Venues of the 1956 Summer Olympics
Encyclopedia
For the 1956 Summer Olympics
, a total of fourteen sports venues were used in Melbourne
and three sports venues were used in Stockholm
. The Stockholm events were done first in June due to Australia's strict quarantine laws on equestrianism while the Melbourne events took place from late November to early December.
Stockholm
. Because of Australia
's strict quarantine
laws on horse
s, the International Olympic Committee
in Athens
in May 1954 selected the host of the 1912 Games to run the equestrian events. Lake Wendouree was first used as a rowing venue in 1864 though the lake itself was not dammed and converted from a swamp until 1869 following a drought.
The Cricket Ground was established in 1854 after two previous grounds in use were ruled unsuitable. Football was first played at the Cricket Ground in 1859 while the first international cricket
match in Australia took place in 1863. Cycling races first took place in 1869 while the first Test Match took place in 1877. Night football took place in 1879 while the first scoreboard in the world was erected in 1881 at the Cricket Ground along with sightboards and a telephone. Australia's first athletics championships were held at the Cricket Ground in 1893 with Edwin Flack winning the one mile event. Flack would win the 800 m and 1500 m events at the 1896 Summer Olympics
in Athens. Lacrosse made its debut at the Cricket Ground in 1907 when Australia played Canada. In 1914, a baseball
exhibition took place between the American Major League Baseball
teams New York Giants
and Chicago White Sox
. Radio was first broadcast at the Cricket Ground in 1924. The inaugural women's Australian athletics championships took place in 1930. In 1935, the first women's cricket test match took place at the Cricket Grounds. During World War II
in 1942-45, the Grounds were used as staging areas for Allied troops. Support was given for the 1956 Summer Games in 1953.
The first zoo in Melbourne was established in 1861. A cycling track was constructed in 1896. The official site was dedicated in 1909. Motorsports events took place at the park during the 1920s and 1930s. During World War II in 1941-6, the speedway was part of the Allied War effort. Construction of the venues used for the 1956 Summer Games began in 1951.
The Royal Exhibition Building was completed in 1880. World's Fairs were held there in 1880 and in 1888. During the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1919, the Exhibition Building was commendeering for medical usage. By the 1940s, the building's condition had deteriorated to where it was referred as a "white elephant
".
defeated Yugoslavia
4-1.
The Olympic Park hosted aquatics, football, field hockey, and track cycling events during the 1956 Summer Games.
hosted the greatest attendance of the Ground's history with 130,000 the following year. Its stands were expanded and renovated since the end of the 1956 Games that continued until the early 1990s. David Cassidy
was the first musical act to perform at the Ground in 1974. In 1982, the manual scoreboard was replaced by an electronic scoreboard made by Mitsubishi
. The 1982 scoreboard was replaced by a more advanced one in 1992. Another scoreboard, which was furnished by Sony
, would be installed at the south part of the Ground in 1994. The Olympic Flame
returned to the Ground on 30 July 2000, for the first time since the 1956 Games. For the 2000 Summer Olympics
in Sydney
, the Cricket Ground served as host for several football
preliminary matches. For the 2004 Summer Olympics
, the flame returned to the ground again. The Cricket Ground served as the main venue for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
.
In 1985, tennis
debuted at the Olympic Park where it became a permanent venue for the Australian Open
at Flinders Park. The park has expanded to included other sports and musical events. The World Aquatics Championships took place in Melbourne in 2007
.
Restoration work on the Royal Exhibition Building began in 1985 and was completed sometime in the 1990s. The Building is now a World Heritage Site
as of July 2004.
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
, a total of fourteen sports venues were used in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and three sports venues were used in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. The Stockholm events were done first in June due to Australia's strict quarantine laws on equestrianism while the Melbourne events took place from late November to early December.
