# New Zealand at the 1956 Summer Olympics

New Zealand at the 1956 Summer Olympics was represented by a team of 53 competitors and 12 officials. Selection of the team for the Games in Melbourne, Australia, was the responsibility of the New Zealand Olympic and British Empire Games Association. New Zealand's flagbearer at the opening ceremony was Ritchie Johnston. The New Zealand team finished 16th on the medal table, winning a total of two medals, both of which were gold.

## Medal tables

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| Gold | Norman Read | Athletics | Men's 50 km walk | 24 November |
| Gold | Jack Cropp Peter Mander | Sailing | 12 m² Sharpie | 29 November |
Medals by sport :
| Sport | | | | Total |
| Athletics | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sailing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Medals by gender :
| Gender | | | | Total |
| Male | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Female | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

## Athletics
### Track and road

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Murray Halberg | Men's 1500 m | 3:57.2 | 4 Q | — | — | — | — | 3:45.2 | 11 |
| Maurice Rae | Men's 100 m | 10.7 | 1 Q | 10.6 | 3 Q | 10.5 | 4 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Maurice Rae | Men's 200 m | 21.4 | 2 Q | 22.0 | 2 Q | 21.5 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Norman Read | Men's 50 km walk | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4:30:42.8 | |
| Albert Richards | Men's marathon | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2:41:34 | 17 |
| Neville Scott | Men's 1500 m | 3:48.0 | 1 Q | — | — | — | — | 3:42.8 | 7 |
| Margaret Stuart | Women's 80 m hurdles | 11.3 | 3 Q | — | — | 11.3 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Margaret Stuart | Women's 100 m | 12.3 | 3 | — | — | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
* ↑ Ranks given are within the heat
* ↑ Ranks given are within the quarterfinal
* ↑ Ranks given are within the semifinal

### Field

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Mary Donaghy | Women's high jump | 1.58 | =7 Q | 1.67 | 7 |
| Valerie Sloper | Women's shot put | 13.03 | 14 Q | 15.34 | 5 |
| Beverly Weigel | Women's long jump | 5.79 | 7 Q | 5.85 | 7 |

## Boxing

| Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Rank |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Paddy Donovan | Men's lightweight | Ishimaru (JPN) L PTS | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | =17 |
| Graham Finlay | Men's welterweight | — | Hogarth (AUS) L PTS | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | =9 |

## Cycling
### Track
#### Men's 1000 m time trial

| Athlete | Time | Rank |
| Warwick Dalton | 1:12.6 | 8 |

#### Men's sprint

| Athlete | Round 1 | Round 1 repechage | Round 1 repechage | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| Athlete | Opposition Result | Heat | Final | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Athlete | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Warren Johnston | Fouček (TCH) Nyman (FIN) 2 R | Masanés (CHI) Harrison (GBR) W 12.0 | Godefroid (BEL) W 12.4 | Romanov (URS) W, W | Rousseau (FRA) L, L | Ploog (AUS) L, L | 4 |

#### Men's tandem

| Athlete | Round 1 | Round 1 repechage | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final / BM | Rank |
| Athlete | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Ritchie Johnston Warren Johnston | United States Soviet Union W 11.3 | — | Czechoslovakia L | did not advance | did not advance | =5 |

#### Men's team pursuit

| Athlete | Round 1 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final / BM | Rank |
| Athlete | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Warwick Dalton Donald Eagle Bruce Kent Neil Ritchie | Uruguay W 4:55.6 | France L 4:56.4 | did not advance | did not advance | =5 |
Alan Larkins was a reserve for the team pursuit but did not compete.

## Field hockey
### Men's tournament

The men's field hockey team from New Zealand made its Olympic debut in Melbourne. Before 1956, the only international hockey team apart from Australia that New Zealand had played against was India.

#### Team roster

| John Abrams Ivan Armstrong Keith Cumberpatch Archie Currie David Goldsmith Noel Hobson Reginald Johansson | Brian Johnston Murray Loudon Guy McGregor Bill Schaefer Bruce Turner Jack Tynan |

#### Group C

* 24 November 1956 (1956-11-24) 14:30
| Germany | 5–4 (3–3) | New Zealand |
* 27 November 1956 (1956-11-27) 14:30
| Pakistan | 5–1 (2–0) | New Zealand |
* 29 November 1956 (1956-11-29) 16:00
| New Zealand | 3–0 (1–0) | Belgium |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Qualification |
| Pakistan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 5 | Advance to semi-finals |
| Germany | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | Advance to semi-finals |
| New Zealand | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 5th–8th classification round |
| Belgium | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5th–8th classification round |

#### 5th–8th Classification round

* 3 December 1956 (1956-12-03)
| New Zealand | 13–0 | Singapore |
* 4 December 1956 (1956-12-04)
| Australia | 1–0 | New Zealand |
* 6 December 1956 (1956-12-06)
| New Zealand | 3–2 | Belgium |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Overall rank |
| Australia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Belgium | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| Singapore | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 8 |

## Rowing

In 1956, New Zealand entered boats in three of the seven events. The competition was for men only; women would first row at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Don Rowlands travelled to the Summer Olympics as a reserve but did not compete.
| Athlete | Event | Heats | Heats | Repechage | Repechage | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| James Hill | Single sculls | 7:30.1 | 3 R | 8:29.9 | 1 SA/B | 9:12.5 | 3 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Reg Douglas Bob Parker | Coxless pair | 7:32.6 | 1 QS | Bye | Bye | 8:44.7 | 3 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Peter Lucas Ray Laurent Donald Gemmell Allan Tong Colin Johnstone | Coxed four | 7:16.2 | 3 R | 7:16.6 | 1 QS | 8:30.7 | 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Sailing

| Athlete | Event | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Net points | Final rank |
| Athlete | Event | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Net points | Final rank |
| Jack Cropp Peter Mander (helm) | 12 m² Sharpie | 914 | 1215 | 516 | 613 | 1215 | 1215 | 914 | 6086 | |
| Albert Cuthbertson Robert Stewart (helm) William Swinnerton | Dragon | 351 | 0 DSQ | 129 | 828 | 305 | 0 DSQ | 402 | 2015 | 12 |

## Swimming

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Philippa Gould | Women's 100 m backstroke | 1:17.5 | =18 | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |
| Winifred Griffin | Women's 100 m freestyle | 1:10.4 | 32 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Winifred Griffin | Women's 400 m freestyle | 5:31.0 | 18 | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |
| Lincoln Hurring | Men's 100 m backstroke | 1:07.5 | 17 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Marrion Roe | Women's 100 m freestyle | 1:05.9 | 8 Q | 1:05.3 | 4 Q | 1:05.6 | 7 |
| Marrion Roe | Women's 400 m freestyle | 5:18.5 | 13 | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |
| Jean Stewart | Women's 100 m backstroke | 1:15.5 | 10 | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |

## Weightlifting

| Athlete | Event | Press | Press | Snatch | Snatch | Clean & Jerk | Clean & Jerk | Total | Rank |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Total | Rank |
| Hugh Jones | Men's heavyweight | 125 | 8 | 122.5 | =7 | 150.0 | 8 | 397.5 | 8 |

## Wrestling

| Athlete | Event | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| John da Silva | Men's freestyle heavyweight | Vykhristyuk (URS) L 0–3 | Noori (IRI) L 0–3 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |

## Officials

Chef de mission – Lloyd Woods