| Date | 3 – 7 December 1956 — 08:00-14:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | West Melbourne Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria | |
| Participants | 64 from 15 countries | |
| Format | Placement determined by best scores on apparatus in individual all-around event. | |
Gold on this apparatus went to Soviet Larysa Latynina, who also won gold in Melbourne in the all-around, the team event, and the floor exercise. She would return in 1960 and add a bronze on vault, and 1964, adding a silver. Second in 1956 went to Latynina’s teammate Tamara Manina, while bronze was shared by Hungary’s Olga Tass-Lemhényi and Sweden’s Ann-Sofi Pettersson-Colling. The 1954 World Championship title on vault was shared by Manina and Pettersson-Colling. This was the only apparatus gold medal that was not won in 1956 by Hungary’s Ágnes Keleti.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Points | CEP | OEP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larisa Latynina |  URS | 18.833 | 9.433 | 9.400 | Gold | 1 | |
| 2 | Tamara Manina |  URS | 18.800 | 9.466 | 9.333 | Silver | 2 | |
| =3 | Ann-Sofi Colling |  SWE | 18.733 | 9.433 | 9.300 | Bronze | 3 | |
| =3 | Olga Tass-Lemhényi |  HUN | 18.733 | 9.166 | 9.566 | Bronze | 4 | |
| 5 | Sofya Muratova |  URS | 18.666 | 9.500 | 9.166 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Elena Leuştean |  ROU | 18.633 | 9.266 | 9.366 | 6 | ||
| =7 | Natalia Kot |  POL | 18.500 | 9.333 | 9.166 | 7 | ||
| =7 | Helena Rakoczy |  POL | 18.500 | 9.233 | 9.266 | 8 | ||
| 9 | Lyudmila Yegorova |  URS | 18.466 | 9.200 | 9.266 | 9 | ||
| =10 | Doris Hedberg |  SWE | 18.433 | 9.200 | 9.233 | 10 | ||
| =10 | Miranda Cicognani |  ITA | 18.433 | 9.066 | 9.366 | 11 | ||
| 12 | Elena Lagorara |  ITA | 18.300 | 8.933 | 9.366 | 12 | ||
| =13 | Sonia Inovan |  ROU | 18.266 | 9.100 | 9.166 | 13 | ||
| =13 | Andrea Bodó-Molnár |  HUN | 18.266 | 9.066 | 9.200 | 14 | ||
| =13 | Georgeta Hurmuzachi |  ROU | 18.266 | 8.966 | 9.300 | 15 | ||
| =16 | Dorota Jokiel |  POL | 18.233 | 9.133 | 9.100 | 16 | ||
| =16 | Anna Marejková |  TCH | 18.233 | 9.133 | 9.100 | 17 | ||
| =16 | Keiko Tanaka |  JPN | 18.233 | 9.133 | 9.100 | 18 | ||
| =16 | Margit Korondi |  HUN | 18.233 | 8.900 | 9.333 | 19 | ||
| =20 | Matylda Šínová |  TCH | 18.200 | 9.033 | 9.166 | 20 | ||
| =20 | Luciana Reali |  ITA | 18.200 | 9.000 | 9.200 | 21 | ||
| 22 | Eva Bosáková-Věchtová |  TCH | 18.166 | 9.000 | 9.166 | 22 | ||
| =23 | Kazuko Sogabe |  JPN | 18.133 | 9.066 | 9.066 | 23 | ||
| =23 | Elena Mărgărit |  ROU | 18.133 | 8.933 | 9.200 | 24 | ||
