The Sports Almanac



1956 Summer Olympics
Melbourne, Australia

MEDAL TOTAL LEADERS

SOVIET UNION -  98 Medals
UNITED STATES -  74 Medals
AUSTRALIA -  35 Medals

Athletics
 Swimming Diving Water Polo
Basketball Boxing Canoeing Cycling
Equestrian
 Fencing
 Soccer
 Gymnastics
Field Hockey Modern Pentathlon Rowing Sailing
Shooting Weightlifting Wrestling

1956 Melbourne Overall Medal Standings
RANK
 COUNTRY
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
 TOTAL
1
 Soviet Union
 37
 29
 32
 98
2
 United States
 32
 25
 17
 74
3
 Australia
 13
 8
 14
 35
4
 Hungary
 9
 10
 7
 26
5
 United Team of Germany
 6
 13
 7
 26
6
 Italy
 8
 8
 9
 25
7
 Great Britain
 6
 7
 11
 24
8
 Sweden
 8
 5
 6
 19
9
 Japan
 4
 10
 5
 19
10
 Finland
 3
 1
 11
 15
11
 France
 4
 4
 6
 14
12
 Romania
 5
 3
 5
 13
13
 Poland
 1
 4
 4
 9
14
 Turkey
 3
 2
 2
 7
15
 Canada
 2
 1
 3
 6
16
 Czechoslovakia
 1
 4
 1
 6
17
 Iran
 2
 2
 1
 5
18
 Bulgaria
 1
 3
 1
 5
19
 Ireland
 1
 1
 3
 5
20
 Denmark
 1
 2
 1
 4
21
 Chile
 0
 2
 2
 4
22
 South Africa
 0
 0
 4
 4
23
 Norway
 1
 0
 2
 3
24
 Yugoslavia
 0
 3
 0
 3
25
 New Zealand
 2
 0
 0
 2
26
 Mexico
 1
 0
 1
 2
27
 Belgium
 0
 2
 0
 2
28
 Argentina
 0
 1
 1
 2
29
 South Korea
 0
 1
 1
 2
30
 Austria
 0
 0
 2
 2
31
 Brazil
 1
 0
 0
 1
32
 India
 1
 0
 0
 1
33
 Iceland
 0
 1
 0
 1
34
 Pakistan
 0
 1
 0
 1
35
 Bahamas
 0
 0
 1
 1
36
 Greece
 0
 0
 1
 1
37
 Switzerland
 0
 0
 1
 1
38
 Uruguay
 0
 0
 1
 1

