Tandem Sprint (2,000 metres), Men

No real favorite existed in this event in 1956. Ten duos started with all matches consisting of a single race. The eight quarter-finalists consisted of the winners of the four first round heats, three repêchages, and a repêchage final. The Australian tandem of Ian Browne and Anthony Marchant had been paired up just weeks before the Olympics and had no international experience. They lost their first round heat badly, placing third behind Germany and South Africa. They then lost their repêchage heat to Czechoslovakia, and were forced into a re-run repêchage race, where they defeated the United States and Germany to make the quarters. In the finals, they got revenge on South Africa to make the semi-finals, where they were joined by Italy, Czechoslovakia, and Great Britain. The Italian pair of Giuseppe Ogna and Cesare Pinarello was considered to have a slight edge – Pinarello had won bronze in this event in 1952 with Antonio Maspes. But the Australians ousted them in the semi-finals and again met the Czechoslovakian pair of Ladislav Fouček and Václav Machek in the final. In the final Browne and Marchant surprised the Czechs by starting their sprint before the last lap, and could not be caught as they won the gold. The bronze medal match had to be re-run when the British team snapped their rear axle on the first run. They changed the wheel, but were no match for the Italians, who won the bronze medal.