycott the event because the Republic of China had been allowed to compete.

Although the number of countries participating (67) was almost the same as in 1952 (69), the number of athletes competing dropped sharply, from 4,925 to 3,342. (This figure does not include the 158 athletes from 29 countries who took part in the Stockholm equestrian competition.)

Events

Once underway, the Games progressed smoothly, and came to be known as the "Friendly Games".^[12] Betty Cuthbert, an 18-year-old from Sydney, won the 100 and 200 metre sprint races and ran an exceptional final leg in the 4 x 100 metre relay to overcome Great Britain's lead and claim her third gold medal. The veteran Shirley Strickland repeated her 1952 win in the 80 metre hurdles and was also part of the winning 4 x 100 metre relay team, bringing her career Olympic medal total to seven: three golds, a silver, and three bronze medals.

Australia also triumphed in swimming. They won all of the freestyle races, men's and women's, and collected a total of eight gold, four silver and two bronze medals. Murray Rose became the first male swimmer to win two freestyle events since Johnny Weissmuller in 1924, while Dawn Fraser won gold medals in the 100 metre freestyle and as the leadoff swimmer in the 4 x 100 metre relay team.

The men's track and field events were dominated by the United States. They not only won 15 of the 24 events, they

Ireland's

There was a major upset, marred briefly by controversy, in the 3,000 metre steeplechase. Little-known Chris Brasher of Great Britain finished well ahead of the field, but the judges disqualified him for interfering with Norway's Ernst Larsen, and they announced Sándor Rozsnyói of Hungary as the winner. Brasher's appeal was supported by Larsen, Rozsnyói, and fourth-place finisher Heinz Laufer of Germany. Subsequently, the decision was reversed and Brasher became the first Briton to win a gold medal in track and field since 1936.

Only two world records were set in track and field. Mildred McDaniel, the first American woman to win gold in the sport, set a high jump record of 1.76 metres (5.8 ft), and Egil Danielsen of Norway overcame blustery conditions with a remarkable javelin throw of 85.71 metres (281.2 ft).

Throughout the Olympics, Hungarian athletes were cheered by fans from Australia and other countries. Many of them gathered in the boxing arena when thirty-year-old

In a much publicized Olympic romance, American hammer throw champion Hal Connolly would marry Czechoslovak discus throw champion, Olga Fikotová. After moving to the United States, Olga wanted to continue representing Czechoslovakia, but the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee would not allow her to do so.^[14] Thereafter, as Olga Connolly, she took part in every Olympics until 1972^[14] competing for the U.S.^[15] She was the flag bearer for the U.S. team at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Despite the international tensions of 1956—or perhaps because of them—a young Melburnian, John Ian Wing, came up with a new idea for the closing ceremony. Instead of marching as separate teams, behind their national flags, the athletes mingled together as they paraded into and around the arena for a final appearance before the spectators. It was the start of an Olympic tradition that has been followed ever since.^[16]

Highlights

This section contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (February 2024)

• These were the first Summer Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Avery Brundage.
• Hungary and the Soviet Union (who were engaged in an armed conflict at the time) were both present at the Games which, among other things, led to a hotly contested and emotionally charged water polo encounter between the two nations.
• Athletes from both
  combined team, a remarkable display of unity that was repeated in 1960 and 1964
  , but was then discontinued.
• Australian athlete Betty Cuthbert became the "Golden Girl" by winning three gold medals in track events. Another Australian, Murray Rose, won three gold medals in swimming.
• U.S. sprinter Bobby Morrow won three gold medals, in the 100m and 200m sprints, and the 4 × 100 m relay.
• Soviet runner Vladimir Kuts
  won both the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre events.
• Inspired by Australian teenager John Ian Wing, an Olympic tradition began when athletes from different nations were allowed to parade together at the closing ceremony, rather than separately with their national teams, as a symbol of world unity.

During the Games there will be only one nation. War, politics and nationalities will be forgotten. What more could anybody want if the world could be made one nation.
—Extract from a letter by John Wing to the Olympic organisers, 1956

• Laszlo Papp
  defended his light-middleweight boxing title, gaining a record third Olympic gold medal.
• Ronnie Delany
  won gold for Ireland in the 1,500m final, the last Olympic gold medal that Ireland has won in a track event.
• The India men's national field hockey team won its sixth consecutive Olympic gold.

Olympic torch relay

The Olympic flame was relayed to Melbourne after being lit at Olympia on 2 November 1956.