Venues
Melbourne| Venue | Sports | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadmeadows Broadmeadows, Victoria Broadmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hume... |
Cycling Cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics The cycling competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only.-Medal table:-Medal summary:... (road) |
Not listed. | |
| Hockey Field | Field hockey Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics The field hockey tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics was contested from November 23 to December 6, with twelve participating teams. Only men competed in field hockey at these Games. India won the gold medal for the sixth successive Games, not allowing a single goal against in the entire... |
21,048 | |
| Lake Wendouree Lake Wendouree Lake Wendouree is an artificially-created and maintained shallow urban lake located in the suburb of the same name in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia... |
Canoeing Canoeing at the 1956 Summer Olympics At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, nine events in sprint canoe racing were contested. The program was unchanged from the previous two Games in 1948 and 1952. The competition was held on Lake Wendouree in Ballarat.-Men's events:... , Rowing Rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics Rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics featured 7 events, for men only. The competitions were held from November 23, 1956 to November 27, 1956 on Lake Wendouree, Ballarat Australia.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*... |
14,300 | |
| Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light... |
Athletics Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 33 athletics events were contested, 24 for men and 9 for women. There were a total number of 720 participating athletes from 61 countries.-Men's events:-Women's events:-Medal table:-References:**... , Field hockey (final), Football Football at the 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Olympic Games football tournament with just 11 competing nations suffered from cancellations. It was an undistinguished tournament that featured mis-matches and walkovers.-Background:... (final) |
104,000 | |
| Oaklands Hunt Club Oaklands Hunt Club The Oaklands Hunt Club is a sports club located in the Broadmeadows, Victoria near Melbourne, Australia. For the 1956 Summer Olympics, it hosted the riding and running parts of the modern pentathlon event.... |
Modern pentathlon Modern pentathlon at the 1956 Summer Olympics At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, two events in modern pentathlon were contested.-Medal summary:-Medal table:... (riding, running) |
25,700 | |
| Olympic Park Stadium Olympic Park Stadium Olympic Park Stadium was a multi-purpose outdoor stadium located on Olympic Boulevard in inner Melbourne. The stadium was built as an athletics training venue for the 1956 Olympics, a short distance from the MCG, which served as the Olympic Stadium... |
Football | 40,000 | |
| Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for... |
Sailing Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics Sailing/Yachting is a Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad Sailing/Yachting is a Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad Sailing/Yachting is a Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Greece. With the exception of 1904 and... |
Not listed | |
| Royal Australian Air Force, Laverton Air Base RAAF Williams RAAF Williams comprises the two bases of Point Cook and Laverton. Both establishments previously existed as separate RAAF Bases until 1999 when they were amalgamated to form RAAF Williams... |
Shooting Shooting at the 1956 Summer Olympics At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, seven events in shooting were contested, all for men only.-Medal summary:-Medal table:... (shotgun) |
Not listed | |
| Royal Exhibition Building Royal Exhibition Building The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site-listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Nicholson, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district... |
Basketball Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics was the fourth appearance of the sport in Olympic competition. Fifteen nations, an unusually low number for the basketball tournament, competed in the event, with 174 participants. A total number of 56 games of basketball were played.The teams were divided... (final), Modern pentathlon (fencing), Weightlifting Weightlifting at the 1956 Summer Olympics The weightlifting competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne consisted of seven weight classes, all for men only.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:... , Wrestling Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics At the 1956 Summer Olympics, 16 wrestling events were contested, all for men. There were eight weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and eight classes in freestyle wrestling.- Greco-Roman:-Freestyle:-See also:... |
3,500 | |
| St Kilda Town Hall St Kilda Town Hall St Kilda Town Hall is a city hall in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia.-Architecture:The design by local architect William Pitt in the Classical Revival style. It was built in 1890. Pitt's grand vision for the town hall was never completed... |
Fencing Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics At the 1956 Summer Olympics, seven fencing events were contested, six for men and one for women.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-Participating nations:A total of 165 fencers from 23 nations competed at the Melbourne Games:... |
Not listed. | |
| Swimming/Diving Stadium | Diving Diving at the 1956 Summer Olympics At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, four diving events were contested.-Medal summary:The events are labelled as 3 metre springboard and 10 metre platform by the International Olympic Committee, and appeared on the 1956 Official Report as springboard diving and high diving,... , Modern pentathlon (swimming), Swimming Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 13 swimming events were contested, seven for men and six for women. There was a total of 235 participants from 33 countries competing. For the first time, the butterfly stroke was contested as a separate event... , Water polo Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics Ten nations competed in water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The event was open only to men's teams.-Medallists:-Results:For the team rosters see: Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics - Men's team squads.-Preliminary round:... |
6,000 | |
| Velodrome | Cycling (track) | 7,900 | |
| West Melbourne Stadium Festival Hall, Melbourne Festival Hall is a concert and sporting venue, located at 300 Dudley Street, West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of Melbourne's larger concert venues and has hosted a variety of local and international acts over many years.... |
Basketball, Boxing Boxing at the 1956 Summer Olympics Boxing at the 1956 Summer Olympics took place in the new stadium at West Melbourne. A total number of 164 competitors entered from 35 nations, of whom 161 from 34 nations weighed-in and boxing was held eight nights and five afternoons. The boxing schedule began on November 23 and ended on December 1... , Gymnastics Gymnastics at the 1956 Summer Olympics Gymnastics at the 1956 Summer Olympics was represented by 15 events: 7 for women and 8 for men. All events were held at the West Melbourne Stadium between December 3 and December 7... |
7,000 | |
| Williamstown Williamstown, Victoria Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733.... |
Modern pentathlon (shooting), Shooting (pistol, rifle) | Not listed. |
Stockholm
| Venue | Sports | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lill-Jansskogen Lill-Jansskogen Lill-Janskogen, , is a park in Stockholm, Sweden. It is located on northern Djurgården and is a popular area for recreational activities.... |
Equestrian Equestrian at the 1956 Summer Olympics 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... (eventing) |
Not listed. | |
| Olympic Stadium | Equestrian (dressage, eventing, jumping) | 6,000 | |
| Ulriksdal Ulriksdal dirt course The Ulriksdal dirt course was a course located 6 km north of Stockholm, Sweden at Ulriksdal. It hosted part of the cross-country portion of the eventing competition for the equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics.-Reference:* p. 96.... |
Equestrian (eventing) | Not listed. |
Before the Olympics
Stockholm hosted the Summer Olympics in 19121912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
. Because of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's strict quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
laws on horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
in May 1954 selected the host of the 1912 Games to run the equestrian events. Lake Wendouree was first used as a rowing venue in 1864 though the lake itself was not dammed and converted from a swamp until 1869 following a drought.
