Australia at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Australia was the host nation for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. However, due to Australian quarantine restrictions the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden. 294 competitors, 250 men and 44 women, took part in 140 events in 18 sports.^[1]

Australia at the 1956 Summer Olympics
IOC code	AUS
NOC	Australian Olympic Committee
Website	www.olympics.com.au
in Melbourne/Stockholm
Competitors	294 (250 men, 44 women)
Flag bearer	Mervyn Wood (rower)
Medals Ranked 3rd	Gold 13 Silver 8 Bronze 14 Total 35
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games ––––  Australasia (1908–1912)

Medalists

Gold

• Betty Cuthbert – athletics, women's 100 metres
• Betty Cuthbert – athletics, women's 200 metres
• Shirley Strickland – athletics, women's 80 m Hurdles
• Norma Croker, Betty Cuthbert, Fleur Wenham, and Shirley Strickland – athletics, women's 4 × 100 m Relay
• Joey Browne and Anthony Marchant — Cycling, men's 2000 m Tandem
• Jon Henricks — Swimming, men's 100 m Freestyle
• Murray Rose — Swimming, men's 400 m Freestyle
• Murray Rose — Swimming, men's 1500 m Freestyle
• David Theile — Swimming, men's 100 m Backstroke
• John Devitt, Jon Henricks, Kevin O'Halloran, and Murray Rose — Swimming, men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
• Dawn Fraser — Swimming, women's 100 m Freestyle
• Lorraine Crapp — Swimming, women's 400 m Freestyle
• Lorraine Crapp, Dawn Fraser, Faith Leech, and Sandra Morgan — Swimming, women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay

Silver

• Graham Gipson, Kevan Gosper, Leon Gregory, and David Lean – athletics, men's 4 × 400 m Relay
• Chilla Porter – athletics, men's High Jump
• Stuart Mackenzie – rowing, men's Single Sculls
• John Devitt — Swimming, men's 100 m Freestyle
• John Monckton — Swimming, men's 100 m Backstroke
• Lorraine Crapp — Swimming, women's 100 m Freestyle
• Dawn Fraser — Swimming, women's 400 m Freestyle
• John Scott and Roland Tasker — Sailing, men's Sharpie 12 m²

Bronze

• Hector Hogan – athletics, men's 100 metres
• John Landy – athletics, men's 1500 metres
• Allan Lawrence – athletics, men's 10.000 metres
• Norma Thrower – athletics, women's 80 m Hurdles
• Marlene Mathews – athletics, women's 100 metres
• Marlene Mathews – athletics, women's 200 metres
• Kevin Hogarth — Boxing, men's Welterweight
• Walter Brown and Dennis Green – canoeing, men's K2 10,000 m Kayak Pairs
• Dick Ploog — Cycling, men's 1000 m Sprint (Scratch)
• Murray Riley and Mervyn Wood – rowing, men's Double Sculls
• Michael Aikman, Angus Benfield, David Boykett, Bryan Doyle, Harold Hewitt, Jim Howden, Walter Howell, Garth Manton, and Adrian Monger – rowing, men's Eights
• Gary Chapman — Swimming, men's 100 m Freestyle
• Faith Leech — Swimming, women's 100 m Freestyle
• Douglas Buxton, Devereaux Mytton, Ernest Wagstaff and Jock Sturrock — Sailing, men's 5½ Meter Class

