This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad.
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.
Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words Olympic Stadium as part of their names, such as stadiums in Amsterdam, Berlin, Helsinki and Paris. Olympic Stadium may also be named a multi-purpose stadium which hosts Olympic sports.
Stockholm Olympic Stadium, most often called Stockholms stadion or simply Stadion, is a stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Designed by architect Torben Grut, it was opened in 1912; its original use was as a venue for the 1912 Olympic Games. At the 1912 Games, it hosted athletics, some equestrian and football matches, gymnastics, the running part of the modern pentathlon, tug of war, and wrestling events. It has a capacity of 13,145–14,500 depending on usage and a capacity of nearly 33,000 for concerts.
The equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics were held in Stockholm due to the Australian quarantine regulations and included dressage, eventing, and show jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions. The competitions were held from 11 to 17 June 1956 at Stockholm Olympic Stadium. There were 158 entries from 29 National Olympic Committees: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA and Venezuela. This would be the first appearance for Australia, Cambodia and Venezuela in equestrian events.
Australia was the host nation for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. However, due to Australian quarantine restrictions the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden. 294 competitors, 250 men and 44 women, took part in 140 events in 18 sports.
Venezuela competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia, and in the equestrian events held in Stockholm, Sweden. Twenty-two competitors, all men, were selected by the Venezuelan Olympic Committee to take part in sixteen events across five sports. The delegation featured no female competitors, for the second time, and won no medals. While most of the Venezuelan athletes did not advance past the qualifying rounds of their sports, there were some good placings in the shooting, with Germán Briceño and Carlos Monteverde finishing in the top 10 of their events.
Argentina at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia and Stockholm, Sweden was the nation's tenth appearance out of thirteen editions of the Summer Olympic Games. Argentina sent to the 1956 Summer Olympics its seventh national team, under the auspices of the Argentine Olympic Committee, 28 athletes, who competed in 27 events in 8 sports. They brought home 2 medals: 1 silver and 1 bronze. The Argentine flag bearer was Isabel Avellán, the nation's first female Olympic Games flag bearer.
Cambodia competed in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Because Cambodia decided to join the boycott over the participation of the Soviet Union, who invaded Hungary during the USSR's invasion of Hungary, the nation did not send any athletes to Melbourne, Australia where all but equestrian events were held in late November, and early December. To accommodate Australia's strict animal quarantine regulations, Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping were held in June at Stockholm Olympic Stadium. Two Cambodian riders, Isoup Ganthy, and Saing Pen, competed in the equestrian events.
Egypt boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, because of the British and French involvement in the Suez Crisis. The equestrian events for the 1956 Games, however, were held in Stockholm, Sweden, five months earlier, due to Australian quarantine regulations, and three Egyptian riders competed in the show jumping events. None of the athletes won individual medals and they failed to place in the team competition due to one rider's failure to finish the individual tournament.
Sweden competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations. Instead, those events were held five months earlier in Stockholm, Sweden.
Germany was represented at the 1956 Summer Olympics by a United Team of Germany of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and, for the first time at Summer Games, also from East Germany which had not joined in 1952. Also, the Saarland athletes who had to enter as a separate team in 1952 could now join in even though the accession of their state was not yet in effect. Thus, this was the only Olympic team ever to comprise athletes from three German states.
Norway competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia and Stockholm, Sweden. 22 competitors, 19 men and 3 women, took part in 18 events in 6 sports.
Switzerland boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia because of the participation of the Soviet Union, who had invaded Hungary to crush the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. However, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden earlier in the year because of the Australian quarantine laws. The Swiss team competed in Stockholm, winning a bronze medal.
Cambodia has competed in ten Summer Olympic Games. They have never won an Olympic medal and have not appeared in the Winter Olympic Games.
Hans Wikne was a Swedish equestrian rider who competed in the 1950s and 1960s. At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, he finished fifth in the team dressage and 11th in the individual dressage events.
For the 1956 Summer Olympics, events were staged in a total of thirteen sports venues in Melbourne, Victoria, one in Ballarat, Victoria, and three sports venues in Stockholm, Sweden. The equestrian events took place in Stockholm in June 1956, due to Australia's strict quarantine laws on equestrianism, and the other Olympic events took place in Melbourne later in the year, between late November and early December.
Alexis "Tschuli" Pantchoulidzew was a Russian-born Dutch nobleman and equestrian. He was a long-term partner of Princess Armgard of Sierstorpff-Cramm and mentor to her son, Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. As equestrian, he was the only competitor for the Netherlands at the Dutch-boycotted 1956 Summer Olympics; aged 67, he was also the eldest participant at those Olympics and the eldest Dutch Olympian ever.
United States 
Soviet Union 
Australia*
Great Britain 
Poland 
Norway 
Czechoslovakia 
Brazil 
France 
Ireland 
New Zealand 
United Team of Germany 
Hungary 
Chile 
Iceland 
Yugoslavia 
Finland 
Greece 
Sweden 
