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.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
- 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
Men's 110m hurdles
- Bob Joyce
- * Heat — 14.7s
- Kenneth Doubleday
- * Heat — 14.8s
- John Chittick
- * Heat — 14.9s
Men's marathon
- John Russell — 2:41:44
- Keith Ollerenshaw — 2:48:12
- Les Perry — did not finish
Basketball
;Men's Team Competition
- Preliminary Round:
- * Lost to Brazil
- * Lost to Chile
- * Defeated Thailand
- * Lost to Formosa
- * Defeated Singapore
Classification Matches:
Canoeing
Cycling
;Sprint
- Dick Ploog — Bronze Medal
;Time trial
;Team pursuit
Frank Brazier
Roy Moore
Warren Scarfe — 9th place
;Tandem
Joey Browne — Gold Medal
;Individual road race
- John O'Sullivan — 5:36:58
- Jim Nevin — 5:47:02
- Ed Nestor — did not finish
- Jack Trickey — did not finish
Diving
Men's 3m springboard
- Arthur Winther
- * Preliminary Round — 71.04
- Joseph McCann
- * Preliminary Round — 69.18
- Ronald Faulds
- * Preliminary Round — 68.84
Men's 10m platform
- Francis Murphy
- * Preliminary Round — 66.29
- William Tully
- * Preliminary Round — 65.49
- Barry Holmes
- * Preliminary Round — 58.01
Women's 3m springboard
- Barbara McAulay
- * Preliminary Round — 60.19
- Rosalyn Barton
- * Preliminary Round — 58.50
- Pat Howard
- * Preliminary Round — 53.89
Women's 10m platform
- Barbara McAulay
- * Preliminary Round — 45.67
- Rosalyn Barton
- * Preliminary Round — 41.96
- Adele Price
- * Preliminary Round — 35.28
Fencing
21 fencers, 18 men and 3 women, represented Australia 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
Gymnastics
Hockey
;Men's Team Competition
Three male pentathletes represented Australia in 1956.
;Individual
;Team
- Neville Sayers
- Sven Coomer
- George Nicoll
Rowing
Australia had 26 male rowers participate in all seven rowing events in 1956.
; Men's single sculls
; Men's double sculls
; Men's coxless pair
; Men's coxed pair
; Men's coxless four
; Men's coxed four
; Men's eight
- Michael Aikman
- David Boykett
- Angus Benfield
- Jim Howden
- Garth Manton
- Walter Howell
- Adrian Monger
- Bryan Doyle
- Harold Hewitt
Sailing
Shooting
Twelve shooters represented Australia in 1956.
;25 m pistol
;50 m pistol
;300 m rifle, three positions
;50 m rifle, three positions
;50 m rifle, prone
;100m running deer
;Trap
Water polo
Weightlifting
Wrestling