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Men

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Ted Allsopp	20 km walk	—						1:35:43.0	10
	50 km walk	—						DSQ
James Bailey	800 m	1:51.1	1 Q	—		1:51.4	7	Did not advance
Jim Bailey	1500 m	DNS		Did not advance
Ron Blackney	3000 m steeplechase	9:16.0	10	—				DNF
Bill Butchart	800 m	1:51.6	3 Q	—		1:53.8	4 Q	1:52.0	8
Gavin Carragher	100 m	11.36	4	Did not advance
John Chittick	110 m hurdles	15.18	5	Did not advance
Ronald Crawford	20 km walk	—						1:39:35.0	13
	50 km walk	—						5:22:36.0	13
Kenneth Doubleday	110 m hurdles	14.98	5	Did not advance
Graham Gipson	200 m	22.06	3	Did not advance
	400 m	47.87	2 Q	47.45	4	Did not advance
Geoff Goodacre	400 m hurdles	52.5	3	Did not advance
John Goodman	400 m	48.73	4	Did not advance
Kevan Gosper	400 m	48.07	1 Q	46.83	1 Q	46.45	4	Did not advance
Hec Hogan	100 m	10.72	1 Q	10.78	1 Q	10.62	3 Q	10.77
	200 m	21.97	2 Q	21.90	4	Did not advance
Bob Joyce	110 m hurdles	15.02	6	Did not advance
Don Keane	20 km walk	Did not advance						1:33:52.0	6
Ray Land	100 m	11.05	2 Q	11.15	6	Did not advance
John Landy	1500 m	3:48.6	3 Q	—				3:42.0
	5000 metres	DNS		Did not advance
Allan Lawrence	5000 metres	14:14.67	1 Q	—				DNS
	10000 metres	—						28:53.6
David Lean	400 m hurdles	51.4	2 Q	—		51.4	2 Q	51.8	5
Mervyn Lincoln	1500 m	3:45.4	1 Q	—				3:51.9	12
Donald MacMillan	800 m	1:53.4	4	Did not advance
Keith Ollerenshaw	Marathon	—						2:48:12	25
Ross Parker	400 m hurdles	53.5	1 Q	—		52.6	6	Did not advance
Les Perry	Marathon	—						DNF
David Power	10000 metres	—						29:49.6	7
Neil Robbins	3000 m steeplechase	8:55.62	5 Q	—				8:50.36	7
John Russell	Marathon	—						2:41:44	18
Ray Smith	50 km walk	—						4:56:08.0	6
Dave Stephens	10000 metres	—						NT	20
Albie Thomas	5000 metres	14:14.41	1 Q	—				14:05.03	5
Graham Thomas	3000 m steeplechase	9:09.80	10	—				DNF
Douglas Winston	200 m	22.20	3	Did not advance
Gavin Carragher Edward McGlynn Ray Land Hector Hogan	4×100 m relay	40.72	1 Q	—		40.72	4	Did not advance
Leon Gregory Graham Gipson Kevan Gosper David Lean John Goodman	4×400 m relay	3:10.57	2 Q	—				3:06.19

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
James Achurch	Javelin throw	57.09	21	Did not advance
Vesmonis Balodis	Discus throw	44.24	20	Did not advance
Ian Bruce	Long jump	6.91	23	Did not advance
Martin Crowe	Hammer throw	48.43	21	Did not advance
Peter Denton	Pole vault	3.85	18	Did not advance
Barry Donath	Shot put	16.57	4 Q	16.52	9
Neville Gadsen	Hammer throw	48.84	20	Did not advance
Bob Grant	Javelin throw	65.76	16	Did not advance
Ronald Gray	Triple jump	14.46	25	Did not advance
Robert Hanlin	Shot put	15.62	11 Q	16.08	11
Hugh Jack	Long jump	6.90	24	Did not advance
Charlie Morris	Hammer throw	49.35	19	Did not advance
Mike Moroney	Long jump	7.09	19	Did not advance
Brian Oliver	Triple jump	14.74	23	Did not advance
Bruce Peever	Pole vault	3.85	17	Did not advance
Chilla Porter	High jump	1.92	4 Q	2.10
Maurice Rich	Triple jump	14.26	27	Did not advance
Colin Ridgway	High jump	1.92	16 Q	2.00	7
John Vernon		1.82	24	Did not advance

Combined events – Decathlon

Athlete	Event	100 m	LJ	SP	HJ	400 m	100H	DT	PV	JT	1500 m	Final	Rank
Ian Bruce	Result	11.7	6.62	12.30	1.83	51.3	15.9	36.62	3.40	51.38	4:50.4	6025	11
	Points	678	672	609	806	751	612	536	476	554	331
John Cann	Result	10.9	6.57	12.18	1.70	49.3	15.6	38.76	2.70	57.89	4:49.2	6278	10
	Points	948	659	598	656	900	673	592	226	686	340
Pat Leane	Result	11.4	6.79	13.26	1.86	51.0	16.4	38.86	3.50	58.83	4:56.8	6427	9
	Points	768	722	696	845	772	523	595	516	706	284

