# 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. It is located some 3.4 km north-west of the main Olympic venue, Melbourne Cricket Ground, and was renamed Festival Hall.

## Format of competition

Each country was allowed to enter a team of eight gymnasts, but in contrast to the previous Olympics not more than six of them were allowed to participate in all exercises. Nations with incomplete teams, could enter one to three gymnasts for the individual competition.

### Men's competition

The team included from five to eight gymnasts. Each team member performed compulsory and optional routines on each of six apparatus. Gymnast's scores in these performances counted for all of the events. Scores of gymnasts from incomplete teams counted only for individual events.
Like in the women's events, five best scores constituted the team's score for the routine. These scores constituted the overall team's totals.

### Women's competition

Each team member performed compulsory and optional routines on each of four apparatus. Gymnast's scores in these performances counted for all of the events, except the separate team exercise with portable apparatus event (also known as group exercise with hand apparatus event), which was a group rhythmic exercises similar to the group competition event in rhythmic gymnastics. Scores of gymnasts from incomplete teams counted only for individual events.
The scoring in the team competition was different from the one at the previous Olympics, its principle became the same, as for men's events: five best scores constituted the team's score for the routine; these scores constituted the overall team's totals.

## Medal summary
### Men’s events

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Individual all-around details | Viktor Chukarin Soviet Union | Takashi Ono Japan | Yuri Titov Soviet Union |
| Team all-around details | Soviet Union (URS) Albert Azaryan Viktor Chukarin Valentin Muratov Boris Shakhlin Pavel Stolbov Yuri Titov | Japan (JPN) Nobuyuki Aihara Akira Kono Masami Kubota Takashi Ono Masao Takemoto Shinsaku Tsukawaki | Finland (FIN) Raimo Heinonen Olavi Laimuvirta Onni Lappalainen Berndt Lindfors Martti Mansikka Kalevi Suoniemi |
| Floor exercise details | Valentin Muratov Soviet Union | Nobuyuki Aihara Japan | none awarded |
| Floor exercise details | Valentin Muratov Soviet Union | William Thoresson Sweden | none awarded |
| Floor exercise details | Valentin Muratov Soviet Union | Viktor Chukarin Soviet Union | none awarded |
| Horizontal bar details | Takashi Ono Japan | Yuri Titov Soviet Union | Masao Takemoto Japan |
| Parallel bars details | Viktor Chukarin Soviet Union | Masumi Kubota Japan | Takashi Ono Japan |
| Parallel bars details | Viktor Chukarin Soviet Union | Masumi Kubota Japan | Masao Takemoto Japan |
| Pommel horse details | Boris Shakhlin Soviet Union | Takashi Ono Japan | Viktor Chukarin Soviet Union |
| Rings details | Albert Azaryan Soviet Union | Valentin Muratov Soviet Union | Masao Takemoto Japan |
| Rings details | Albert Azaryan Soviet Union | Valentin Muratov Soviet Union | Masumi Kubota Japan |
| Vault details | Helmut Bantz United Team of Germany | none awarded | Yuri Titov Soviet Union |
| Vault details | Valentin Muratov Soviet Union | none awarded | Yuri Titov Soviet Union |

### Women's events

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Individual all-around details | Larisa Latynina Soviet Union | Ágnes Keleti Hungary | Sofia Muratova Soviet Union |
| Team all-around details | Soviet Union (URS) Polina Astakhova Lyudmila Yegorova Lidia Kalinina Larisa Latynina Tamara Manina Sofia Muratova | Hungary (HUN) Andrea Molnár-Bodó Erzsébet Gulyás-Köteles Ágnes Keleti Alice Kertész Margit Korondi Olga Lemhényi-Tass | Romania (ROU) Georgeta Hurmuzachi Sonia Iovan Elena Leușteanu Elena Mărgărit Elena Săcălici Emilia Vătășoiu |
| Balance beam details | Ágnes Keleti Hungary | Eva Bosáková Czechoslovakia | none awarded |
| Balance beam details | Ágnes Keleti Hungary | Tamara Manina Soviet Union | none awarded |
| Floor exercise details | Ágnes Keleti Hungary | none awarded | Elena Leușteanu Romania |
| Floor exercise details | Larisa Latynina Soviet Union | none awarded | Elena Leușteanu Romania |
| Uneven bars details | Ágnes Keleti Hungary | Larisa Latynina Soviet Union | Sofia Muratova Soviet Union |
| Vault details | Larisa Latynina Soviet Union | Tamara Manina Soviet Union | Olga Lemhényi-Tass Hungary |
| Vault details | Larisa Latynina Soviet Union | Tamara Manina Soviet Union | Ann-Sofi Pettersson Sweden |
| Team, portable apparatus details | Hungary (HUN) Andrea Molnár-Bodó Erzsébet Gulyás-Köteles Ágnes Keleti Alice Kertész Margit Korondi Olga Lemhényi-Tass | Sweden (SWE) Karin Lindberg Ann-Sofi Pettersson Eva Rönström Evy Berggren Doris Hedberg Maud Karlén | Soviet Union (URS) Polina Astakhova Lyudmila Yegorova Lidia Kalinina Larisa Latynina Tamara Manina Sofia Muratova |
| Team, portable apparatus details | Hungary (HUN) Andrea Molnár-Bodó Erzsébet Gulyás-Köteles Ágnes Keleti Alice Kertész Margit Korondi Olga Lemhényi-Tass | Sweden (SWE) Karin Lindberg Ann-Sofi Pettersson Eva Rönström Evy Berggren Doris Hedberg Maud Karlén | Poland (POL) Helena Rakoczy Natalia Kot-Wala Danuta Stachow Dorota Horzonek-Jokiel Barbara Ślizowska Lidia Szczerbińska |

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 11 | 6 | 6 | 23 |
| 2 | Hungary (HUN) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | Japan (JPN) | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | United Team of Germany (EUA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Romania (ROU) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | Finland (FIN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (9 entries) | Totals (9 entries) | 17 | 16 | 17 | 50 |

## Participating nations

* Australia (9)
* Austria (1)
* Bulgaria (6)
* Canada (2)
* Cuba (1)
* Czechoslovakia (12)
* Finland (6)
* France (5)
* United Team of Germany (6)
* Great Britain (3)
* Hungary (8)
* India (3)
* Italy (6)
* Japan (12)
* Luxembourg (2)
* Poland (6)
* Romania (6)
* South Africa (2)
* Soviet Union (12)
* Sweden (8)
* United States (12)