1956 Summer Olympics

The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were held at Melbourne in Victoria, Australia.^[2]

Games of the XVI Olympiad

Host city	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Stockholm, Sweden (equestrian events)
Nations	72
Athletes	3,314 (2,938 men, 376 women)
Events	151 in 17 sports (23 disciplines)
Opening	22 November
Closing	8 December
Opened by	The Duke of Edinburgh[1][a]
Cauldron	Ron Clarke[1]
Stadium	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Summer
← Helsinki 1952 Rome 1960 →
Winter
← Cortina 1956 Squaw Valley 1960 →

USSR postage stamp in honor of gymnastics at the 1956 games

Melbourne was chosen as the host city over instead of Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Montreal and six American cities on 28 April 1949 at the 43rd IOC session.

The equestrian events were not held in Australia because of quarantine regulations. These events were held five months earlier in Stockholm, Sweden, making it the second time that events of the same Olympics were held in different countries.^[3]

Participating nations

A total of 67 nations sent athletes to compete at the Melbourne games.^[4]

•  Afghanistan
•  Argentina
•  Australia
•  Austria
•  Belgium
•  Bermuda
•  Brazil
•  British Guiana
•  Burma
•  Canada
•  Ceylon
•  Chile
•  Republic of China
•  Colombia
•  Cuba
•  Czechoslovakia
•  Denmark
•  Ethiopia
•  Fiji
•  Finland
•  France
•  Germany
•  United Kingdom
•  Greece
•  Hong Kong
•  Hungary
•  Iceland
•  India
•  Indonesia
•  Iran
•  Ireland
•  Israel
•  Italy
•  Jamaica
•  Japan
•  Kenya
•  Liberia
•  Luxembourg
•  Malaya
•  Mexico
•  New Zealand
•  Nigeria
•  North Borneo
•  Norway
•  Pakistan
•  Peru
•  Philippines
•  Poland
•  Portugal
•  Puerto Rico
•  Romania
•  Singapore
•  South Africa
•  South Korea
•  Soviet Union
•  Sweden
•  Thailand
•  Trinidad and Tobago
•  Turkey
•  Uganda
•  United States
•  Uruguay
•  Venezuela
•  Vietnam
•  Yugoslavia

Five nations competed in the horse riding events in Stockholm; however, athletes from these nations did not take part in the Games in Melbourne. The five were Cambodia, Egypt, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.^[5]

Related pages

• List of IOC country codes

Notes

1. The Duke of Edinburgh did not regain the title "Prince" until the following year. See List of titles and honours of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.