Women

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Gloria Cooke	80 m hurdles	11.4	3 Q	—		11.1	3 Q	11.4	6
Betty Cuthbert	100 m	11.4 OR	1 Q	—		12.0	2 Q	11.5
	200 m	23.5	1 Q	—		23.6	1 Q	23.4
Norma Croker	200 m	24.9	2 Q	—		24.3	3 Q	24.0	4
Marlene Mathews-Willard	100 m	11.5	1 Q	—		11.6	1 Q	11.7
	200 m	24.0	1 Q	—		24.3	2 Q	23.8
Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	100 m	11.7	3	Did not advance
	80 m hurdles	10.8	1 Q	—		10.8	1 Q	10.7
Norma Thrower	80 m hurdles	10.8 OR	1 Q	—		11.0	2 Q	11.0
Norma Croker Betty Cuthbert Fleur Mellor Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	4×100 m relay	44.9 WR	1 Q	—				44.5 WR

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Carole Bernoth	High jump	1.58	14 Q	1.60	14
Nancy Borwick	Long jump	5.80	5 Q	5.82	8
Mary Breen	Shot put	11.28	18	Did not advance
Janice Cooper	High jump	1.58	18 Q	1.55	15
Shirley Cotton	Discus throw	40.76	17	Did not advance
June Heath	Javelin throw	38.10	19	Did not advance
Heather Innes		38.72	18	Did not advance
Lois Jackman	Discus throw	42,21	13 Q	40.84	13
Margaret Johnson	Long jump	5.59	16	Did not advance
Valerie Dawn Lawrence	Shot put	13.43	10 Q	13.12	13
	Discus throw	36.61	21	Did not advance
Michele Mason	High jump	1.58	7 Q	1.67	6
Erica Willis	Long jump	5.64	14	Did not advance
Margaret Woodlock	Shot put	11.70	17	Did not advance
Maureen Wright	Javelin throw	38.81	17	Did not advance

Basketball

Main article: Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Men's Team Competition

Preliminary round

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	2	2	0	167	125	+42	4	Quarterfinals
2	Chile	2	1	1	137	134	+3	3
3	Australia (H)	2	0	2	122	167	−45	2	9th–15th classification round

Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts

Brazil	89–66	Australia
Scoring by half: 50–35, 39–31

Chile	78–56	Australia
Scoring by half: 37–27, 41–29

Classification 9–15

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Formosa	3	3	0	218	189	+29	6	9th–12th classification playoffs
2	Australia (H)	3	2	1	258	208	+50	5
3	Singapore	3	1	2	200	215	−15	4	13th–16th classification playoffs
4	Thailand	3	0	3	150	214	−64	3

Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts

Australia	87–48	Thailand
Scoring by half: 48–23, 39–25

Australia	73–86	Formosa
Scoring by half: 40–39, 33–47

Australia	98–74	Singapore
Scoring by half: 48–36, 50–38

Classification matches

01.12

Canada

83–38

Australia

01.12

Formosa

87–70

Australia

Team Roster

• • Peter Demos
  • Geoff Heskett
  • Peter Bumbers
  • Stan Dargis
  • Inga Freidenfelds
  • Colin Burdett
  • George Dancis
  • Peter Sutton
  • Algis Ignatavicius
  • Merv Moy
  • Ken Finch
  • Bruce Flick
• Head coach: Ken Watson

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	1 Round	2 Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Warner Batchelor	Flyweight	BYE	Henryk Kukier (POL) W P	John Caldwell (IRL) L P	Did not advance		5
Robert Bath	Bantamweight	Henry Jayasuriya (CEY) W P	Song Soon-Chun (KOR) L P	Did not advance
Noel Hazard	Featherweight	BYE	Thomas Nicholls (GBR) L P	Did not advance
William Griffiths	Lightweight	BYE	Louis Molina (USA) L P	Did not advance
Max Carlos	Light Welterweight	BYE	Joseph Shaw (USA) L P	Did not advance
Kevin Hogarth	Welterweight	Graham Finlay (NZL) W P	—	András Dori (HUN) W P	Fred Tiedt (IRL) L P	—
Peter Read	Light Middleweight	José Torres (USA) L P	Did not advance
Howard Richter	Middleweight	Július Torma (TCH) L P	Did not advance
Anthony Madigan	Light Heavyweight	BYE		Romualdas Murauskas (URS) L P	Did not advance

Canoeing

Main article: Canoeing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Sprint