1956 Melbourne Athletics
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's 100 Meters
 Bobby Morrow - United States
 Thane Baker - United States
 Hector Hogan - Australia
Women's 100 Meters
 Betty Cuthbert - Australia
 Christa Stubnick - United Team of Germany
 Marlene Maththews - Australia
Men's 200 Meters
 Bobby Morrow - United States Andy Stanfield - United States
 Thane Baker - United States
Women's 200 Meters
 Betty Cuthbert - Australia Christa Stubnick - United Team of Germany Marlene Maththews - Australia
Men's 400 Meters
 Charles Jenkins - United States
 Karl-Friedrich Haas - United Team of Germany
 Voitto Hellstén - Finland
Ardalion Ignatyev - Soviet Union
Men's 800 Meters
 Tom Courtney - United States
 Derek Johnson - Great Britain
 Audun Boysen - Norway
Men's 1500 Meters
 Ron Delany - Ireland
 Klaus Richtzenhain - United Team of Germany John Landy - Australia
Men's 5000 Meters
 Vladimir Kuts - Soviet Union
 Gordon Pirie - Great Britain
 Derek Ibbotson - Great Britain
Men's 10000 Meters
 Vladimir Kuts - Soviet Union József Kovács - Hungary
 Allan Lawrence - Australia
Men's 110 Meter Hurdles
 Lee Calhoun - United States
 Jack Davis - United States
 Joel Shankle - United States
Women's 80 Meter Hurdles
 Shirley Strickland de la Hunty - Australia
 Gisela Köhler - United Team of Germany
 Norma Thrower - Australia
Men's 400 Meter Hurdles
 Glenn Davis - United States
 Eddie Southern - United States
 Joshua Culbreath - United States
Men's 3000 Meter Steeplechase
 Chros Brasher - Great Britain
 Sándor Rozsnyói - Hungary
 Ernst Larsen - Norway
Men's 4X100 Meter Relay
 United States
 Soviet Union
 United Team of Germany
Women's 4X100 Meter Relay
 Australia
 Great Britain
 United States
Men's 4X400 Meter Relay
 United States
 Australia
 Great Britain
Men's Marathon
 Alain Mimoun - France
 Franjo Mihalić - Yugoslavia
 Veikko Karvonen - Finland
Men's 20KM Walk
 Leonid Spirin - Soviet Union
 Antanas Mikenas - Soviet Union
 Bruno Junk - Soviet Union
Men's 50KM Walk
 Norman Read - New Zealand
 Yevgeniy Maskinskov - Soviet Union
 John Ljunggren - Sweden
Men's Long Jump
 Greg Bell - United States
 John Bennett - United States
 Jorma Valkama - Finland
Women's Long Jump
 Elżbieta Krzesińska - Poland
 Willye White - United States
 Nadezhda Dvalishvili - Soviet Union
Men's Triple Jump
 Adhemar da Silva - Brazil
 Vilhjálmur Einarsson - Iceland
 Vitold Kreer - Soviet Union
Men's High Jump
 Charles Dumas - United States
 Chilla Porter - Australia
 Igor Kashkarov - Soviet Union
Women's High Jump
 Mildred McDaniel - United States
 Thelma Hopkins - Great Britain
Mariya Pisareva - Soviet Union
 None Awarded
Men's Pole Vault
 Bob Richards - United States
 Bob Gutowski - United States
 Georgios Roubanis - Greece
Men's Shot Put
 Parry O'Brien - United States
 Bill Nieder - United States
 Jiří Skobla - Czechoslovakia
Women's Shot Put
 Tamara Tyshkevich - Soviet Union
 Galina Zybina - Soviet Union
 Marianne Werner - United Team of Germany
Men's Discus
 Al Oerter - United States
 Fortune Gordien - United States
 Desmond Koch - United States
Women's Discus
 Olga Fikotová - Czechoslovakia
 Irina Beglyakova - Soviet Union
 Nina Ponomaryova - Soviet Union
Men's Javelin
 Egil Danielsen - Norway
 Janusz Sidło - Poland
 Viktor Tsybulenko - Soviet Union
Women's Javelin
 Inese Jaunzeme - Soviet Union
 Marlene Ahrens - Chile
 Nadezhda Konyayeva - Soviet Union
Men's Hammer Throw
 Harold Connolly - United States
 Mikhail Krivonosov - Soviet Union
 Anatoli Samotsvetov - Soviet Union
Decathlon
 Milt Campbell - United States
 Rafer Johnson - United States
 Vasili Kuznetsov - Soviet Union

1956 Melbourne Swimming
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's 100 Meter Freestyle
 John Henricks - Australia
 John Devitt - Australia
 Gary Chapman - Australia
Women's 100 Meter Freestyle
 Dawn Fraser - Australia
 Lorraine Crapp - Australia
 Faith Leech - Australia
Men's 400 Meter Freestyle
 Murray Rose - Australia
 Tsuyoshi Yamanaka - Japan
 George Breen - United States
Women's 400 Meter Freestyle
 Lorraine Crapp - Australia Dawn Fraser - Australia Sylvia Ruuska - United States
Men's 1500 Meter Freestyle
 Murray Rose - Australia Tsuyoshi Yamanaka - Japan George Breen - United States
Men's 100 Meter Backstroke
 David Theile - Australia
 John Monckton - Australia
 Frank McKinney - United States
Women's 100 Meter Backstroke
 Judy Grinham - Great Britain
 Carin Cone - United States
 Margaret Edwards - Great Britain
Men's 200 Meter Breaststroke
 Masaru Furukawa - Japan
 Masahiro Yoshimura - Japan
 Kharis Yunichev - Soviet Union
Women's 200 Meter Breaststroke
 Ursula Happe - United Team of Germany
 Éva Székely - Hungary
 Eva-Maria Elsen - United Team of Germany
Women's 100 Meter Butterfly
 Shelley Mann - United States
 Nancy Ramey - United States
 Mary Sears - United States
Men's 200 Meter Butterfly
 William Yorzyk - United States
 Takashi Ishimoto - Japan
 György Tumpek - Hungary
Women's 4X100 Meter Freestyle Relay
 Australia
 United States
 South Africa
Men's 4X200 Meter Freestyle Relay
 Australia
 United States
 Soviet Union

