# United States at the 1956 Summer Olympics

The United States competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 297 competitors, 251 men and 46 women, took part in 139 events in 18 sports.

## Medalists
### Gold

* Bobby Morrow — Athletics, Men's 100 metres
* Bobby Morrow — Athletics, Men's 200 metres
* Charles Jenkins — Athletics, Men's 400 metres
* Tom Courtney — Athletics, Men's 800 metres
* Lee Calhoun — Athletics, Men's 110m Hurdles
* Glenn Davis — Athletics, Men's 400m Hurdles
* Thane Baker, Leamon King, Bobby Morrow, and Ira Murchison — Athletics, Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
* Tom Courtney, Charles Jenkins, Lou Jones, and Jesse Mashburn — Athletics, Men's 4 × 400 m Relay
* Milt Campbell — Athletics, Men's Decathlon
* Al Oerter — Athletics, Men's Discus Throw
* Harold Connolly — Athletics, Men's Hammer Throw
* Charles Dumas — Athletics, Men's High Jump
* Greg Bell — Athletics, Men's Long Jump
* Bob Richards — Athletics, Men's Pole Vault
* Parry O'Brien — Athletics, Men's Shot Put
* Millie McDaniel — Athletics, Women's High Jump
* Dick Boushka, Carl Cain, Chuck Darling, William Evans, Gib Ford, Burdette Haldorson, Bill Hougland, Bob Jeangerard, K C Jones, Bill Russell, Ron Tomsic, and Jim Walsh — Basketball, Men's Team
* Jim Boyd — Boxing, Men's Light Heavyweight
* Pete Rademacher — Boxing, Men's Heavyweight
* Bob Clotworthy — Diving, Men's Springboard
* Pat McCormick — Diving, Women's Springboard
* Pat McCormick — Diving, Women's Platform
* Jim Fifer and Duvall Hecht — Rowing, Men's Coxless Pairs
* Dan Ayrault, Conn Findlay, and Kurt Seiffert — Rowing, Men's Coxed Pairs
* William Becklean, Donald Beer, Thomas Charlton, John Cooke, Caldwell Esselstyn, Charles Grimes, Robert Morey, Rusty Wailes, and David Wight — Rowing, Men's Eights
* Lawrence Low and Bert Williams — Sailing, Men's Star
* William Yorzyk — Swimming, Men's 200m Butterfly
* Shelley Mann — Swimming, Women's 100m Butterfly
* Charles Vinci — Weightlifting, Men's Bantamweight
* Isaac Berger — Weightlifting, Men's Featherweight
* Tommy Kono — Weightlifting, Men's Light Heavyweight
* Paul Edward Anderson — Weightlifting, Men's Heavyweight

### Silver

* Thane Baker — Athletics, Men's 100 metres
* Andy Stanfield — Athletics, Men's 200 metres
* Jack Davis — Athletics, Men's 110m Hurdles
* Eddie Southern — Athletics, Men's 400m Hurdles
* Bob Gutowski — Athletics, Men's Pole Vault
* John Bennett — Athletics, Men's Long Jump
* Bill Nieder — Athletics, Men's Shot Put
* Fortune Gordien — Athletics, Men's Discus Throw
* Rafer Johnson — Athletics, Men's Decathlon
* Willye White — Athletics, Women's Long Jump
* José Torres — Boxing, Men's Light Middleweight
* Don Harper — Diving, Men's Springboard
* Gary Tobian — Diving, Men's Platform
* Jeanne Stunyo — Diving, Women's Springboard
* Juno Irwin — Diving, Women's Platform
* Bill André, Jack Daniels, and George Lambert — Modern Pentathlon, Men's Team Competition
* Pat Costello and Jim Gardiner — Rowing, Men's Double Sculls
* James McIntosh, Art McKinlay, John McKinlay, and John Welchli — Rowing, Men's Coxless Fours
* George Breen, Richard Hanley, Ford Konno, and Bill Woolsey — Swimming, Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
* Carin Cone — Swimming, Women's 100m Backstroke
* Nancy Ramey — Swimming, Women's 100m Butterfly
* Shelley Mann, Joan Rosazza, Sylvia Ruuska, and Nancy Simons — Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
* Peter George — Weightlifting, Men's Middleweight
* David Sheppard — Weightlifting, Men's Middle Heavyweight
* Daniel Hodge — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Middleweight

### Bronze

* Thane Baker — Athletics, Men's 200 metres
* Joel Shankle — Athletics, Men's 110m Hurdles
* Josh Culbreath — Athletics, Men's 400m Hurdles
* Des Koch — Athletics, Men's Discus Throw
* Isabelle Daniels, Mae Faggs, Margaret Matthews, and Wilma Rudolph — Athletics, Women's 4 × 100 m Relay
* Dick Connor — Diving, Men's Platform
* Paula Jean Myers-Pope — Diving, Women's Platform
* John Kelly — Rowing, Men's Single Sculls
* John Marvin — Sailing, Men's Finn
* Offutt Pinion — Shooting, Men's Free Pistol
* George Breen — Swimming, Men's 400m Freestyle
* George Breen — Swimming, Men's 1500m Freestyle
* Frank McKinney — Swimming, Men's 100m Backstroke
* Sylvia Ruuska — Swimming, Women's 400m Freestyle
* Mary Sears — Swimming, Women's 100m Butterfly
* James George — Weightlifting, Men's Light Heavyweight
* Peter Blair — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Light Heavyweight