The Cricket Ground was established in 1854 after two previous grounds in use were ruled unsuitable. Football was first played at the Cricket Ground in 1859 while the first international cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
match in Australia took place in 1863. Cycling races first took place in 1869 while the first Test Match took place in 1877. Night football took place in 1879 while the first scoreboard in the world was erected in 1881 at the Cricket Ground along with sightboards and a telephone. Australia's first athletics championships were held at the Cricket Ground in 1893 with Edwin Flack winning the one mile event. Flack would win the 800 m and 1500 m events at the 1896 Summer Olympics
1896 Summer Olympics
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era...
in Athens. Lacrosse made its debut at the Cricket Ground in 1907 when Australia played Canada. In 1914, a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
exhibition took place between the American Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
teams New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
and Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
. Radio was first broadcast at the Cricket Ground in 1924. The inaugural women's Australian athletics championships took place in 1930. In 1935, the first women's cricket test match took place at the Cricket Grounds. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1942-45, the Grounds were used as staging areas for Allied troops. Support was given for the 1956 Summer Games in 1953.
The first zoo in Melbourne was established in 1861. A cycling track was constructed in 1896. The official site was dedicated in 1909. Motorsports events took place at the park during the 1920s and 1930s. During World War II in 1941-6, the speedway was part of the Allied War effort. Construction of the venues used for the 1956 Summer Games began in 1951.
The Royal Exhibition Building was completed in 1880. World's Fairs were held there in 1880 and in 1888. During the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1919, the Exhibition Building was commendeering for medical usage. By the 1940s, the building's condition had deteriorated to where it was referred as a "white elephant
White elephant
A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth...
".
During the Olympics
Although cricket has not been part of an Olympic Games since 1900, the Cricket Ground was a versatile venue for the 1956 Games. The Cricket Ground hosted between 85,001 and 107,100 for the athletic events. Between 10,805 and 16,626 spectators attended the field hockey semifinals and medal matches. The football final had an attendance of 104,700 spectators where the Soviet UnionSoviet Union at the 1956 Summer Olympics
The Soviet Union competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 272 competitors, 233 men and 39 women, took part in 135 events in 17 sports.-Medalists:...
defeated Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Athletes from the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.-Medalists:-Athletics:Men's 110m Hurdles*Stanko Lorger* Heat — 14.6s* Semifinals — 14.6s* Final — 14.5s...
4-1.
The Olympic Park hosted aquatics, football, field hockey, and track cycling events during the 1956 Summer Games.
After the Olympics
The Queen Mother visited the Grounds in 1958 while Billy GrahamBilly Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
hosted the greatest attendance of the Ground's history with 130,000 the following year. Its stands were expanded and renovated since the end of the 1956 Games that continued until the early 1990s. David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
was the first musical act to perform at the Ground in 1974. In 1982, the manual scoreboard was replaced by an electronic scoreboard made by Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
. The 1982 scoreboard was replaced by a more advanced one in 1992. Another scoreboard, which was furnished by Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, would be installed at the south part of the Ground in 1994. The Olympic Flame
Olympic Flame
The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...
returned to the Ground on 30 July 2000, for the first time since the 1956 Games. For the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, the Cricket Ground served as host for several football
Football at the 2000 Summer Olympics
The football tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics was the 20th official Olympic football tournament. A women's tournament was held for the second time.-Medal winners:-Venues:*Olympic Stadium, Sydney*Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney*Bruce Stadium, Canberra...
preliminary matches. For the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
, the flame returned to the ground again. The Cricket Ground served as the main venue for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...
.
In 1985, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
debuted at the Olympic Park where it became a permanent venue for the Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
at Flinders Park. The park has expanded to included other sports and musical events. The World Aquatics Championships took place in Melbourne in 2007
2007 World Aquatics Championships
The 2007 World Aquatics Championships or the XII FINA World Championships were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007...
.
Restoration work on the Royal Exhibition Building began in 1985 and was completed sometime in the 1990s. The Building is now a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
as of July 2004.