| 1956 Summer Olympics medals | |
|---|---|
 Ágnes Keleti of Hungary was the most successful competitor at the games, winning four gold medals and two silver medals in women's gymnastics. | |
| Location | |
| Highlights | |
| Most gold medals |  Soviet Union (37) |
| Most total medals | Soviet Union (98) |
| Medalling NOCs | 38 |
The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, [1] and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held from 22 November to 8 December in Melbourne, Australia, with the equestrian events being held from 10 to 17 June 1956 in Stockholm, Sweden, [2] due to Australian quarantine regulations that required a six-month pre-shipment quarantine on horses. [3] Medals awarded in these cities bore different designs. [4] A total of 3,314 athletes [a] representing 72 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated, which was a record for the most NOCs at a single Olympics at the time. [5] This figure included first-time entrants Cambodia, [6] Ethiopia, [7] Fiji, [8] Kenya, [9] Liberia, [10] Malaya, [11] North Borneo, [12] and Uganda. [13] The games featured 151 events [b] in 17 sports across 23 disciplines. [14] [15] [16]
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The 1956 Summer Games were the first to be held in the Southern Hemisphere and Oceania, and the first games to hold events in two different countries, continents, and seasons. [17] Multiple boycotts were enacted by nine teams against the games, though five of them competed in the equestrian events. [c] Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon boycotted the games in response to the Suez Crisis. [19] Cambodia, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland boycotted the games in response to the Hungarian Uprising, when the Soviet Union invaded the country. [20] [21] China continued its boycott of the games, which began in 1952 and lasted until 1980, over the participation of Taiwan. [22] [23]
Athletes representing 38 NOCs received at least one medal, and 25 NOCs won at least one gold medal. The Soviet Union won the most gold medals and the most overall medals, with 37 and 98 respectively. [24] Iran [25] and Bulgaria won their first Olympic gold medals. [26] The Bahamas, [27] Iceland, [28] and Pakistan won their first Olympic medals. [29]
Gymnast Ágnes Keleti of Hungary was the most successful competitor of the games, winning four gold medals and two silver medals for a total of six medals. Gymnast Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union tied with Keleti for the most gold and overall medals for a competitor at the games, winning six medals with four gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal. [30]