## Athletics

Men's Marathon
* Nick Costes — 2:42:20 (→ 20th place)
* John J. Kelley — 2:43:40 (→ 21st place)
* Dean Thackwray — did not finish (→ no ranking)

## Cycling
### Sprint

* Jack Disney — 5th place

### Time trial

* Allen Bell — 1:12.8 (→ 10th place)

### Tandem

* Donald Ferguson James Rossi — 8th place

### Team pursuit

* Allen Bell Art Longsjo David Rhoads Richard Cortright — 15th place

### Individual road race

* Joseph Becker — 5:38:16 (→ 43rd place)
* David Rhoads — did not finish (→ no ranking)
* Erhard Neumann — did not finish (→ no ranking)
* George Van Meter — did not finish (→ no ranking)

## Diving

Men's 10m Platform
* Gary Tobian
   * Preliminary Round — 76.77
   * Final — 152.41 (→ Silver Medal)
* Richard Connor
   * Preliminary Round — 80.24
   * Final — 149.79 (→ Bronze Medal)
* William Farrell
   * Preliminary Round — 75.07
   * Final — 139.12 (→ 6th place)
Women's 10m Platform
* Pat McCormick
   * Preliminary Round — 51.28
   * Final — 84.85 (→ Gold Medal)
* Juno Stover-Irwin
   * Preliminary Round — 50.81
   * Final — 81.64 (→ Silver Medal)
* Paula Jean Myers-Pope
   * Preliminary Round — 52.96
   * Final — 81.58 (→ Bronze Medal)

## Fencing

18 fencers represented the United States in 1956.

### Men's foil

* Albie Axelrod
* Hal Goldsmith
* Byron Krieger

### Men's team foil

* Albie Axelrod, Daniel Bukantz, Hal Goldsmith, Byron Krieger, Nate Lubell, Sewall Shurtz

### Men's épée

* Richard Pew
* Sewall Shurtz
* Kinmont Hoitsma

### Men's team épée

* Sewall Shurtz, Richard Pew, Ralph Goldstein, Abram Cohen, Kinmont Hoitsma

### Men's sabre

* Allan Kwartler
* George Worth
* Tibor Nyilas

### Men's team sabre

* Tibor Nyilas, George Worth, Abram Cohen, Rex Dyer, Allan Kwartler, Norman Cohn-Armitage

### Women's foil

* Jan York-Romary
* Maxine Mitchell
* Judy Goodrich

## Football (soccer)

* Preliminary round
   * Lost to Yugoslavia (1-9) → did not advance
* Team roster
   * John Carden
   * Ronald Coder
   * Bill Conterio
   * Rolf Decker
   * Jim Dorrian
   * Svend Engedal
   * Harry Keough
   * Bill Looby
   * Alfonso Marina
   * Ruben Mendoza
   * Lloyd Monsen
   * Ed Murphy
   * Dick Packer
   * Zenon Snylyk
   * Herman Wecke
   * Siegbert Wirth
   * Al Zerhusen
Head coach: Jimmy Mills

## Hockey

* Team roster
   * Kurt Ucko

## Modern pentathlon

Three pentathletes represented the United States in 1956, winning silver in the team event.

### Individual

* George Lambert
* Bill Andre
* Jack Daniels

### Team

* George Lambert
* Bill Andre
* Jack Daniels

## Rowing

The United States had 26 rowers participate in all seven rowing events in 1956.

### Men's single sculls

* John B. Kelly

### Men's double sculls

* Pat Costello
* Jim Gardiner

### Men's coxless pair

* James Fifer
* Duvall Hecht

### Men's coxed pair

* Dan Ayrault
* Conn Findlay
* Kurt Seiffert (cox)

### Men's coxless four

* John Welchli
* John McKinlay
* Art McKinlay
* James McIntosh

### Men's coxed four

* James Wynne
* Douglas Turner
* James McMullen
* Ronald Cardwell
* Edward Masterson (cox)

### Men's eight

* Thomas Charlton
* David Wight
* John Cooke
* Donald Beer
* Caldwell Esselstyn
* Charles Grimes
* Rusty Wailes
* Robert Morey
* William Becklean (cox)

## Shooting

Eight shooters represented the United States in 1956. Offutt Pinion won the bronze medal in the 50 m pistol event.

### 25 m pistol

* John Beaumont
* John Forman

### 50 m pistol

* Offutt Pinion
* Joe Benner

### 300 m rifle, three positions

* James Smith
* Herbert Voelcker

### 50 m rifle, three positions

* Art Jackson
* Verle Wright, Jr.

### 50 m rifle, prone

* Art Jackson
* Verle Wright, Jr.