Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics 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. 63 competitors, 51 men and 12 women, took part in 54 events in 10 sports. Czech athlete Olga Fikotová won a gold medal in women's discus. She also started a famous love affair with

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

athlete

Harold Vincent Connolly Harold Vincent "Hal" Connolly (August 1, 1931 – August 18, 2010) was an American athlete and hammer thrower from Somerville, Massachusetts. He won a gold medal in the hammer throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Connolly becam ...

here. The team was warned that their flight back to Czechoslovakia was in a danger of a terrorists' attack. All sportsmen had to undergo a long journey by a Soviet ship Gruzia from Melbourne to

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...

, Soviet Union and then by

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...

to Moscow and by plane to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Czechoslovakia. The whole journey took 31 days. The part of the journey from Melbourne to Moscow, Czechoslovakian sportsmen had to share a ship and train with Soviet sportsmen also returning home via this route. The coexistence was not idyllic and Czechoslovakians described it later as very humiliating. The Olympic team spent

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

in the Pacific and New Year's Eve in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. The team experienced high temperatures during voyage across equator and later freezing weather with -50 °C in Siberia. It is very probable that the reason for the warning was only fictional and a long journey home was only a political decision made by Czechoslovak and Soviet

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. It was never justified.

Medalists

Athletics

Men's Marathon *

Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek (; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final me ...

— 2:29:34 (→ 6th place) * Pavel Kantorek — 2:52:05 (→ 27th place)

Boxing

Canoeing

Cycling

; Sprint *

Ladislav Fouček Ladislav Fouček (10 December 1930 – 4 July 1974) was an Czechoslovak cyclist. He won silver medals in Men's 1,000 metres Time Trial and Men's Tandem Sprint, 2000 metres at the 1956 Summer Olympics. References External links * * * ...

— 6th place ;

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

— 1:11.4 (→ Silver Medal) ;

Tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

Václav Machek — Silver Medal ;

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

* František Jursa
Jaroslav Cihlár
Jirí Nouza
Jirí Opavský — 7th place ; Individual road race * František Jursa — did not finish (→ no ranking) * Jaroslav Cihlár — did not finish (→ no ranking) * Jirí Nouza — did not finish (→ no ranking) * Jirí Opavský — did not finish (→ no ranking)

Gymnastics

Modern pentathlon

One male pentathlete represented Czechoslovakia in 1956. ;Individual * Vladimír Černý

Rowing

Czechoslovakia had eleven male rowers participate in two out of 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 ...

events in 1956. ; Men's double sculls * Albert Krajmer * František Reich ; Men's eight * Josef Věntus * Eduard Antoch * Ctibor Reiskup *

Jan Švéda Jan Švéda (5 November 1931 – 14 December 2007) was a Czech rower who competed for Czechoslovakia in the 1956 Summer Olympics and in the 1960 Summer Olympics. He was born in Břeclav Břeclav (; german: Lundenburg) is a town in the South ...

* Josef Švec * Zdeněk Žára * Jan Jindra * Stanislav Lusk * Miroslav Koranda (cox)

Shooting

Four shooters represented Czechoslovakia in 1956. ;

50 m pistol The 50 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called Free Pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting disciplines, dating back to t ...

* František Maxa ; 50 m rifle, three positions * Otakar Hořínek ; 50 m rifle, prone * Otakar Hořínek ;

Trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

František Čapek František Čapek (24 October 1914 – 31 January 2008) was a Czechoslovakian sprint canoeist who competed from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s. He won a gold medal in the C-1 10000 m event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Born ...

* Igor Treybal

Swimming

Weightlifting

References

External links

Official Olympic ReportsInternational Olympic Committee results databaseCzech Olympic report
(in Czech) {{Nations at the 1956 Summer Olympics Nations at the 1956 Summer Olympics

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

Summer Olympics