Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Athletics

at the Games of the XVI Olympiad

Host stadium (shown in 2017)

Dates| 23 November – 1 December
No. of events| 33
Competitors| 720 from 61 nations

<- 1952

1960 ->

Athletics at the
1956 Summer Olympics

Track events
100 m| men| women
200 m| men| women
400 m| men|
800 m| men|
1500 m| men|
5000 m| men|
10,000 m| men|
80 m hurdles| | women
110 m hurdles| men|
400 m hurdles| men|
3000 m
steeplechase| men|
4 × 100 m relay| men| women
4 × 400 m relay| men|
Road events
Marathon| men|
20 km walk| men|
50 km walk| men|
Field events
Long jump| men| women
Triple jump| men|
High jump| men| women
Pole vault| men|
Shot put| men| women
Discus throw| men| women
Javelin throw| men| women
Hammer throw| men|
Combined events
Decathlon| men|

* v
* t
* e

At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 33 athletics events were contested, 24 for men and 9 for women. There were a total number of 720 participating athletes from 61 countries.

## Medal summary

[edit]

### Men

[edit]

Event  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze

|
|
|

100 metres
details | Bobby Morrow
United States | 10.5  | Thane Baker
United States | 10.5  | Hector Hogan
Australia | 10.6
200 metres
details | Bobby Morrow
United States | 20.6
(OR) | Andy Stanfield
United States | 20.7  | Thane Baker
United States | 20.9
400 metres
details | Charles Jenkins
United States | 46.7  | Karl-Friedrich Haas
United Team of Germany | 46.8  | Voitto Hellsten
Finland | 47.0
Ardalion Ignatyev
Soviet Union | 47.0
800 metres
details | Tom Courtney
United States | 1:47.7
(OR) | Derek Johnson
Great Britain | 1:47.8  | Audun Boysen
Norway | 1:48.1
1500 metres
details | Ron Delany
Ireland | 3:41.2
(OR) | Klaus Richtzenhain
United Team of Germany | 3:42.0  | John Landy
Australia | 3:42.0
5000 metres
details | Vladimir Kuts
Soviet Union | 13:39.6
(OR) | Gordon Pirie
Great Britain | 13:50.6  | Derek Ibbotson
Great Britain | 13:54.4
10,000 metres
details | Vladimir Kuts
Soviet Union | 28:45.6
(OR) | József Kovács
Hungary | 28:52.4  | Al Lawrence
Australia | 28:53.6
110 metres hurdles
details | Lee Calhoun
United States | 13.5
(OR) | Jack Davis
United States | 13.5
(OR) | Joel Shankle
United States | 14.1
400 metres hurdles
details | Glenn Davis
United States | 50.1
(=OR) | Eddie Southern
United States | 50.8  | Josh Culbreath
United States | 51.6
3000 metres steeplechase
details | Chris Brasher
Great Britain | 8:41.2
(OR) | Sándor Rozsnyói
Hungary | 8:43.6  | Ernst Larsen
Norway | 8:44.0
4 × 100 metres relay
details |  United States (USA)
Ira Murchison
Leamon King
Thane Baker
Bobby Morrow | 39.5
(WR) |  Soviet Union (URS)
Leonid Bartenyev
Boris Tokarev
Yuriy Konovalov
Vladimir Sukharev | 39.8  |  United Team of Germany (EUA)
Lothar Knörzer
Leonhard Pohl
Heinz Fütterer
Manfred Germar | 40.3
4 × 400 metres relay
details |  United States (USA)
Lou Jones
Jesse Mashburn
Charles Jenkins
Tom Courtney | 3:04.8  |  Australia (AUS)
Leon Gregory
David Lean
Graham Gipson
Kevan Gosper | 3:06.2  |  Great Britain (GBR)
John Salisbury
Michael Wheeler
Peter Higgins
Derek Johnson | 3:07.2
Marathon
details | Alain Mimoun
France | 2:25:00  | Franjo Mihalić
Yugoslavia | 2:26:32  | Veikko Karvonen
Finland | 2:27:47
20 kilometres walk
details | Leonid Spirin
Soviet Union | 1:31:27.4
(OR) | Antanas Mikėnas
Soviet Union | 1:32:03.0  | Bruno Junk
Soviet Union | 1:32:12.0
50 kilometres walk
details | Norman Read
New Zealand | 4:30:42.8  | Yevgeny Maskinskov
Soviet Union | 4:32:57.0  | John Ljunggren
Sweden | 4:35:02.0
High jump
details | Charles Dumas
United States | 2.12 m
(OR) | Chilla Porter
Australia | 2.10 m  | Igor Kashkarov
Soviet Union | 2.08 m
Pole vault
details | Bob Richards
United States | 4.56 m
(OR) | Bob Gutowski
United States | 4.53 m  | Georgios Roubanis
Greece | 4.50 m
Long jump
details | Greg Bell
United States | 7.83 m
(OR) | John Bennett
United States | 7.68 m  | Jorma Valkama
Finland | 7.48 m
Triple jump
details | Adhemar da Silva
Brazil | 16.35 m
(OR) | Vilhjálmur Einarsson
Iceland | 16.26 m  | Vitold Kreyer
Soviet Union | 16.02 m
Shot put
details | Parry O'Brien
United States | 18.57 m
(OR) | Bill Nieder
United States | 18.18 m  | Jiří Skobla
Czechoslovakia | 17.65 m
Discus throw
details | Al Oerter
United States | 56.36 m
(OR) | Fortune Gordien
United States | 54.81 m  | Des Koch
United States | 54.40 m
Hammer throw
details | Hal Connolly
United States | 63.19 m
(OR) | Mikhail Krivonosov
Soviet Union | 63.03 m  | Anatoliy Samotsvetov
Soviet Union | 62.56 m
Javelin throw
details | Egil Danielsen
Norway | 85.71 m
(WR) | Janusz Sidło
Poland | 79.98 m  | Viktor Tsybulenko
Soviet Union | 79.50 m
Decathlon
details | Milt Campbell
United States | 7937
(OR) | Rafer Johnson
United States | 7587  | Vasili Kuznetsov
Soviet Union | 7465

