Great Britain at the
1956 Summer Olympics
Flag of the United Kingdom
IOC codeGBR
NOCBritish Olympic Association
in Melbourne/Stockholm
Competitors189 (163 men and 26 women) in 17 sports
Flag bearerGeorge Mackenzie
Medals
Ranked 8th
Gold
6
Silver
7
Bronze
11
Total
24
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. British athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 189 competitors, 163 men and 26 women, took part in 108 events in 17 sports.[1]

The Melbourne Games saw an improvement on Great Britain and Northern Ireland's performance at the two preceding Games. British athletes won six gold medals (up from just one in 1952). Overall, they won twenty-four medals, finishing eighth.

Medallists

Medals by sport
Sport Total
Boxing 2 1 2 5
Athletics 1 4 2 7
Equestrian 1 0 2 3
Swimming 1 0 1 2
Fencing 1 0 0 1
Cycling 0 1 2 3
Sailing 0 1 2 3
Total 6 7 11 24

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Men's 110m Hurdles

  • Heat — 14.5s (→ did not advance)
  • Heat — 14.8s (→ did not advance)

Men's 1500m

  • Final— 3:42.6 (→ 5th place)
  • Final— 3:43.0 (→ 8th place)
  • Final— 3:44.76 (→ 9th place)

Men's Marathon

Women's Discus Throw

  • Qualifying Round — 41.45 m (→ did not advance, 14th place)

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Men's Light Flyweight (– 48 kg)

Men's Flyweight (– 51 kg)

Men's Bantamweight (– 54 kg)

Men's Featherweight (– 57 kg)

Men's Light Welterweight (– 63.5 kg)

Men's Light Middleweight (– 67 kg)

Men's Middleweight (– 75 kg)

Canoeing

Main article: Canoeing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Benny Foster was the British cycling team manager.[2]

Sprint
Time trial
Tandem
Team pursuit
Team road race
Individual road race

Diving

Main article: Diving at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Men's 10m Platform

  • Preliminary Round — 68.34 (→ did not advance, 14th place)
  • Preliminary Round — 62.56 (→ did not advance, 20th place)
  • Preliminary Round — 60.08 (→ did not advance, 21st place)

Women's 10m Platform

  • Preliminary Round — 49.15
  • Final — 76.15 (→ 7th place)
  • Preliminary Round — 46.55
  • Final — 69.05 (→ 12th place)

Fencing

Main article: Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Nine fencers, seven men and two women, represented Great Britain in 1956.

Men's foil
Men's team foil
Men's épée
Men's team épée
Men's sabre
Men's team sabre
Women's foil

Football

Main article: Association football at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Gymnastics

Main article: Gymnastics at the 1956 Summer Olympics

The British Gymnastics team competed in 15 events, and was made up of 14 gymnasts, (6 men and 8 women), including Frank Turner, competing in his third Summer Olympics.

Hockey

Main article: Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Modern pentathlon

Main article: Modern pentathlon at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Three male pentathletes represented Great Britain in 1956.

Individual
Team

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Great Britain had 12 male rowers participate in three out of seven rowing events in 1956.[3]

Men's single sculls - unplaced
Men's double sculls - unplaced
Men's eight

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Six shooters represented Great Britain in 1956.

25 m pistol
50 m pistol
300 m rifle, three positions
50 m rifle, three positions
50 m rifle, prone
Trap

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Water polo

Main article: Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics

References

  1. ^ "Great Britain at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  2. ^ Daily Mirror Monday 10 September 1956, page 19
  3. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "England Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
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