• Greek runners took the flame from Olympia to Athens.
• The flame was transferred to a
  Super Constellation aircraft, "Southern Horizon" to Darwin, Northern Territory
  .
• A
  Cairns, Queensland
  , where it arrived on 9 November 1956.
• The Mayor of Cairns, Alderman W.J. Fulton, lit the first torch.
• The torch design was identical to the one used for the 1948 London Games (except for the engraved city name and year).
• The first runner was Con Verevis, a local man of Greek parentage.
• The flame was relayed down the east coast of Australia using die cast aluminium torches weighing about 3 pounds (1.8 kg).
• The flame arrived in Melbourne on 22 November 1956, the day of the opening ceremony.
• The flame was lit at the Olympic stadium by Ron Clarke, who accidentally burned his arm in the process.

While the Olympic flame was being carried to Sydney, an Australian

The Olympics were first televised during the 1936 games to a domestic audience in Berlin. The 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo were broadcast internationally with the organising committee giving the television rights for free.^[18] While there was much interest in the games overseas, no international television or newsreel rights were awarded, as the Melbourne organising committee requested licensing payments for the broadcasting rights.^[18][19] However, domestic rights to the games were hastily agreed by the three Melbourne stations at the time, GTV9, HSV7 and ABV2, only a week before the opening ceremony.^[19][20] The three Sydney stations, TCN9, ATN7 and ABN2, syndicated the Melbourne coverage. With television in Australia having its beginnings in September 1956, for many Australians, their first glimpse of television was Olympic broadcasts.^[21] As only around five thousand televisions had been sold by the time of the Games, the Australian audience largely watched the games at community halls and at Ampol petrol stations.^[20]

Sports

The 1956 Summer Olympics featured 17 different sports encompassing 23 disciplines, and medals were awarded in 151 events (145 events in Melbourne and 6 equestrian events in Stockholm).^[22] In the list below, the number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.

Demonstration sports

• Australian football (1)
• Baseball (1)

Venues

Ballarat

• Lake Wendouree – Canoeing, Rowing

Melbourne

• Broadmeadows – Cycling (road)
• Hockey Field – Field hockey
• Melbourne Cricket Ground – Athletics, Field hockey (final), Football (final)
• Oaklands Hunt Club – Modern pentathlon (riding, running)
• Olympic Park Stadium – Football
• Port Phillip Bay
  – Sailing
• Royal Australian Air Force, Laverton Air Base – Shooting (shotgun)
• Royal Exhibition Building – Basketball (final), Modern pentathlon (fencing), Weightlifting, Wrestling
• St Kilda Town Hall – Fencing
• Swimming/Diving Stadium
  (Olympic Pool) – Diving, Modern pentathlon (swimming), Swimming, Water polo
• Velodrome – Cycling (track)
• West Melbourne Stadium
  – Basketball, Boxing, Gymnastics
• Williamstown – Modern pentathlon (shooting), Shooting (pistol, rifle)

Stockholm

• Lill-Jansskogen – Equestrian (eventing)
• Olympic Stadium – Equestrian (dressage, eventing, jumping)
• Ulriksdal – Equestrian (eventing)

Participating National Olympic Committees

A total of 67 nations competed in the 1956 Olympics. Eight countries made their Olympic debuts:

For the first time, the team of Republic of China effectively represented only Taiwan.

Five nations competed in the

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1956 Games.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	37	29	32	98
2	United States	32	25	17	74
3	Australia*	13	8	14	35
4	Hungary	9	10	7	26
5	Italy	8	8	9	25
6	Sweden	8	5	6	19
7	United Team of Germany	6	13	7	26
8	Great Britain	6	7	11	24
9	Romania	5	3	5	13
10	Japan	4	10	5	19
Totals (10 entries)		128	118	113	359

Key

  *   Host nation (Australia). John Ian Wing of Australia was also presented with a bronze medal, not included in the above table, for suggesting the closing ceremony have athletes as one nation.^[24]

See also

• 1956 Winter Olympics
• Olympic Games celebrated in Australia
  • 1956 Summer Olympics – Melbourne
  • 2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney
  • 2032 Summer Olympics – Brisbane

• List of IOC country codes
• 2005 Summer Deaflympics
• 2006 Commonwealth Games

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1956 Summer Olympics.

External videos
Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games - Official Olympic Film on YouTube

• "Melbourne - Stockholm 1956". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.

Summer Olympics
Preceded by Helsinki	XVI Olympiad Melbourne/Stockholm 1956	Succeeded by Rome