### Women

[edit]

Event  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze

|
|
|

100 metres
details | Betty Cuthbert
Australia | 11.5  | Christa Stubnick
United Team of Germany | 11.7  | Marlene Mathews
Australia | 11.7
200 metres
details | Betty Cuthbert
Australia | 23.4
(=OR) | Christa Stubnick
United Team of Germany | 23.7  | Marlene Mathews
Australia | 23.8
80 metres hurdles
details | Shirley Strickland de la Hunty
Australia | 10.7
(OR) | Gisela Köhler
United Team of Germany | 10.9  | Norma Thrower
Australia | 11.0
4 × 100 metres relay
details |  Australia (AUS)
Shirley Strickland de la Hunty
Norma Croker
Fleur Mellor
Betty Cuthbert | 44.5
(WR) |  Great Britain (GBR)
Anne Pashley
Jean Scrivens
June Paul
Heather Armitage | 44.7  |  United States (USA)
Mae Faggs
Margaret Matthews
Wilma Rudolph
Isabelle Daniels | 44.9
High jump
details | Mildred McDaniel
United States | 1.76 m
(WR) | Thelma Hopkins
Great Britain
Mariya Pisareva
Soviet Union | 1.67 m  | none awarded |
Long jump
details | Elżbieta Krzesińska
Poland | 6.35 m
(=WR) | Willye White
United States | 6.09 m  | Nadezhda Dvalishvili
Soviet Union | 6.07 m
Shot put
details | Tamara Tyshkevich
Soviet Union | 16.59 m
(OR) | Galina Zybina
Soviet Union | 16.53 m  | Marianne Werner
United Team of Germany | 15.61 m
Discus throw
details | Olga Fikotová
Czechoslovakia | 53.69 m
(OR) | Irina Beglyakova
Soviet Union | 52.54 m  | Nina Ponomaryova
Soviet Union | 52.02 m
Javelin throw
details | Inese Jaunzeme
Soviet Union | 53.86 m
(OR) | Marlene Ahrens
Chile | 50.38 m  | Nadezhda Konyayeva
Soviet Union | 50.28 m

## Medal table

[edit]

Rank| Nation| Gold| Silver| Bronze| Total

|
|
|
|
|

1|  United States| 16| 10| 5| 31
2|  Soviet Union| 5| 7| 10| 22
3|  Australia| 4| 2| 6| 12
4|  Great Britain| 1| 4| 2| 7
5|  Poland| 1| 1| 0| 2
6|  Norway| 1| 0| 2| 3
7|  Czechoslovakia| 1| 0| 1| 2
8|  Brazil| 1| 0| 0| 1
France| 1| 0| 0| 1
Ireland| 1| 0| 0| 1
New Zealand| 1| 0| 0| 1
12|  United Team of Germany| 0| 5| 2| 7
13|  Hungary| 0| 2| 0| 2
14|  Chile| 0| 1| 0| 1
Iceland| 0| 1| 0| 1
Yugoslavia| 0| 1| 0| 1
17|  Finland| 0| 0| 3| 3
18|  Greece| 0| 0| 1| 1
Sweden| 0| 0| 1| 1
Totals (19 entries)| 33| 34| 33| 100

## References

[edit]

* International Olympic Committee results database
* Athletics Australia

* v
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Events at the 1956 Summer Olympics (Melbourne/Stockholm)

* Athletics
* Association football
* Australian football (demonstration)
* Baseball (demonstration)
* Basketball
* Boxing
* Canoeing
* Cycling
* Diving
* Equestrian
* Fencing
* Field hockey
* Gymnastics
* Modern pentathlon
* Rowing
* Sailing
* Shooting
* Swimming
* Water polo
* Weightlifting
* Wrestling

* v
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Athletics at the Summer Olympics

Editions|

* 1896
* 1900
* 1904
* 1906 (Intercalated)
* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020
* 2024

Events|

| Track|

* 100 m
* 200 m
* 400 m
* 800 m
* 1500 m
* 5000 m
* 10,000 m
* 4 × 100 m relay
* 4 × 400 m relay
* Sprint hurdles
* 400 m hurdles
* Steeplechase

|

Field|

* Shot put
* Discus throw
* Hammer throw
* Javelin throw
* Pole vault
* High jump
* Long jump
* Triple jump

Others|

* Combined events
* Marathon
* Race walking

Defunct|

* Cross country
* Team races
* 60 metres
* Weight throw
* Wheelchair racing
* Professional events
* Handicap events

* List of medalists
* men
* women
* Records
* Venues
* Medal sweeps

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