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Bryan Harper	C-1 1000 m	—		5:37.6	7
	C-1 10000 m	—		1:02:12.1	9
William Jones Thomas Ohman	C-2 1000 m	5:04.6	2 Q	5:03.0	5
	C-2 10000 m	—		56:18.6	7
Barry Stuart	K-1 1000 m	4:30.1	3 Q	4:30.7	9
Max Baldwin	K-1 10000 m	—		51:49.7	9
Walter Brown Dennis Green	K-2 1000 m	4:03.0	1 Q	3:59.1	7
	K-2 10000 m	—		43:43.2

Women

Athlete	Event	Heats		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Edith Cochrane	K-1 500 m	2:24.0	3 Q	2:23.8	5

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Road

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
John O'Sullivan	Men's road race	5:36:58	41
Jim Nevin		5:47:02	44
Jim Nestor		DNF
Jack Trickey		DNF
John O'Sullivan Jim Nevin Jim Nestor Jack Trickey	Team road race	DNF

Track

1000m time trial

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Warren Scarfe	Men's 1000m time trial	1:12.1	4

Sprint

Athlete	Event	Heats	Repechage 1	Repechage finals	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Time Speed (km/h)	Rank	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Rank
Dick Ploog	Men's sprint	Godefroid (BEL)  Văn Phước (VIE) W 11.40 WR	BYE		Disney (USA) W 12.4 11.6	Pesenti (ITA) L 12.2	Johnston (NZL) W 11.6 11.4

Tandem

Athlete	Event	Heats	Repechage	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Rank
Anthony Marchant Joey Browne	Tandem	Robinson Shardelow (RSA)  Neuser Ziegler (EUA) L	Fouček Machek (TCH) L	Robinson Shardelow (RSA) W 10.8	Pinarello Ogna (ITA) W 10.8	Fouček Machek (TCH) W10.8

Pursuit

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Time	Opposition Time	Opposition Time	Opposition Time	Rank
Cliff Burvill Frank Brazier Roy Moore Warren Scarfe	Men's team pursuit	France (FRA) L OT	Did not advance			9

Diving

Main article: Diving at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Preliminaries		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Total
Ronald Faulds	3 m springboard	68.84	20	Did not advance
Barry Holmes	10m platform	58.01	22	Did not advance
Joseph McCann	3 m springboard	69.18	19	Did not advance
Francis Murphy	10m platform	66.29	17	Did not advance
William Tully		65.49	18	Did not advance
Arthur Winther	3 m springboard	71.04	17	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Preliminaries		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Total
Rosalyn Barton	3 m springboard	58.50	15	Did not advance
	10m platform	41.96	15	Did not advance
Pat Howard	3 m springboard	53.89	17	Did not advance
Barbara McAulay		60.19	13	Did not advance
	10m platform	45.67	14	Did not advance
Adele Price		35.28	18	Did not advance

Fencing

Main article: Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

21 fencers, 18 men and 3 women, represented Australia in 1956.

Men

Ranks given are within the pool.

Fencer	Event	Elimination round		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Laurence Harding-Smith	Men's épée			did not advance
Ivan Lund				did not advance
Richard Stone			did not advance
Brian McCowage	Men's foil			did not advance
David McKenzie				did not advance
Michael Sichel			did not advance
Leslie Fadgyas	Men's sabre	Darè (ITA)  Hoskyns (GBR)  Van Der Auwera (BEL)  Asselin (CAN)  del Carmen (COL)	3 Q	Pawłowski (POL)  Darè (ITA)  Worth (USA)  Kuznetsov (URS)  Cooperman (GBR)  Gamot (FRA)	7	did not advance			25
Graham McKenzie		Ferrari (ITA)  Porebski (GBR)  Kwartler (USA)  Yanguas (COL)	4 Q	Kárpáti (HUN)  Roulot (FRA)  Zabłocki (POL)  Stratmann (GER)  Nyilas (USA)  Hoskyns (GBR)	7	did not advance			24
Sandor Szoke		Narduzzi (ITA)  Goliardi (URU)  Worth (USA)  Ramos (MEX)  Sano (JPN)	6	did not advance					30
James Wolfensohn Ivan Lund Keith Hackshall Hilbert Van Dijk	Team épée	Great Britain (GBR) L 3-9  Italy (ITA) L 5-11  United States (USA) L	4	did not advance					9
Ray Buckingham Brian McCowage Rod Steel David McKenzie Michael Sichel Tom Cross	Team foil	United States (USA) L 3-13  Hungary (HUN) L 8-8	3	did not advance					8
Leslie Fadgyas Alexander Martonffy Emeric Santo Leslie Kovacs Sandor Szoke	Team sabre	France (FRA) L 1-9  Soviet Union (URS) L 2-14	3	did not advance					8

Women

Ranks given are within the pool.