1956 Melbourne Diving
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's 3 Meter Springboard
 Bob Clotworthy - United States
 Donlald Harper - United States
 Joaquín Capilla - Mexico
Women's 3 Meter Springboard
 Pat McCormick - United States
 Jeanne Stunyo - United States
 Irene MacDonald - Canada
Men's 10 Meter Platform
 Joaquín Capilla - Mexico Gary Tobian - United States
 Richard Connor - United States
Women's 10 Meter Platform
 Pat McCormick - United States Juno Stover-Irwin - United States
 Paula Jean Myers-Pope - United States

1956 Melbourne Water Polo
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's
 Hungary
 Yugoslavia
 Soviet Union

1956 Melbourne Basketball
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's
 United States
 Soviet Union
 Uruguay

1956 Melbourne Boxing
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Flyweight
 Terence Spinks - Great Britain
 Mircea Dobrescu - Romania
 John Caldwell - Ireland
René Libeer - France
Bantanweight
 Wolfgang Behrendt - United Team of Germany
 Song Soo-Chun - South Korea
 Claudio Barrieentos - Chile
Frederick Gilroy - Ireland
Featherweight
 Vladimir Safranov - Soviet Union
 Thomas Nicholls - Great Britain
 Henryk Niedźwiedzki - Poland
Pentti Hämäläinen - Finland
Lightweight
 Richard McTaggart - Great Britain
 Harry Kurschat - United Team of Germany Anatoly Lagetko - Soviet Union
Anthony Byrne - Ireland
Light Welterweight
 Vladimir Yengibaryan - Soviet Union
 Franco Nenci - Italy
 Constantin Dumitrescu - Romania
Henry Loubscher - South Africa
Welterweight
 Nicolae Linca - Romania
 Fred Tiedt - Ireland
 Kevin Hogarth - Australia
Nicholas Gargano - Great Britain
Light Middleweight
 László Papp - Hungary
 José Torres - United States
 John McCormack - Great Britain
Zbigniew Pietrzykowski - Poland
Middleweight
 Gennadi Schatkov - Soviet Union
 Ramón Tapia - Chile
 Gilbert Chapron - France
Victor Zalazar - Argentina
Light Heavyweight
 James Boyd - United States
 Gheorghe Negrea - Romania
 Carlos Lucas - Chile
Romualdas Murauskas - Soviet Union
Heavyweight
 Pete Rademacher - United States
 Lev Mukhin - Soviet Union
 Daniel Bekker - South Africa
Giacomo Bozzano - Italy

1956 Melbourne Canoeing
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's C-1 1000 Meters
 Leon Rotman - Romania
 István Hernek - Hungary
 Gennady Bukharin - Soviet Union
Men's C-1 10000 Meters Leon Rotman - Romania János Parti - Hungary
 Gennady Bukharin - Soviet Union
Men's C-2 1000 Meters
 Alexe Dumitru, Simion Ismailciuc - Romania
 Pavel Kharin, Gratsian Botev - Soviet Union
 Károly Wieland, Ferenc Mohácsi - Hungary
Men's C-2 10000 Meters Pavel Kharin, Gratsian Botev - Soviet Union Georges Dransart, Marcel Renaud - France
 Imre Farkas, Józef Hunics - Hungary
Men's K-1 1000 Meters
 Gert Fredriksson - Sweden
 Igor Pissarov - Soviet Union
 Lajos Kiss - Hungary
Men's K-1 10000 Meters
 Gert Fredriksson - Sweden Ferenc Hatlaczky - Hungary
 Michael Scheuer - United Team of Germany
Men's K-2 1000 Meters
 Michael Scheuer, Meinrad Miltenberger - United Team of Germany Mikhail Kaaleste, Anatoli Demitkov - Soviet Union
 Maximilian Raub, Herbert Weidermann - Austria
Men's K-2 10000 Meters
 János Urányi, László Fábián - Hungary
 Fritz Briel, Theodor Kleine - United Team of Germany
 Dennis Green, Walter Brown - Australia
Women's K-1 500 Meters
 Yelizaveta Dementyeva - Soviet Union
 Therese Zenz - United Team of Germany
 Tove Sřby - Denmark

1956 Melbourne Cycling
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
ROAD CYCLING
Individual
 Ercole Baldini - Italy
 Arnaud Geyre - France
 Alan Jackson - Great Britain
Team
 France
 Great Britain
 United Team of Germany
TRACK CYCLING
Team Pursuit
 Italy
 France
 Great Britain
Sprint
 Michel Rousseau - France
 Guglielmo Pesenti - Italy
 Dick Ploog - Australia
Tandem
 Ian Browne, Tony Marchant - Australia
 Ladislav Fouček, Václav Machek - Czechoslovakia
 Giusseppe Ogna, Cesare Pinarello - Italy
Time Trial
 Leandro Faggin - Italy
 Ladislav Fouček - Czechoslovakia Alfred Swift - South Africa

1956 Melbourne Equestrian
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Individual Dressage
 Henri Saint Cyr - Sweden
 Lis Hartel - Denmark
 Liselott Linsenhoff - United Team of Germany
Team Dressage
 Sweden
 United Team of Germany
 Switzerland
Individual Eventing
 Petrus Kastenman - Sweden
 August Lütke-Westhues - United Team of Germany
 Francis Weldon - Great Britain
Team Eventing
 Great Britain
 United Team of Germany Canada
Individual Jumping
 Hans Günter Winkler - United Team of Germany
 Raimondo D'Inzeo - Italy
 Piero D'Inzeo - Italy
Team Jumping
 United Team of Germany Italy
 Great Britain

1956 Melbourne Fencing
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's Individual Épée
 Carlo Pavesi - Italy
 Giuseppe Delfino - Italy
 Edoardo Mangiarotti - Italy
Men's Team Épée Italy
 Hungary
 France
Men's Individual Foil
 Christian d'Oriola - France
 Giancarlo Bergamini - Italy
 Antonio Spallino - Italy
Men's Team Foil
 Italy
 France
 Hungary
Men's Individual Sabre
 Rudolf Kárpáti - Hungary
 Jerzy Pawłowski - Poland
 Lev Kuznetsov - Soviet Union
Men's Team Sabre Hungary
 Poland
 Soviet Union
Women's Individual Foil
 Gilliam Sheen - Great Britain
 Olga Orban - Romania
 Renée Garilhe - France

1956 Melbourne Field Hockey
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's
 India
 Pakistan
 United Team of Germany

1956 Melbourne Soccer
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's
 Soviet Union
 Yugoslavia
 Bulgaria

1956 Melbourne Gymnastics
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Men's Individual All-Around
 Viktor Chukarin - Soviet Union
 Takashi Ono - Japan
 Yuri Titov - Soviet Union
Women's Individual All-Around
 Larisa Latynina - Soviet Union
 Ágnes Keleti - Hungary
 Sofia Muratova - Soviet Union
Men's Team All-Around
 Soviet Union
 Japan
 Finland
Women's Team All-Around
 Soviet Union
 Hungary
 Romania
Men's Vault
 Helmut Bantz - United Team of Germany
Valentin Muratov - Soviet Union
 None Awarded Yuri Titov - Soviet Union
Women's Vault
 Larisa Latynina - Soviet Union Tamara Manina - Soviet Union Olga Lemhényi-Tass - Hungary
Ann-Sofi Pettersson - Sweden
Men's Floor
 Valentin Muratov - Soviet Union
 Nobuyuki Aihara - Japan
William Thoresson - Sweden
Viktor Chukarin - Soviet Union
 None Awarded
Women's Floor
 Ágnes Keleti - Hungary
Larisa Latynina - Soviet Union
 None Awarded Elena Leuşteanu - Romania
Men's Pommel Horse
 Boris Shakhlin - Soviet Union
 Takashi Ono - Japan Viktor Chukarin - Soviet Union
Women's Balance Beam
 Ágnes Keleti - Hungary Eva Bosáková - Czecholsovakia
Tamara Manina - Soviet Union
 None Awarded
Men's Rings
 Albert Azaryan - Soviet Union
 Valentin Muratov - Soviet Union Masao Takemoto - Japan
Masumi Kubota - Japan
Men's Horizontal Bar
 Takashi Ono - Japan Yuri Titov - Soviet Union Masao Takemoto - Japan
Men's Parallel Bars
 Viktor Chukarin - Soviet Union Masumi Kubota - Japan
 Takashi Ono - Japan
Masao Takemoto - Japan
Women's Uneven Bars
 Ágnes Keleti - Hungary Larisa Latynina - Soviet Union Sofia Muratova - Soviet Union
Team, Portable Apparatus
 Hungary
 Sweden
 Soviet Union
Poland

1956 Melbourne Modern Pentathlon
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Individual
 Lars Hall - Sweden
 Olavi Mannonen - Finland
 Väinö Korhonen - Finland
Team
 Soviet Union
 United States
 Finland

1956 Melbourne Rowing
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Single Sculls
 Vyacheslav Ivanov - Soviet Union
 Stuart MacKenzie - Australia
 John B. Kelly, Jr. - United States
Double Sculls Aleksandr Berkutov, Yuriy Tyukalov - Soviet Union
 Pat Costello, Jim Gardiner - United States
 Murray Riley, Mervyn Wood - Australia
Coxless Pairs
 James Fifer, Duvall Hecht - United States
 Igor Buldakov, Viktor Ivanov - Soviet Union
 Josef Kloimstein, Alfred Sageder - Austria
Coxed Pairs
 United States
 United Team of Germany
 Soviet Union
Coxless Fours
 Canada
 United States
 France
Coxed Fours
 Italy
 Sweden
 Finland
Eights
 United States
 Canada
 Australia

1956 Melbourne Sailing
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Finn
 Paul Elvstrřm - Denmark
 André Nelis - Belgium
 John Marvin - United States
12 Meter Sharpie
 Peter Mander, Jack Cropp - New Zealand
 Rolland Tasker, John Scott - Australia
 Jasper Blackall, Terence Smith - Great Britain
Star
 Herbert Williams, Lawrence Low - United States
 Agostino Straulino, Nicolň Rode - Italy
 Durward Knowles, Sloane Farrington - Bahamas
Dragon
 Folke Bohlin, Bengt Palmquist, Leif Wikström - Sweden
 Ole Berntsen, Cyril Andresen, Christian von Bülow - Denmark
 Graham Mann, Ronald Backus, Jonathan Janson - Great Britain
5.5 Meter Keelboat
 Sweden
 Great Britain
 Australia

1956 Melbourne Shooting
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Rapid Fire Pistol
 Ștefan Petrescu - Romania
 Yevgeny Cherkasov - Soviet Union
 Gheroghe Lichiardopol - Romania
Pistol
 Pentti Linnosvuo - Finland
 Makhmud Umarov - Soviet Union
 Offutt Pinion - United States
300 Meter Rifle, Three Positions
 Vasily Borisov - Soviet Union
 Allan Erdman - Soviet Union
 Vilho Ylönen - Finland
Rifle, Three Positions
 Anatoli Bogdanov - Soviet Union
 Otakar Hořínek - Czechoslovakia
 John Sundberg - Sweden
Rifle, Prone
 Gerald Ouellette - Canada
 Vasily Borisov - Soviet Union Stuart Boa - Canada
Running Deer
 Vitali Romanenko - Soviet Union
 Per Olof Sköldberg - Sweden
 Vladimir Sevryugin - Soviet Union
Trap
 Galliano Rossini - Italy
 Adam Smelczyński - Poland
 Alessandro Ciceri - Italy

