Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Summary

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.

Athletics
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Dates23 November to 1 December
No. of events33
Competitors720 from 61 nations
← 1952
1960 →

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 Hellstén
  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 Allan 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 Joshua 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)
Thane Baker
Leamon King
Bobby Morrow
Ira Murchison
39.5
(WR)
  Soviet Union (URS)
Leonid Bartenev
Yuriy Konovalov
Vladimir Sukharev
Boris Tokarev
39.8   United Team of Germany (EUA)
Heinz Fütterer
Manfred Germar
Lothar Knörzer
Leonhard Pohl
40.3
4 × 400 metres relay
details
  United States (USA)
Tom Courtney
Charles Jenkins
Lou Jones
Jesse Mashburn
3:04.8   Australia (AUS)
Graham Gipson
Kevan Gosper
Leon Gregory
David Lean
3:06.2   Great Britain (GBR)
Peter Higgins
Derek Johnson
John Salisbury
Michael Wheeler
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 Antanas Mikenas
  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 Yevgeniy 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 John Bennett
  United States
7.68 m Jorma Valkama
  Finland
7.48 m
Triple jump
details
Adhemar Ferreira da Silva
  Brazil
16.35 m
(OR)
Vilhjálmur Einarsson
  Iceland
16.26 m Vitold Kreer
  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 Desmond Koch
  United States
54.40 m
Hammer throw
details
Harold Connolly
  United States
63.19 m
(OR)
Mikhail Krivonosov
  Soviet Union
63.03 m Anatoli 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 Matthews
  Australia
11.7
200 metres
details
Betty Cuthbert
  Australia
23.4
(=OR)
Christa Stubnick
  United Team of Germany
23.7 Marlene Matthews
  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)
Norma Croker
Betty Cuthbert
Fleur Mellor
Shirley Strickland de la Hunty
44.5
(WR)
  Great Britain (GBR)
Heather Armitage
Anne Pashley
June Paul
Jean Scrivens
44.7   United States (USA)
Isabelle Daniels
Mae Faggs
Margaret Matthews
Wilma Rudolph
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

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  United States1610531
2  Soviet Union571022
3  Australia42612
4  Great Britain1427
5  Poland1102
6  Norway1023
7  Czechoslovakia1012
8  Brazil1001
  France1001
  Ireland1001
  New Zealand1001
12  United Team of Germany0527
13  Hungary0202
14  Chile0101
  Iceland0101
  Yugoslavia0101
17  Finland0033
18  Greece0011
  Sweden0011
Totals (19 entries)333433100

References edit

  • International Olympic Committee results database
  • Athletics Australia