Czechoslovakia competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 63 competitors, 51 men and 12 women, took part in 54 events in 10 sports.
Czech athlete Olga Fikotová won a gold medal in the women's discus. She also started a famous love affair with American athlete Harold Vincent Connolly here.
The team was warned that their flight back to Czechoslovakia was in a danger of a terrorists' attack. All sportsmen had to undergo a long journey by a Soviet ship Gruzia from Melbourne to Vladivostok, Soviet Union and then by Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow and by plane to Prague, Czechoslovakia. The whole journey took 31 days. The part of the journey from Melbourne to Moscow, Czechoslovak sportsmen had to share a ship and train with Soviet sportsmen also returning home via this route. The coexistence was not idyllic and Czechoslovaks described it later as very humiliating. The Olympic team spent Christmas Day in the Pacific and New Year's Eve in Siberia. The team experienced high temperatures during voyage across equator and later freezing weather with -50 °C in Siberia.
It is very probable that the reason for the warning was only fictional and a long journey home was only a political decision made by Czechoslovak and Soviet communists. It was never justified.
Medalists
MedalNameSportEvent Athletics Women's discus throw Shooting Men's 50 m rifle 3 positions Gymnastics Women's balance beam Cycling Men's 1000 m time trial Cycling Men's tandem Athletics Men's shot put
Athletics
Men's Marathon Emil Zátopek — 2:29:34 (→ 6th place) Pavel Kantorek — 2:52:05 (→ 27th place)
Boxing
Canoeing
Cycling
Sprint Ladislav Fouček — 6th place
Time trial Ladislav Fouček — 1:11.4 (→ Silver Medal)
Tandem Ladislav FoučekVáclav Machek — Silver Medal
Team pursuit František JursaJaroslav CihlárJirí NouzaJirí Opavský — 7th place
Individual road race František Jursa — did not finish (→ no ranking) Jaroslav Cihlár — did not finish (→ no ranking) Jirí Nouza — did not finish (→ no ranking) Jirí Opavský — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Gymnastics
Modern pentathlon
One male pentathlete represented Czechoslovakia in 1956.
Individual Vladimír Černý
Rowing
Czechoslovakia had eleven male rowers participate in two out of seven rowing events in 1956.
Men's double sculls Albert Krajmer František Reich
Men's eight Josef Věntus Eduard Antoch Ctibor Reiskup Jan Švéda Josef Švec Zdeněk Žára Jan Jindra Stanislav Lusk Miroslav Koranda (cox)
Shooting
Four shooters represented Czechoslovakia in 1956.
50 m pistol František Maxa
50 m rifle, three positions Otakar Hořínek
50 m rifle, prone Otakar Hořínek
Trap František Čapek Igor Treybal
Swimming
Men AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankLadislav Bačík100 m backstroke 1:06.9 =14 Q 1:07.9 16 Did not advance
Women AthleteEventHeatFinalTimeRankTimeRankMarta Skupilová100 m butterfly 1:17.7 =9 Did not advance
Weightlifting
References
External links Official Olympic Reports International Olympic Committee results database Czech Olympic report (in Czech)