Great Britain at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. British athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 189 competitors, 163 men and 26 women, took part in 108 events in 17 sports.

The Melbourne Games saw an improvement on Great Britain and Northern Ireland's performance at the two preceding Games. British athletes won six gold medals (up from just one in 1952). Overall, they won twenty-four medals, finishing eighth.

Medallists

Gold

• Chris Brasher — Athletics, Men's 3.000m Steeplechase
• Terence Spinks — Boxing, Men's Flyweight
• Richard McTaggart — Boxing, Men's Lightweight
• Bertie Hill, Arthur Rook, and Francis Weldon — Equestrian, Three-Day Event Team
• Gillian Sheen — Fencing, Women's Foil Individual
• Judy Grinham — Swimming, Women's 100m Backstroke

Silver

• Derek Johnson — Athletics, Men's 800m
• Gordon Pirie — Athletics, Men's 5.000m
• Jean Scrivens, Heather Armitage, June Foulds, and Anne Pashley — Athletics, Women's 4 × 100 m Relay
• Thelma Hopkins — Athletics, Women's High Jump
• Thomas Nicholls — Boxing, Men's Featherweight
• Arthur Brittain, William Holmes, and Alan Jackson — Cycling, Men's Team Road Race
• Robert Perry, David Bowker, John Dillon, and Neil Kennedy-Cochran — Sailing, Men's 5½ Meter Classo

Bronze

• Derek Ibbotson — Athletics, Men's 5.000m
• Michael Wheeler, Peter Higgins, Derek Johnson, and John Salisbury — Athletics, Men's 4 × 400 m Relay
• Nicholas Gargano — Boxing, Men's Welterweight
• John McCormack — Boxing, Men's Light Middleweight
• Tom Simpson, Donald Burgess, Michael Gambrill, and John Geddes — Cycling, Men's 4.000m Team Pursuit
• Alan Jackson — Cycling, Men's Individual Road Race
• Francis Weldon — Equestrian, Three-Day Event Individual
• Peter Robeson, Pat Smythe, and Wilf White — Equestrian, Jumping Team
• Margaret Edwards — Swimming, Women's 100m Backstroke
• Terence Smith and Jasper Blackall — Sailing, Men's Sharpie 12m²
• Graham Mann, Ronald Backus, and Jonathan Janson — Sailing, Men's Dragon

Athletics

Men's 110m Hurdles

• Peter Hildreth

* Heat — 14.5s (→ did not advance)

• Jack Parker

* Heat — 14.8s (→ did not advance)

Men's 1500m

• Brian Hewson

* Final— 3:42.6 (→ 5th place)

• Ian Boyd

* Final— 3:43.0 (→ 8th place)

• Ken Wood

* Final— 3:44.76 (→ 9th place)

Men's Marathon

• Harry Hicks — 2:39:55 (→ 15th place)
• Fred Norris — did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Ron Clark — did not finish (→ no ranking)

Women's Discus Throw

• Suzanne Allday

* Qualifying Round — 41.45 m (→ did not advance, 14th place)

Boxing

Men's Light Flyweight (– 48 kg)

• Owen Reilly

Men's Flyweight (– 51 kg)

• Terence Spinks

Men's Bantamweight (– 54 kg)

• Thomas Nicholls

Men's Featherweight (– 57 kg)

• Richard McTaggart

Men's Light Welterweight (– 63.5 kg)

• Nicholas Gargano

Men's Light Middleweight (– 67 kg)

• John McCormack

Men's Middleweight (– 75 kg)

• Ron Redrup

Canoeing

Cycling

Benny Foster was the British cycling team manager.

Sprint

• Keith Harrison — 15th place

Time trial

• Alan Danson — 1:12.3 (→ 5th place)

Tandem

• Eric Thompson<br>Peter Brotherton &mdash; 4th place

Team pursuit

• Donald Burgess<br>John Geddes<br>Michael Gambrill<br>Tom Simpson &mdash; 4:42.2 (→ Bronze Medal)

Team road race

• Alan Jackson<br>Arthur Brittain<br>William Holmes &mdash; 23 points (→ Silver Medal)

Individual road race

• Alan Jackson &mdash; 5:23:16 (→ Bronze Medal)
• Arthur Brittain &mdash; 5:23:40 (→ 6th place)
• William Holmes &mdash; 5:23:40 (→ 14th place)
• Harold Reynolds &mdash; 5:24:44 (→ 19th place)

Diving

Men

Women

Fencing

Nine fencers, seven men and two women, represented Great Britain in 1956.

Men's foil

• Allan Jay
• Raymond Paul
• René Paul

Men's team foil

• René Paul, Bill Hoskyns, Raymond Paul, Allan Jay, Ralph Cooperman

Men's épée

• Bill Hoskyns
• Allan Jay
• Michael Howard

Men's team épée

• René Paul, Raymond Paul, Michael Howard, Bill Hoskyns, Allan Jay

Men's sabre

• Olgierd Porebski
• Ralph Cooperman
• Bill Hoskyns

Men's team sabre

• Olgierd Porebski, Bill Hoskyns, Ralph Cooperman, Allan Jay, Raymond Paul

Women's foil

• Gillian Sheen
• Mary Glen-Haig

Football

Gymnastics

The British Gymnastics team competed in 15 events, and was made up of 14 gymnasts, (6 men and 8 women), including Frank Turner, competing in his third Summer Olympics.

Hockey

Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Great Britain in 1956.

Individual

• Donald Cobley
• Thomas Hudson
• George Norman

Team

• Donald Cobley
• Thomas Hudson
• George Norman

Rowing

Great Britain had 12 male rowers participate in three out of seven rowing events in 1956.

Men's single sculls - unplaced

• Tony Fox

Men's double sculls - unplaced

• Sidney Rand
• Bill Rand

Men's eight

• Richard Wheadon
• Michael Delahooke
• Ian Welsh
• Kenneth Masser
• Simon Tozer
• Alan Watson
• John A. Russell
• Christopher Davidge
• John Hinde (cox)

Sailing

Shooting

Six shooters represented Great Britain in 1956.

25 m pistol

• Henry Steele
• Frederick Cooper

50 m pistol

• Frederick Cooper
• Henry Steele

300 m rifle, three positions

• Steffen Cranmer

50 m rifle, three positions

• Steffen Cranmer
• Frederick Hopkinson

50 m rifle, prone

• Steffen Cranmer
• Frederick Hopkinson

Trap

• Joe Wheater
• Ernest Fear

Swimming

Men

Women

Water polo

Weightlifting

Wrestling

References