Hong Kong, a British colony at the time, competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia from 22 November to 8 December 1956. This was Hong Kong's second appearance in an Olympic Games. Two athletes, both men, participated in the swimming event. Hong Kong did not win a medal in Melbourne Olympics. The best result was Cheung Kin Man, who came 22nd in Men's 100 m freestyle.
Cheung Kin Man was 24 years old at the time of Melbourne Olympics.[10] He had previously represented Hong Kong at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, and would represent Hong Kong again at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome[10][11][12]. In 1964, Tokyo Olympics torch relay, Cheung, would be the torch bearer for the last leg.[13]Wan Shiu Ming was 18 years old at the time of Melbourne Olympics.[14] This was his only appearance in Olympic Games.[14] Wan would later win the Cross Harbour Race six times,[15] winning the nickname of 'Flying Fish of Victoria Peak' (太平山飛魚).[16]
Competitors
The following is the list of the number of competitors in the Games.
Swimming and Diving Stadium, the venue of the swimming events. Now known commercially as the AIA Vitality Centre.
On 29 November, both Cheung Kin Man and Wan Shiu Ming participated in the men's 100 m freestyle.[17] Cheung was assigned to heat two. He finished in 59.8 seconds, ranked 4th in the heat and 22nd overall, tied with Hans Köhler from Germany.[17] Wan was assigned to heat five. He finished in 1:00.7, ranked 7th and the last in the heat and 32nd overall, tied with André Laurent from Belgium.[17] Only the fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals, and hence both Cheung and Wan were eliminated.[17][18] The gold medal was won by Jon Henricks, silver by John Devitt and bronze by Gary Chapman, all from Australia.[17][19] On 1 December, Wan participated in the men's 400 m freestyle.[20] He was assigned to heat one. He finished in 5:02.6, ranked 7th and the last in the heat and 32nd overall. Only the fastest 8 advanced to the final, so Wan was eliminated.[20] The gold medal was won by Murray Rose from Australia, sliver by Tsuyoshi Yamanaka from Japan and bronze by George Breen from USA.[21] On 4 December, Cheung participated in men's 100 m backstroke.[22] He was assigned to heat six. He finished in 1:14.0, ranked 6th and the last in the heat and 25nd overall. Only the fastest 16 advanced to the semi-final, so Cheung was eliminated.[22] The gold medal was won by David Theile from Australia, silver by John Monckton and bronze by Frank McKinney from USA.[23]
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