Fencer	Event	Elimination round		Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Joy Hardon	Women's foil	Sheen (GBR)  Orban-Szabo (ROU)  Garilhe (FRA)  Lachmann (DEN)  Rastvorova (URS)  Goodrich (USA)  Nyári-Kovács (HUN)	8	did not advance			23
Lois Joseph		York-Romary (USA)  Müller-Preis (AUT)  Colombetti-Peroncini (ITA)  Roldán (MEX)  Orb-Lazăr (ROU)  Shitikova (URS)  Veronnet (FRA)	8	did not advance			22
Denise O'Brien		Mitchell (USA)  Yefimova (URS)  Sákovicsné Dömölky (HUN)  Delbarre (FRA)  Cesari (ITA)  Glen-Haig (GBR)	7	did not advance			19

Football

Main article: Association football at the 1956 Summer Olympics

First round

27 November 1956
12:00

Australia	2–0	Japan
McMillan 26' (pen.) Loughran 61'	Report

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Attendance: 3,568

Referee: Reginald Lund (New Zealand)

Quarter-finals

1 December 1956
12:00

Australia	2–4	India
Morrow 17', 41'	Report	D'Souza 9', 33', 50' Krishnaswamy 80'

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne

Attendance: 7,413

Referee: Chris Wensveen (Indonesia)

Men's team squads

Head coach: Richard Telfer

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB	Age	Caps	Club	Tournament games	Tournament goals	Minutes played	Sub off	Sub on	Cards yellow/red
1	GK	Billy Henderson	November 23, 1929	26	5	Granville	0	0	0	0	0	0/0
2	GK	Ron Lord	August 25, 1929	27	1	Auburn	2	0	180	0	0
3	FW	Col Kitching	November 11, 1933	22	2		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
4	MF	Pete Stone			0	Bankstown	0	0	0	0	0	0/0
5	MF	Ted Smith	September 24, 1935	21	0		2	0	180	0	0
6		George Arthur	1925	31	0	Wallsend FC	2	0	180	0	0
7		Bill Harburn			0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
8		Alwyn Warren	November 1, 1931	25	1		2	0	180	0	0
9		Alastair Rattray	February 16, 1925	31	0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
10		Alec Beattie			0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
11	DF	Bob Bignall	March 14, 1922	34	5	Corrimal	2	0	180	0	0
12	DF	John Pettigrew	October 31, 1934	21	1		2	0	180	0	0
13	MF	Francis Loughran	January 31, 1931	25	3	Moreland F.C.	2	1	180	0	0
14		Bob Wemyss	July 1, 1928	28	0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
15	MF	Jack Lennard	April 2, 1930	26	3	Cessnock	2	0	180	0	0
16	MF	Brian Vogler	May 30, 1932	24	0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
17	FW	Bruce Morrow	May 5, 1936	20	0	Wallsend FC	2	2	180	0	0
18		Con Purser	August 2, 1931	25	1	North Perth	0	0	0	0	0	0/0
19	FW	Graham McMillan	January 21, 1936	20	0		2	1	180	0	0
20		Cliff Sander	November 11, 1931	25	6		2	0	180	0	0

Gymnastics

Main article: Gymnastics at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Hockey

Main article: Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Preliminary round

Pool B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Great Britain	4	2	2	0	6	4	+2	6	Advanced to Semi-finals
2	Australia (H)	4	2	0	2	6	5	+1	4
3	Malaya	3	0	2	1	5	6	−1	2
4	Kenya	3	0	2	1	2	4	−2	2

Source: LA84 Foundation
Rules for classification: 1) points.
(H) Hosts

23 November 1956 14:30 Australia  2–0  Kenya Dick  5' E. Pearce  64' Report Umpires: Ernst-Ludwig Nack (GER) K. Hamilton (NZL)

---

26 November 1956 16:00 Malaya  2–3  Australia Aman  32', 63' Report Spackman  12' E. Pearce  18', 51' Umpires: Birendra Ghosh (IND) Gian Singh (IND)

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29 November 1956 16:00 Australia  1–2  Great Britain E. Pearce  60' Report Forster  18', 50' Umpires: Gian Singh (IND) Birendra Ghosh (IND)

Play–off match

• At the conclusion of the pool stage, Australia and Great Britain finished equal on points, resulting in a play–off match to determine number one position in the pool.

