Dates | 23 November – 1 December 1956 |
---|---|
Medal Events | 33 |
The Melbourne Olympics were the first Games held in the Southern Hemisphere and were held at the end of November, and finished in December. Athletics was conducted at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. The stars of the Games were both sprinters. Bobby Joe Morrow won the 100, 200, and anchored the 4x100 relay for the United States. But receiving most of the acclaim was his female counterpart, Betty Cuthbert, of the host nation, who duplicated his feat in winning three gold medals. Vladimir Kuts of the USSR won the first gold medal for a male athlete from that nation, doubling in the 5 and 10K. On the field Al Oerter won the first of four consecutive gold medals in the discus throw. His teammate, Hal Connolly, won the hammer throw in a highly anticipated battle against Soviet Mikhail Krivonosov, who placed second. During the 1956 Olympics, Connolly also met Czech discus thrower Olga Fikotová, and they began a romance that ended with them marrying later in 1957. Emil Zátopek served as best man at the wedding in Praha.
Event | Status | Date | Participants | NOCs |
---|---|---|---|---|
100 metres, Men | Olympic | 23 – 24 November 1956 | 65 | 31 |
200 metres, Men | Olympic | 26 – 27 November 1956 | 67 | 32 |
400 metres, Men | Olympic | 28 – 29 November 1956 | 43 | 23 |
800 metres, Men | Olympic | 23 – 26 November 1956 | 38 | 24 |
1,500 metres, Men | Olympic | 29 November – 1 December 1956 | 37 | 22 |
5,000 metres, Men | Olympic | 26 – 28 November 1956 | 23 | 13 |
10,000 metres, Men | Olympic | 23 November 1956 | 25 | 15 |
Marathon, Men | Olympic | 1 December 1956 | 46 | 23 |
110 metres Hurdles, Men | Olympic | 27 – 28 November 1956 | 24 | 15 |
400 metres Hurdles, Men | Olympic | 23 – 24 November 1956 | 28 | 18 |
3,000 metres Steeplechase, Men | Olympic | 27 – 29 November 1956 | 23 | 13 |
4 x 100 metres Relay, Men | Olympic | 30 November – 1 December 1956 | 72 | 18 |
4 x 400 metres Relay, Men | Olympic | 30 November – 1 December 1956 | 61 | 15 |
20 kilometres Race Walk, Men | Olympic | 28 November 1956 | 21 | 10 |
50 kilometres Race Walk, Men | Olympic | 24 November 1956 | 21 | 10 |
High Jump, Men | Olympic | 23 November 1956 | 28 | 19 |
Pole Vault, Men | Olympic | 24 – 26 November 1956 | 19 | 12 |
Long Jump, Men | Olympic | 24 November 1956 | 32 | 21 |
Triple Jump, Men | Olympic | 27 November 1956 | 32 | 20 |
Shot Put, Men | Olympic | 28 November 1956 | 14 | 10 |
Discus Throw, Men | Olympic | 27 November 1956 | 20 | 15 |
Hammer Throw, Men | Olympic | 24 November 1956 | 22 | 14 |
Javelin Throw, Men | Olympic | 26 November 1956 | 21 | 12 |
Decathlon, Men | Olympic | 29 – 30 November 1956 | 15 | 8 |
100 metres, Women | Olympic | 24 – 26 November 1956 | 34 | 16 |
200 metres, Women | Olympic | 29 – 30 November 1956 | 27 | 12 |
80 metres Hurdles, Women | Olympic | 27 – 28 November 1956 | 22 | 11 |
4 x 100 metres Relay, Women | Olympic | 1 December 1956 | 36 | 9 |
High Jump, Women | Olympic | 1 December 1956 | 19 | 12 |
Long Jump, Women | Olympic | 27 November 1956 | 19 | 11 |
Shot Put, Women | Olympic | 30 November 1956 | 18 | 9 |
Discus Throw, Women | Olympic | 23 November 1956 | 22 | 12 |
Javelin Throw, Women | Olympic | 28 November 1956 | 19 | 12 |
720 (573/147) | 59 (59/27) |
NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | ![]() |
16 | 10 | 5 | 31 |
Soviet Union | ![]() |
5 | 7 | 10 | 22 |
Australia | ![]() |
4 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
Great Britain | ![]() |
1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
Poland | ![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Norway | ![]() |
1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Czechoslovakia | ![]() |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Brazil | ![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
France | ![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Ireland | ![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
New Zealand | ![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Germany | ![]() |
0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
Hungary | ![]() |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Chile | ![]() |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Iceland | ![]() |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Yugoslavia | ![]() |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Finland | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Greece | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Sweden | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |