The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which were held in Stockholm, Sweden, in June 1956.
László Papp was a Hungarian professional boxer from Budapest. He was left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, and the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia. In his final Olympic competition he became the first boxer in Olympic history to win three successive gold medals. He won 12 of his 13 Olympic fights without losing a round, dropping only one, in his last Olympic final, to American boxer José Torres. There was not another triple gold medalist for 20 years, when Teófilo Stevenson won three, followed by Félix Savón as the third of the three men to accomplish the feat.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held in Melbourne, Australia between 15 and 26 March 2006. It was the fourth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games. It was also the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.
Ten nations competed in water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete Norman Pritchard winning two medals – both silver – in athletics and became the first Asian nation to win an Olympic medal. The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920 and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games beginning in 1964. Indian athletes have won 35 medals, all at the Summer Games. For a period of time, the Indian Men's Field Hockey Team was dominant in Olympic competition, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympics between 1928 and 1980. The run included eight gold medals of which six were won consecutively from 1928 to 1956.
The United States competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 297 competitors, 251 men and 46 women, took part in 139 events in 18 sports.
John McCormack was a Scottish boxer.
The association football tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics was won by the Soviet Union.
Ireland competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia and Stockholm, Sweden. Until 2012, it was the nation's most successful Olympic performance, with five medals, three bronze, a silver and a gold.
Frederick Tiedt was an amateur and professional boxer.
Rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics featured seven events, for men only. The competitions were held from 23 to 27 November on Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, Australia.
The men's marathon at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia was held on Saturday December 1, 1956. There were 46 participants from 23 nations, with 13 runners not completing the race. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Alain Mimoun of France, the nation's first Olympic marathon victory since 1928 and third overall. Yugoslavia took its first Olympic marathon medal with Franjo Mihalić's silver. Finland returned to the podium in the event for the first time since 1932 as Veikko Karvonen took bronze.
The men's high jump was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Twenty-eight contestants from 19 nations met on the morning of the first day of the athletic contests, on Friday November 23, 1956, and 22 cleared the qualifying height of 1.92 metres, to meet again in the afternoon. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Charles Dumas of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and 11th overall victory in the men's high jump. Chilla Porter's silver was Australia's second medal in the event. Igor Kashkarov's bronze was the Soviet Union's first.
The men's 110 metres hurdles was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. There were 24 athletes from 15 nations. The event took place on 27 and 28 November 1956. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Lee Calhoun of the United States. It was the fifth of nine consecutive American victories, and the 11th overall gold medal for the United States in the 110 metres hurdles. It was also the third of four consecutive American podium sweeps, and the seventh overall sweep by the United States in the event.
Anthony Byrne, commonly known as Tony Byrne or Socks Byrne, was an amateur boxer. Byrne won a bronze medal for Ireland at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, in the lightweight division.
The men's coxed four competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, Australia. It was held from 23 to 27 November and was won by the team from Italy. There were 10 boats from 10 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. Italy had previously won this event in 1928, tying Switzerland for second-most wins among nations. Sweden (silver) and Finland (bronze) each won their first medal in the men's coxed four. Switzerland had its three-Games silver-medal streak broken, without a Swiss crew competing.
The men's welterweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1956 Summer Olympics. The weight class was allowed boxers of up to 67 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 24 November to 1 December 1956. 16 boxers from 16 nations competed.
The men's middleweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1956 Summer Olympics. The weight class was allowed boxers of up to 75 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 26 November to 1 December 1956. 14 boxers from 14 nations competed.
The men's light heavyweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1956 Summer Olympics. The weight class was allowed boxers of up to 81 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 23 November to 1 December 1956. 11 boxers from 11 nations competed.
The men's heavyweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1956 Summer Olympics. The weight class was allowed boxers of more than 81 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 24 November to 1 December 1956. 11 boxers from 11 nations competed.