1 December 1956 14:00 Australia  0–1  Great Britain Report Conroy  55' Umpires: Gian Singh (IND) Birendra Ghosh (IND)

Men's Team Competition

• Team Roster
  • Alan Barblett
  • Geoffrey Bennett
  • Brian Booth
  • Kevin Carton
  • Kenneth Clarke
  • Ian Dick
  • John Dwyer
  • Maurice Foley
  • Louis Hailey
  • Glen Jobson
  • Dennis Kemp
  • Keith Leeson
  • Donald Mecklem
  • Eric Pearce
  • Gordon Pearce
  • Melville Pearce
  • Kenneth Reid
  • Raymond Whiteside

Modern pentathlon

Main article: Modern pentathlon at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Three male pentathletes represented Australia in 1956.

Individual

• Neville Sayers
• Sven Coomer
• George Nicoll

Team

• Neville Sayers
• Sven Coomer
• George Nicoll

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Australia had 26 male rowers participate in all seven rowing events in 1956.^[2]

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Stuart Mackenzie	Single sculls	7:28.8	2 Q	BYE		9:19.5	2 Q	8:07.7
Murray Riley Mervyn Wood	Double sculls	7:01.2	3 R	8:12.2	1 Q	BYE		7:37.4
Peter Raper Maurice Grace	Coxless pair	7:37.2	2 Q	BYE		8:48.2	2 Q	8:22.2	4
Robert Duncan Bruce Dickson John Cockbill	Coxed pair	8:15.9	2 Q	BYE		9:37.7	3	Did not advance
John Harrison Peter Evatt Geoff Williamson Dave Anderson	Coxless four	6:52.7	3 R	8:10.4	1 Q	8:22.4	4	Did not advance
Gordon Cowey Kevin McMahon Reg Libbis Mick Allen John Jenkinson	Coxed four	7:01.9	2 Q	BYE		7:59.8	2 Q	7:31.1	4
Michael Aikman David Boykett Angus Benfield Jim Howden Garth Manton Walter Howell Adrian Monger Bryan Doyle Harold Hewitt	Eight	6:05.8	1 Q	BYE		6:55.6	2 Q	6:39,2

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Open

Athlete	Event	Race							Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Colin Ryrie	Finn	4	13	11	DNF	7	14	5	2965	10
Rolly Tasker John Scott	12m² Sharpie	1	2	2	1	2	2	DSQ	6086
Robert French Jack Downey	Star	8	9	12	6	11	9	11	1409	9
Graham Horace Drane Brian Carolan Jim Carolan	Dragon	2	10	14	4	4	4	9	3769	5
Jock Sturrock Devereaux Mytton Douglas Buxton	5.5 Metre	4	4	2	4	1	3	4	4022

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Twelve shooters represented Australia in 1956.

Men

Athlete	Event	Final
		Score	Rank
Colin Anderson	100m running deer	357	10
John Bryant	Trap	176	9
Norman Goff	300 m rifle	1010	17
Noel Hall	100m running deer	339	11
Rodney Johnson	50 m pistol	506	27
Johnnie Maitland	25 m pistol	526	28
Clement Mudford	Trap	164	20
Peter Papps	25 m pistol	469	35
Norman Rule	50 m rifle, three positions	1114	34
	50 m rifle, prone	594	22
Don Tolhurst	50 m rifle, three positions	1131	27
	50 m rifle, prone	596	10
Len Tolhurst	50 m pistol	541	8
Ian Wrigley	300 m rifle	1021	16

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Gary Chapman	100 metre freestyle	57.8	1 Q	56.9	2 Q	56.7
John Devitt		57.2	1 Q	56.4	2 Q	55.8
Murray Garretty	1500 metre freestyle	18:27.4	1 Q	—		18:26.5	4
Terry Gathercole	200 metre breaststroke	2:40.2	2 Q	—		2:38.7	4
Kevin O'Halloran	400 metre freestyle	4:36.9	1 Q	—		4:32.9	4
John Hayres	100 metre backstroke	1:04.4	2 Q	1:05.0	2 Q	1:05.0	5
Jon Henricks	100 metre freestyle	57.3	1 Q	55.7	1 Q	55.4 WR
John Marshall	200 metre butterfly	2:26.8	2 Q	—		2:27.2	5
John Monckton	100 metre backstroke	1:03.4	1 Q	1:04.1	1 Q	1:03.2
Murray Rose	400 metre freestyle	4:31.7	1 Q	—		4:27.3 WR
	1500 metre freestyle	18:04.1	1 Q	—		17:58.9
David Theile	100 metre backstroke	1:04.3	1 Q	1:04.8	2 Q	1:02.2 WR
Gary Winram	400 metre freestyle	4:34.5	1 Q	—		4:34.9	6
	1500 metre freestyle	18:35.7	1 Q	—		19:06.2	8
Brian Wilkinson	200 metre butterfly	2:27.2	2 Q	—		2:29.7	7
Kevin O'Halloran John Devitt Murray Rose Jon Henricks Gary Chapman Murray Garretty Graham Hamilton	4x100 m freestyle relay	8:40.2	3 Q	—		8:23.6 WR

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Beverley Bainbridge	100 metre butterfly	1:14.4	1 Q	—		1:15.2	5
Gergaynia Beckett	100 metre backstroke	1:14.8	2 Q	—		1:14.7	8
Lorraine Crapp	100 metre freestyle	1:03.4	2 Q OR	1:03.1	2 Q	1:02.4
	400 metre freestyle	5:00.2	1 Q	—		4:54.6 CR
Barbara Evans	200 metre breaststroke	3:03.6	12	Did not advance
Dawn Fraser	100 metre freestyle	1:02.4	1 Q OR	1:03.0	1 Q	1:02.0 WR
	400 metre freestyle	5:02.5	1 Q	—		5:02.5
Maureen Giles	100 metre butterfly	1:19.4	5	Did not advance
Patricia Huntingford	100 metre backstroke	1:16.0	5	Did not advance
Faith Leech	100 metre freestyle	1:04.9	3 Q	1:05.2	3 Q	1:05.1
Sandra Morgan	400 metre freestyle	5:07.8	2 Q	—		5:14.3	6
Pam Singleton	100 metre backstroke	1:17.0	6	Did not advance
Dawn Fraser Faith Leech Sandra Morgan Lorraine Crapp Margaret Gibson Elizabeth Fraser	4x100 m freestyle relay	4:25.0	1 Q	—		4:17.1 WR

Water polo

Main article: Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Preliminary round

The preliminary round consisted of a round-robin tournament held in three groups. Each team played the other teams in its group once.

Group A

Nation	Pld.	Win	Loss	Tie	GF	GA	Points
Yugoslavia	3	3	0	0	15	5	6
Soviet Union	3	2	1	0	9	6	4
Romania	3	1	2	0	9	9	2
Australia	3	0	3	0	3	16	0

28 November

• 14:00 - Romania def. Australia, 4-2

29 November

• 22:15 - Yugoslavia def. Australia, 9-1

30 November

• 16:00 - Soviet Union def. Australia, 3-0

Consolation

Rank	Nation	Pld.	Win	Loss	Tie	GF	GA	Points
7	Great Britain	3	3	0	0	21	9	6
8	Romania	3	2	1	0	21	8	4
9	Australia	3	1	2	0	7	11	2
10	Singapore	3	0	3	0	8	29	0

• Great Britain def. Australia, 5-2
• Australia def. Singapore, 3-2
• Romania def. Australia, 4-2

Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Military Press		Snatch		Clean & jerk		Total	Rank
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Charles Henderson	56 kg	72.5	15	85	9	115	10	272.5	13
Keith Caple	60 kg	87.5	19	90	17	110	17	287.5	16
Vern Barberis	67.5 kg	105	13	105	10	137.5	9	347.5	11
Fred Baugh	75 kg	107.5	11	95	15	122.5	13	325	13
John Powell	82.5 kg	120	8	117.5	7	145	8	382.5	8
Leonard Treganowan	90 kg	122.5	8	117.5	8	150	9	390	8

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics