The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, 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.
Merlene Joyce Ottey is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978 and continued to do so for 24 years before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ranked fourth on the all-time list over 60 metres (indoor), eighth on the all-time list over 100 metres and sixth on the all-time list over 200 metres. She is the current world indoor record holder for 200 metres with 21.87 seconds, set in 1993. She was named Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year 13 times between 1979 and 1995.
Ian Lovett O'Brien is an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1960s who won the 200 metre breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in world record time. He won five Commonwealth Games gold medals and claimed a total of nine individual and six relay titles at the Australian Championships, before retiring at the age of 21 due to financial pressures.
Daphne Arden is a British athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres.
George Ezekiel Kerr was a Jamaican athlete who competed in the 400 and 800 metres. He competed for the British West Indies at the 1960 Summer Olympics, where he won the bronze medal in the 800 metres. He then teamed up with Keith Gardner, Malcolm Spence and James Wedderburn to win the bronze medal in the 4×400 metres relay.
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.
Michael Robert Christopher Mason is a Canadian high jumper. The 2004 World Junior champion, he has represented Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2010 Commonwealth Games, 2012 Summer Olympics, 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the 2015 Pan American Games. His personal best for the event is 2.33 metres.
Since the early 20th century, Jamaica has won 42 Commonwealth Golds, 14 World Championship Golds and 17 Olympic gold medals in athletics alone. Jamaica has a population of 2.85 million people, making it the 138th most populous country in the world.
Ronald James Pickering was an athletics coach and BBC sports commentator.
Clifton Bertrand was a Trinidadian sprinter.
Jessie Mary Hayward is a former New Zealand high jumper and long jumper. She represented her country at the 1956 Summer Olympics and 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning a silver medal in the high jump at the latter event.
Avis Fletcher is a former New Zealand hurdler and sprinter.
Wellesley K. Clayton is a Jamaican former long jumper who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics and in the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Frederick John "Fred" Alsop is a British former triple jumper and long jumper.
Diana Elizabeth Wilkinson is a retired British freestyle swimmer. She competed in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1958 to 1966, the 1958 and 1962 European Aquatics Championships, and the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics.
John Lawrence Taitt was a British sprint hurdler. He was born in Georgetown, Demerara-Mahaica, British Guiana.
Allah Ditta was a Pakistani pole vaulter who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Yvonne Saunders-Mondesire is a Canadian former track and field athlete. A versatile athlete, she competed in women's pentathlon, long jump, high jump, 400 metres and 800 metres. She competed internationally for Canada, Jamaica, and England during her career.
Ann Shirley Wilson, also known as Ann Simmonds is a retired English pentathlete.
The West Indies Federation took part in the 3rd Pan American Games, held in Chicago, USA from 28 August 28 to 7 September 1959, under the name British West Indies. These were the only Pan American Games attended by the British West Indies, as the nation dissolved in 1962. British West Indies ended up 7th on the overall medal table, and 2nd on the medal table for Athletics.
