At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 33 athletics events were contested, 24 for men and 9 for women. There were a total number of 720 participating athletes from 61 countries.
Medal summary Men 100 metres 10.5 10.5 10.6 200 metres 20.6(OR) 20.7 20.9 400 metres 46.7 46.8 47.0 47.0 800 metres 1:47.7(OR) 1:47.8 1:48.1 1500 metres 3:41.2(OR) 3:42.0 3:42.0 5000 metres 13:39.6(OR) 13:50.6 13:54.4 10,000 metres 28:45.6(OR) 28:52.4 28:53.6 110 metres hurdles 13.5(OR) 13.5(OR) 14.1 400 metres hurdles 50.1(=OR) 50.8 51.6 3000 metres steeplechase 8:41.2(OR) 8:43.6 8:44.0 4 × 100 metres relay Ira MurchisonLeamon KingThane BakerBobby Morrow39.5(WR) Leonid BartenyevBoris TokarevYuriy KonovalovVladimir Sukharev39.8 Lothar KnörzerLeonhard PohlHeinz FüttererManfred Germar40.3 4 × 400 metres relay Lou JonesJesse MashburnCharles JenkinsTom Courtney3:04.8 Leon GregoryDavid LeanGraham GipsonKevan Gosper3:06.2 John SalisburyMichael WheelerPeter HigginsDerek Johnson3:07.2 Marathon 2:25:00 2:26:32 2:27:47 20 kilometres walk 1:31:27.4(OR) 1:32:03.0 1:32:12.0 50 kilometres walk 4:30:42.8 4:32:57.0 4:35:02.0 High jump 2.12 m(OR) 2.10 m 2.08 m Pole vault 4.56 m(OR) 4.53 m 4.50 m Long jump 7.83 m(OR) 7.68 m 7.48 m Triple jump 16.35 m(OR) 16.26 m 16.02 m Shot put 18.57 m(OR) 18.18 m 17.65 m Discus throw 56.36 m(OR) 54.81 m 54.40 m Hammer throw 63.19 m(OR) 63.03 m 62.56 m Javelin throw 85.71 m(WR) 79.98 m 79.50 m Decathlon 7937(OR) 7587 7465
Women 100 metres 11.5 11.7 11.7 200 metres 23.4(=OR) 23.7 23.8 80 metres hurdles 10.7(OR) 10.9 11.0 4 × 100 metres relay Shirley Strickland de la HuntyNorma CrokerFleur MellorBetty Cuthbert44.5(WR) Anne PashleyJean ScrivensJune PaulHeather Armitage44.7 Mae FaggsMargaret MatthewsWilma RudolphIsabelle Daniels44.9 High jump 1.76 m(WR) 1.67 mnone awarded Long jump 6.35 m(=WR) 6.09 m 6.07 m Shot put 16.59 m(OR) 16.53 m 15.61 m Discus throw 53.69 m(OR) 52.54 m 52.02 m Javelin throw 53.86 m(OR) 50.38 m 50.28 m
Medal table
Participating nations
References International Olympic Committee results database