1956 Melbourne Weightlifting
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Bantamweight
 Charles Vinci - United States
 Vladimir Stogov - Soviet Union
 Mahmoud Namjoo - Iran
Featherweight
 Isaac Berger - United States
 Yevgeni Minaev - Soviet Union
 Marian Zieliński - Poland
Lightweight
 Igor Rybak - Soviet Union
 Ravil Khabutdinov - Soviet Union
 Kim Chang-Hee - South Korea
Middleweight
 Fyodor Bogdanovsky - Soviet Union
 Pete George - United States
 Ermanno Pignatti - Italy
Light Heavyweight
 Tommy Kono - United States
 Vasili Stepanov - Soviet Union
 James George - United States
Middle Heavyweight
 Arkadi Vorobyev - Soviet Union
 David Sheppard - United States
 Jean Debuf - France
Heavyweight
 Paul Anderson - United States
 Humberto Selvetti - Argentina
 Alberto Pigaiani - Italy

1956 Melbourne Wrestling
EVENT
 GOLD
 SILVER
 BRONZE
Freestyle Flyweight
 Mirian Tsalkalamanidze - Soviet Union
 M. Ali Khojastehpour - Iran
 Hüseyin Akbaş - Turkey
Freestyle Bantamweight
 Mustafa Dağıstanlı - Turkey
 Mehdi Yaghoubi - Iran
 Mikhail Shakov - Soviet Union
Freestyle Featherweight
 Shozo Sasahara - Japan
 Joseph Mewis - Belgium
 Erkki Penttilä - Finland
Freestyle Lightweight
 Emam-Ali Habibi - Iran
 Shigeru Kasahara - Japan
 Alimberg Bestayev - Soviet Union
Freestyle Welterweight
 Mitsuo Ikeda - Japan
 Ibrahim Zengin - Turkey
 Vakhtang Balavadze - Soviet Union
Freestyle Middleweight
 Nikola Stanchev - Bulgaria
 Danny Hodge - United States
 Georgi Skhirtladze - Soviet Union
Freestyle Light Heavyweight
 Gholamreza Takhti - Iran
 Boris Kulayev - Soviet Union
 Peter Blair - United States
Freestyle Heavyweight
 Hamit Kaplan - Turkey
 Hussein Mehmedov - Bulgaria
 Taisto Kangasniemi - Finland
Greco-Roman Flyweight Nikolai Solovyov - Soviet Union
 Ignazio Fabra - Italy
 Dursun Ali Egribas - Turkey
Greco-Roman Bantamweight Konstantin Vyrupayev - Soviet Union
 Edvin Vesterby - Sweden
 Francisc Horvat - Romania
Greco-Roman Featherweight Rauno Mäkinen - Finland
 Imre Polyák - Hungary
 Roman Dzeneladze - Soviet Union
Greco-Roman Lightweight Kyösti Lehtonen - Finland
 Riza Dogen - Turkey
 Gyula Tóth - Hungary
Greco-Roman Welterweight Mithat Bayrak - Turkey
 Vladimir Maneyev - Soviet Union
 Per Gunnar Berlin - Sweden
Greco-Roman Middleweight Givi Kartozia - Soviet Union
 Dimitar Dobrev - Bulgaria
 Rune Jansson - Sweden
Greco-Roman Light Heavyweight Valentin Nikolayev - Soviet Union
 Petko Sirakov - Bulgaria
 Karl-Erik Nilsson - Sweden
Greco-Roman Heavyweight Anatoli Parfenov - Soviet Union
 Wilfried Dietrich - United Team of Germany
 Adelmo Bulgarelli - Italy