Australia At The 1956 Summer Olympics
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Australia was the host nation for the
1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. However, due to Australian quarantine restrictions the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden. 294 competitors, 250 men and 44 women, took part in 140 events in 18 sports.


Medalists


Gold

*
Betty Cuthbert Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert, (20 April 1938 – 6 August 2017) was an Australian athlete and a four-time Olympic champion. She was nicknamed Australia's "Golden Girl". During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres ...
– athletics, women's 100 metres *
Betty Cuthbert Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert, (20 April 1938 – 6 August 2017) was an Australian athlete and a four-time Olympic champion. She was nicknamed Australia's "Golden Girl". During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres ...
– athletics, women's 200 metres *
Shirley Strickland Shirley Barbara de la Hunty AO, MBE (née Strickland; 18 July 1925 – 11 February 2004), known as Shirley Strickland during her early career, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports. ...
– athletics, women's 80 m Hurdles *
Norma Croker Norma Croker Fleming (11 September 1934 – 21 August 2019) was an Australian sprinter. Croker was educated at Brisbane State High School. At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, she placed 4th in the individual 200 metres race ...
,
Betty Cuthbert Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert, (20 April 1938 – 6 August 2017) was an Australian athlete and a four-time Olympic champion. She was nicknamed Australia's "Golden Girl". During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres ...
, Fleur Wenham, and
Shirley Strickland Shirley Barbara de la Hunty AO, MBE (née Strickland; 18 July 1925 – 11 February 2004), known as Shirley Strickland during her early career, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports. ...
– athletics, women's 4 × 100 m Relay * Joey Browne and Anthony Marchant — Cycling, men's 2000 m Tandem *
Jon Henricks John Malcolm Henricks (born 6 June 1935) is an Australian Olympic swimmer who won two gold medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Henricks set world records in two freestyle events. Career Henricks began his competitive swimming ca ...
— Swimming, men's 100 m Freestyle *
Murray Rose Iain Murray Rose, (6 January 1939 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian swimmer, actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist (four gold, one silver, one bronze), and at one time held the world records ...
— Swimming, men's 400 m Freestyle *
Murray Rose Iain Murray Rose, (6 January 1939 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian swimmer, actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist (four gold, one silver, one bronze), and at one time held the world records ...
— Swimming, men's 1500 m Freestyle *
David Theile David Egmont Theile, AO (born 17 January 1938) is an Australian former backstroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won consecutive gold medals in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics, the only Australian to do so. H ...
— Swimming, men's 100 m Backstroke *
John Devitt John Thomas Devitt, AM (born 4 February 1937) is an Australian sprint freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He won in controversial circumstances, bein ...
,
Jon Henricks John Malcolm Henricks (born 6 June 1935) is an Australian Olympic swimmer who won two gold medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Henricks set world records in two freestyle events. Career Henricks began his competitive swimming ca ...
,
Kevin O'Halloran Kevin O'Halloran (3 March 1937 – 5 July 1976) was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s who won a gold medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The first Western Australian to win Olympic ...
, and
Murray Rose Iain Murray Rose, (6 January 1939 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian swimmer, actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist (four gold, one silver, one bronze), and at one time held the world records ...
— Swimming, men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay *
Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser (born 4 September 1937) is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer and former politician. She is one of only four swimmers to have won the same Olympic individual event three times – in her case the women's 100-metre freestyle. ...
— Swimming, women's 100 m Freestyle *
Lorraine Crapp Lorraine Joyce Thurlow, (born 1 October 1938), née Crapp, is a former Olympic swimming champion representing Australia. In world swimming history, Crapp earned a place as the first woman to break the five-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle ...
— Swimming, women's 400 m Freestyle *
Lorraine Crapp Lorraine Joyce Thurlow, (born 1 October 1938), née Crapp, is a former Olympic swimming champion representing Australia. In world swimming history, Crapp earned a place as the first woman to break the five-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle ...
,
Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser (born 4 September 1937) is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer and former politician. She is one of only four swimmers to have won the same Olympic individual event three times – in her case the women's 100-metre freestyle. ...
,
Faith Leech Faith Yvonne Leech (31 March 1941 – 14 September 2013) was an Australian freestyle swimmer who won a gold medal in the 4×100–metre freestyle relay and bronze in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. A tall an ...
, and
Sandra Morgan Sandra Anne Morgan (born 6 June 1942), also known by her married name Sandra Beavis, or as Sandra Morgan-Beavis, is an Australian former freestyle swimmer who was part of the gold medal-winning team in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the ...
— Swimming, women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay


