Artistic Gymnastics at the 1956 Summer Olympics

The 1956 gymnastics events were conducted at the West Melbourne Stadium in Melbourne, called by locals as The Stadium. Built in 1915 it was destroyed by fire in 1955 but was re-built in time for the 1956 Olympics. The venue was renamed Festival Hall in the 1960s, is still known by that name, and is a popular site for rock concerts.

The gymnastics program in 1956 was the same as it had been in 1952 with team and individual all-around events for men and women, six apparatus events for men, four for women, and the women competed in a team portable apparatus competition. The team portable apparatus event was held in 1952 also, but these were the only two times it was contested at the Olympics.

The Soviet Union dominated the events, especially for men, in 1956, winning 7 of the 9 awarded gold medals, and 13 of 27 medals. The women also won the most medals with 10, but both Hungary and the Soviet Union won four gold medals.