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Australia at Olympics | ||||
Medal Total Olympics Quiz Trivia |
Australia was the host nation for the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics. 294 athletes (250 men and 44 women) competed for Australia in 140 events in 18 Olympic sports. Australian athletes have competed in all of the Summer Olympic Games since they started.
Australia won 35 medals, 20 of them in Swimming. In Athletics Betty Cuthbert won 3 gold and Shirley Strickland won 2 gold medals. In Swimming Murray Rose won 3 gold and Jon Henricks won 2 gold. Dawn Fraser and Lorraine Crapp each won 2 gold 1 silver medals in Swimming.
Host | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Dates |
XVI 1956 Melbourne | 13 | 8 | 14 | 22 Nov – 9 Dec |
The following records are Australians who won gold, silver or bronze medals at the 1956 Olympic Games.
Equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden due to Australian quarantine.
Sandra Morgan was the youngest athlete for Australia (14 years 182 days) and Noel Hall oldest (43 years 9 days). Melbourne Summer Games had 3,189 participants (2,818 men, 371 women) from 67 nations.
1956 Melbourne Australia
Sport | Event | Competitors | |
1st | Athletics | Women’s 80m hurdles | Shirley Strickland |
1st | Athletics | Women’s 100m | Betty Cuthbert |
1st | Athletics | Women’s 200m | Betty Cuthbert |
1st | Athletics | Women’s 4x100m relay | Norma Croker, Betty Cuthbert, Fleur Wenham, Shirley Strickland |
1st | Cycling | Men’s 2000m tandem | Joey Browne, Anthony Marchant |
1st | Swimming | Women’s 100m freestyle | Dawn Fraser |
1st | Swimming | Women’s 400m freestyle | Lorraine Crapp |
1st | Swimming | Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay | Lorraine Crapp, Dawn Fraser, Sandra Morgan, Faith Leech |
1st | Swimming | Men’s 100m freestyle | Jon Henricks |
1st | Swimming | Men’s 400m freestyle | Murray Rose |
1st | Swimming | Men’s 1500m freestyle | Murray Rose |
1st | Swimming | Men’s 100m backstroke | David Theile |
1st | Swimming | Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay | John Devitt, Jon Henricks, Kevin O’Halloran, Murray Rose |
2nd | Athletics | Men’s high jump | Chilla Porter |
2nd | Athletics | Men’s 4x400m relay | Graham Gipson, Kevan Gosper, Leon Gregory, David Lean |
2nd | Rowing | Men’s single sculls | Stuart MacKenzie |
2nd | Sailing | Men’s sharpie 12m | John Scott, Roland Tasker |
2nd | Swimming | Women’s 100m freestyle | Lorraine Crapp |
2nd | Swimming | Women’s 400m freestyle | Dawn Fraser |
2nd | Swimming | Men’s 100m freestyle | John Devitt |
2nd | Swimming | Men’s 100m backstroke | John Monckton |
3rd | Athletics | Women’s 80m hurdles | Norma Thrower |
3rd | Athletics | Women’s 100m | Marlene Mathews |
3rd | Athletics | Women’s 200m | Marlene Mathews |
3rd | Athletics | Men’s 100m | Hector Hogan |
3rd | Athletics | Men’s 1500m | John Landy |
3rd | Athletics | Men’s 10,000m | Allan Lawrence |
3rd | Boxing | Men’s welterweight | Kevin Hogarth |
3rd | Canoeing | Men’s K2 10,000m kayak pairs | Walter Brown, Dennis Green |
3rd | Cycling | Men’s 1000m sprint (scratch) | Dick Ploog |
3rd | Rowing | Men’s double sculls | Murray Riley, Mervyn Wood |
3rd | Rowing | Men’s eights | Michael Aikman, Bryan Doyle, Angus Benfield, David Boykett, Harold Hewitt, James Howden, Walter Howell, Garth Manton, Adrian Monger |
3rd | Sailing | Men’s 5.5m class | Douglas Buxton, Devereaux Mytton, Jock Sturrock |
3rd | Swimming | Women’s 100m freestyle | Faith Leech |
3rd | Swimming | Men’s 100m freestyle | Gary Chapman |