Silver

*
Graham Gipson Graham Gipson (''Graham Chater Gipson;'' born 21 May 1932) was an Australian athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. He competed for Australia in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne in the 4 × 400 metre relay where he won the ...
,
Kevan Gosper Richard Kevan Gosper, AO (born 19 December 1933) is an Australian former athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres. He was formerly a Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, and combined Chairman and CEO of Shell Australia ...
, Leon Gregory, and
David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...
– athletics, men's 4 × 400 m Relay *
Chilla Porter Charles Michael "Chilla" Porter (11 January 193615 August 2020) was an Australian athlete and political figure. He won a silver medal in the high jump at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He later served as general secretary of the Liberal P ...
– athletics, men's High Jump *
Stuart Mackenzie Stuart Mackenzie (5 April 1936 - 20 October 2020) was an Australian rower. He was an Australian champion and Olympic medalist, who also competed for Great Britain at the 1962 World Championships. Club and state rowing Mackenzie was educated at ...
– rowing, men's Single Sculls *
John Devitt John Thomas Devitt, AM (born 4 February 1937) is an Australian sprint freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He won in controversial circumstances, bein ...
— Swimming, men's 100 m Freestyle * John Monckton — Swimming, men's 100 m Backstroke *
Lorraine Crapp Lorraine Joyce Thurlow, (born 1 October 1938), née Crapp, is a former Olympic swimming champion representing Australia. In world swimming history, Crapp earned a place as the first woman to break the five-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle ...
— Swimming, women's 100 m Freestyle *
Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser (born 4 September 1937) is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer and former politician. She is one of only four swimmers to have won the same Olympic individual event three times – in her case the women's 100-metre freestyle. ...
— Swimming, women's 400 m Freestyle * John Scott and Roland Tasker — Sailing, men's Sharpie 12 m²


Bronze

*
Hector Hogan Hector "Hec" Denis Hogan (15 July 1931, Rockhampton2 September 1960, Brisbane) was an Australian athlete who competed mainly in the 100 yards and 100 metres sprint, where he was seven-times Australian 100 yards champion. He also competed in ...
– athletics, men's 100 metres *
John Landy John Michael Landy OLY (12 April 1930 – 24 February 2022) was an Australian middle-distance runner and state governor. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run and held the world records for the 1500-metre ...
– athletics, men's 1500 metres * Allan Lawrence – athletics, men's 10.000 metres * Norma Thrower – athletics, women's 80 m Hurdles *
Marlene Mathews Marlene Judith Mathews AO (later ''Willard''; born 14 July 1934) is a retired Australian Olympic sprinter. She has been described as 'one of Australia's greatest and unluckiest' champions.Marlene Mathews Marlene Judith Mathews AO (later ''Willard''; born 14 July 1934) is a retired Australian Olympic sprinter. She has been described as 'one of Australia's greatest and unluckiest' champions.Kevin Hogarth — Boxing, men's Welterweight * Walter Brown and
Dennis Green Dennis Earl Green (February 17, 1949 – July 21, 2016) was an American football coach. During his National Football League (NFL) career, Green coached the Minnesota Vikings for 10 seasons. He coached the Vikings to eight playoff appearances in ...
– canoeing, men's K2 10,000 m Kayak Pairs *
Dick Ploog Richard Francis Ploog (27 November 1936 – 14 July 2002) was an Australian cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. Peopl ...
— Cycling, men's 1000 m Sprint (Scratch) *
Murray Riley Murray Stewart Riley (5 October 1925 – 2020) was an Australian Olympic rowing athlete, who, after leaving a career as a police officer, gained notoriety as a criminal. Riley represented Australia at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics in double ...
and
Mervyn Wood Mervyn Thomas Wood, (30 April 1917 – 19 August 2006) was an Australian rower and police officer. He was an eight-time Australian national sculling champion, four-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medalist. He later rose to become the Commi ...
– rowing, men's Double Sculls * Michael Aikman, Angus Benfield, David Boykett, Bryan Doyle, Harold Hewitt, Jim Howden,
Walter Howell Walter Neville Howell OAM (born 17 December 1929) is an Australian former representative and Olympic medal winning rower. He competed at two Olympic Games, racing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in the men's eight and at the 1960 Rome O ...
,
Garth Manton Garth O. V. Manton (16 December 1929 – 1 February 2024) was an Australian representative rower. He was twice a national champion and won a bronze medal in the Australian Men's eight at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Rowing career Manton was ed ...
, and
Adrian Monger Adrian Calero Monger (6 December 1932 – 10 July 2016) was an Australian rower. He was twice Australian national champion and competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics where he won a bronze medal in the men's eight. Club and state rowing Monger w ...
– rowing, men's Eights * Gary Chapman — Swimming, men's 100 m Freestyle *
Faith Leech Faith Yvonne Leech (31 March 1941 – 14 September 2013) was an Australian freestyle swimmer who won a gold medal in the 4×100–metre freestyle relay and bronze in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. A tall an ...
— Swimming, women's 100 m Freestyle * Douglas Buxton, Devereaux Mytton, Ernest Wagstaff and
Jock Sturrock Alexander Stuart "Jock" Sturrock MBE (14 May 1915 in Melbourne11 July 1997 in Noosa Heads) was a noted Australian yachtsman who won over four hundred international, national, state and club championship yachting races. Sports career Between 1 ...
— Sailing, men's 5½ Meter Class


Athletics

;Men ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Combined events –
Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...
;Women ;Track & road events ;Field events


Basketball

;Men's Team Competition


Preliminary round


Group D


Classification 9–15


Group 1


Classification matches

Team Roster **
Peter Demos Peter T. Demos (July 18, 1918 – September 18, 2012) was a professor in the MIT Department of Physics, Department of Physics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science#Laboratory for Nuclear Science, Laboratory for Nuc ...
** Geoff Heskett ** Peter Bumbers ** Stan Dargis ** Inga Freidenfelds ** Colin Burdett **
George Dancis Juris O. "George" Dancis (28 November 1932 – 20 April 2021) was an Australian basketball player of Latvian descent who represented Australia at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Born in Latvia, Dancis was raised in the district of Vecāķi. Dancis w ...
** Peter Sutton **
Algis Ignatavicius Algimantas "Algis" Ignatavicius (11 October 1932 – 16 May 2022) was an Australian basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olym ...
** Merv Moy ** Ken Finch ** Bruce Flick *Head coach:
Ken Watson James Kenneth Watson, (August 12, 1904 – July 26, 1986) was a Canadian curler. Biography Watson was born in Minnedosa, Manitoba and moved to Winnipeg later. He was the first man to skip his rink to three Brier championships in 1936, 1942 ...


Boxing

;Men


Canoeing


Sprint

;Men ;Women


Cycling

;Road


Track

;1000m time trial ;Sprint ;Tandem ;Pursuit


Diving

;Men ;Women


Fencing

21 fencers, 18 men and 3 women, represented Australia in 1956. ; Men ''Ranks given are within the pool.'' ; Women ''Ranks given are within the pool.''


Football


First round


Quarter-finals


Men's team squads

Head coach: Richard Telfer


Gymnastics


Hockey


Preliminary round


Pool B

---- ----


=Play–off match

= *


Men's Team Competition

*Team Roster ** Alan Barblett **
Geoffrey Bennett Captain Geoffrey Martin Bennett, (7 June 1909 – 5 September 1983), was a British Royal Navy officer and author. Career Geoffrey Bennett was born in 1909 into a naval family, the son of Paymaster Rear-Admiral Martin Gilbert Bennett, OBE. ...
** Brian Booth ** Kevin Carton **
Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...
** Ian Dick **
John Dwyer John Dwyer may refer to: * John Dwyer (Australian judge) (1879–1966), Australian judge * John Dwyer (baseball) (active 1882), American baseball player * John Dwyer (field hockey) (born 1928), Australian Olympic hockey player * John Dwyer (medici ...
** Maurice Foley **
Louis Hailey Louis Hailey (10 January 1926 – 10 March 2019) was an Australian field hockey player. He competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially know ...
** Glen Jobson ** Dennis Kemp ** Keith Leeson ** Donald Mecklem ** Eric Pearce **
Gordon Pearce Gordon Charles Pearce (born 10 January 1934 in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India) is an Indian-born Australian field hockey player who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics, in the 1960 Summer Olympics, and in the 1968 Summer Olympics for Aust ...
** Melville Pearce ** Kenneth Reid ** Raymond Whiteside


Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Australia in 1956. ;Individual * Neville Sayers * Sven Coomer * George Nicoll ;Team * Neville Sayers * Sven Coomer * George Nicoll


Rowing

Australia had 26 male rowers participate in all seven
rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
events in 1956. ;Men


Sailing

;Open


Shooting

Twelve shooters represented Australia in 1956. ;Men


Swimming

;Men ;Women


Water polo


Preliminary round

The preliminary round consisted of a round-robin tournament held in three groups. Each team played the other teams in its group once.


Group A

28 November * 14:00 - Romania def. Australia, 4-2 29 November * 22:15 - Yugoslavia def. Australia, 9-1 30 November * 16:00 - Soviet Union def. Australia, 3-0


Consolation

* Great Britain def. Australia, 5-2 * Australia def. Singapore, 3-2 * Romania def. Australia, 4-2


Weightlifting

;Men


Wrestling


References

{{Nations at the 1956 Summer Olympics Nations at the 1956 Summer Olympics
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...