| =23 | Karin Lindberg |  SWE | 18.133 | 8.866 | 9.266 | 25 | ||
| =23 | Ágnes Keleti |  HUN | 18.133 | 8.833 | 9.300 | 26 | ||
| =27 | Eva Rönström |  SWE | 18.100 | 8.900 | 9.200 | 27 | ||
| =27 | Ivanka Dolzheva |  BUL | 18.100 | 8.900 | 9.200 | 28 | ||
| =27 | Elena Săcălici |  ROU | 18.100 | 8.866 | 9.233 | 29 | ||
| =30 | Mitsuka Ikeda |  JPN | 18.066 | 9.133 | 8.933 | 30 | ||
| =30 | Emilia Vătăşoiu |  ROU | 18.066 | 8.900 | 9.166 | 31 | ||
| =32 | Maude Karlén |  SWE | 18.033 | 8.966 | 9.066 | 32 | ||
| =32 | Joyce Racek |  USA | 18.033 | 8.900 | 9.133 | 33 | ||
| =32 | Rosella Cicognani |  ITA | 18.033 | 8.733 | 9.300 | 34 | ||
| =35 | Alena Reichová |  TCH | 18.000 | 9.000 | 9.000 | 35 | ||
| =35 | Doris Fuchs |  USA | 18.000 | 8.966 | 9.033 | 36 | ||
| =35 | Saltirka Tarpova |  BUL | 18.000 | 8.900 | 9.100 | 37 | ||
| 38 | Evy Berggren |  SWE | 17.966 | 9.100 | 8.866 | 38 | ||
| 39 | Luciana Lagorara |  ITA | 17.933 | 8.800 | 9.133 | 39 | ||
| =40 | Pat Hirst |  GBR | 17.900 | 8.966 | 8.933 | 40 | ||
| =40 | Erzsébet Gulyás-Köteles |  HUN | 17.900 | 8.866 | 9.033 | 41 | ||
| =42 | Věra Drazdíková |  TCH | 17.866 | 9.000 | 8.866 | 42 | ||
| =42 | Suzuko Seki |  JPN | 17.866 | 9.000 | 8.866 | 43 | ||
| =42 | Danuta Nowak-Stachow |  POL | 17.866 | 8.966 | 8.900 | 44 | ||
| 45 | Ernestine Russell |  CAN | 17.833 | 9.000 | 8.833 | 45 | ||
| =46 | Sandra Ruddick |  USA | 17.800 | 8.933 | 8.866 | 46 | ||
| =46 | Tsvetanka Stancheva |  BUL | 17.800 | 8.933 | 8.866 | 47 | ||
| =48 | Lidia Szczerbińska |  POL | 17.733 | 9.033 | 8.700 | 48 | ||
| =48 | Miroslava Brdíčková |  TCH | 17.733 | 8.866 | 8.866 | 49 | ||
| =50 | Barbara Ślizowska |  POL | 17.566 | 8.833 | 8.733 | 50 | ||
| =50 | Polina Astakhova |  URS | 17.566 | 8.733 | 8.833 | 51 | ||
| =50 | Kyoko Kubota |  JPN | 17.566 | 8.733 | 8.833 | 52 | ||
| 53 | Elisa Calsi |  ITA | 17.533 | 8.700 | 8.833 | 53 | ||
| 54 | Shizuko Sakashita |  JPN | 17.500 | 8.800 | 8.700 | 54 | ||
| 55 | Danièle Sicot |  FRA | 17.400 | 8.400 | 9.000 | 55 | ||
| 56 | Lidiya Kalinina |  URS | 17.333 | 9.200 | 8.133 | 56 | ||
| 57 | Jackie Klein |  USA | 17.300 | 8.633 | 8.666 | 57 | ||
| 58 | Muriel Davis |  USA | 16.966 | 8.633 | 8.333 | 58 | ||
| 59 | Judy Howe |  USA | 16.266 | 8.600 | 7.666 | 59 | ||
| 60 | Annette Krier |  LUX | 15.833 | 8.033 | 7.800 | 60 | ||
| 61 | Barbara Cunningham |  AUS | 15.400 | 7.800 | 7.600 | 61 | ||
| 62 | Ing Fraser |  AUS | 14.366 | 7.733 | 6.633 | 62 | ||
| 63 | Wendy Nicholls |  AUS | 13.633 | 5.933 | 7.700 | 63 | ||
| 64 | Aliz Kertész |  HUN | 8.766 | 8.766 | 0.000 | 64 |