# Poland at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Poland competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 64 competitors, 49 men and 15 women, took part in 48 events in 9 sports.

## Medals

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event |
| Gold | Elżbieta Krzesińska-Duńska | Athletics | Women's long jump |
| Silver | Janusz Sidło | Athletics | Men's javelin throw |
| Silver | Adam Smelczyński | Shooting | Men's trap |
| Silver | Jerzy Pawłowski | Fencing | Men's sabre |
| Silver | Andrzej Piątkowski Zygmunt Pawlas Wojciech Zabłocki Jerzy Pawłowski Ryszard Zub Marian Kuszewski | Fencing | Men's team sabre |
| Bronze | Henryk Niedźwiedzki | Boxing | Men's featherweight |
| Bronze | Zbigniew Pietrzykowski | Boxing | Men's middleweight |
| Bronze | Dorota Horzonek-Jokiel Natalia Kot Danuta Nowak-Stachow Helena Rakoczy Lidia Szczerbińska Barbara Wilk-Ślizowska | Gymnastics | Women's team portable apparatus |
| Bronze | Marian Zieliński | Weightlifting | Men's 60 kg |

## Athletics
### Track & road events

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Jerzy Chromik | 5000 metres | 14:51.4 | 19 | — | — | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |
| Marian Foik | 100 m | 10.88 | 1 Q | 10.83 | 3 Q | 10.84 | 5 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Jan Jarzembowski | 100 m | 10.95 | 2 Q | 10.98 | 4 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Jan Jarzembowski | 200 m | 21.91 | 4 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak | 3000 m steeplechase | 8:48.0 | 10 Q | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF |
| Edward Szmidt | 200 m | 22.03 | 2 Q | 21.73 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Kazimierz Zimny | 5000 metres | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |
| Zenon Baranowski Marian Foik Janusz Jarzembowski Edward Szmidt | 4×100 m relay | 40.97 | 1 Q | — | — | 41.12 | 2 Q | 40.75 | 6 |

### Field events

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Distance | Position | Distance | Position |
| Henryk Grabowski | Long jump | 7.52 | 1 Q | 7.15 | 10 |
| Zbigniew Janiszewski | Pole vault | 4.15 | 2 Q | 4.15 | 12 |
| Jan Kopyto | Javelin throw | 68.19 | 13 Q | 74.28 | 5 |
| Kazimierz Kropidłowski | Long jump | 7.22 | 12 Q | 7.30 | 6 |
| Ryszard Malcherczyk | Triple jump | 14.84 | 21 Q | 15.54 | 10 |
| Alfons Niklas | Hammer throw | 58.46 | 4 Q | 57.70 | 10 |
| Tadeusz Rut | Discus throw | 46.62 | 17 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Tadeusz Rut | Hammer throw | 58.07 | 5 Q | 53.43 | 14 |
| Janusz Sidło | Javelin throw | 72.00 | 6 Q | 79.98 | |
| Zenon Ważny | Pole vault | 4.15 | 8 Q | 4.25 | 6 |

### Track & road events

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Maria Kusion-Bibro | 100 m | 12.2 | 4 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Barbara Janiszewska | 100 m | 12.2 | 4 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Barbara Janiszewska | 200 m | 24.8 | 2 Q | — | — | 25.2 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Genowefa Minicka | 200 m | 25.0 | 4 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Halina Richter-Górecka | 100 m | 12.2 | 5 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Maria Kusion-Bibro Barbara Janiszewska Genowefa Minicka Halina Richter-Górecka | 4×100 m relay | 46.58 | 4 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |

### Field events

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Distance | Position | Distance | Position |
| Urszula Figwer | Javelin throw | 47.76 | 2 Q | 48.16 | 6 |
| Elżbieta Krzesińska-Duńska | Long jump | 6.13 | 1 Q | 6.35 | |
| Maria Kusion-Bibro | Long jump | 5.80 | 6 Q | 5.79 | 9 |
| Genowefa Minicka | Long jump | 5.72 | 12 Q | 5.64 | 12 |
| Anna Wojtaszek | Javelin throw | 44.08 | 12 Q | 46.92 | 9 |

## Boxing
### Men

| Athlete | Event | 1 Round | 2 Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Henryk Kukier | Flyweight | BYE | Warner Batchelor (AUS) L P | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Zenon Stefaniuk | Bantamweight | BYE | Claudio Barrientos (CHI) L P | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Henryk Niedźwiedzki | Featherweight | BYE | Leonard Leisching (RSA) W P | Tristan Falfán (ARG) W KO | Vladimir Safronov (URS) L P | — | |
| Zygmunt Milewski | Lightweight | BYE | Pentti Niinivuori (FIN) W P | Harry Kurschat (FRG) L KO | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Leszek Drogosz | Light Welterweight | BYE | Vladimir Yengibaryan (URS) L P | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Tadeusz Walasek | Welterweight | Fred Tiedt (IRL) L P | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Zbigniew Pietrzykowski | Light Middleweight | Richard Karpov (URS) W P | — | Boris Nikolov (BUL) W P | László Papp (HUN) L P | — | |
| Zbigniew Piórkowski | Middleweight | Ramón Tapia (CHI) L KO | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Andrzej Wojciechowski | Light Heavyweight | Lennart Risberg (SWE) W KO | — | Carlos Lucas (CHI) L P | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |

## Canoeing
### Sprint
#### Men

| Athlete | Event | Heats | Heats | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Stefan Kapłaniak | K-1 1000 m | 4:35.4 | 1 Q | 4:19.8 | 4 |
| Ryszard Skwarski Jerzy Górski | K-2 1000 m | 4:12.6 | 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Stefan Kapłaniak Jerzy Górski | K-2 10000 m | — | — | 47:21.5 | 10 |

#### Women

| Athlete | Event | Heats | Heats | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Daniela Walkowiak | K-1 500 m | 2:25.8 | 3 Q | 2:24.1 | 6 |

## Fencing

Six fencers, all men, represented Poland in 1956.

### Men

Ranks given are within the pool.
| Fencer | Event | Elimination round | Elimination round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| Fencer | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Jerzy Pawłowski | Men's sabre | BYE | BYE | Darè (ITA) Worth (USA) Kuznetsov (URS) Cooperman (GBR) Gamot (FRA) Fadgyas (AUS) | 1 Q | Kárpáti (HUN) Lefèvre (FRA) Narduzzi (ITA) Cherepovsky (URS) Stratmann (GER) Kwartler (USA) Darè (ITA) | 2 Q | Kárpáti (HUN) Kuznetsov (URS) Lefèvre (FRA) Gerevich (HUN) Zabłocki (POL) Kovács (HUN) Narduzzi (ITA) | |
| Wojciech Zabłocki | Men's sabre | BYE | BYE | Kárpáti (HUN) Roulot (FRA) Stratmann (GER) Nyilas (USA) Hoskyns (GBR) McKenzie (AUS) | 3 Q | Kovács (HUN) Gerevich (HUN) Kuznetsov (URS) Ferrari (ITA) Roulot (FRA) Worth (USA) Van Der Auwera (BEL) | 4 Q | Kárpáti (HUN) Pawłowski (POL) Kuznetsov (URS) Lefèvre (FRA) Gerevich (HUN) Kovács (HUN) Narduzzi (ITA) | 6 |
| Marian Kuszewski | Men's sabre | BYE | BYE | Gerevich (HUN) Narduzzi (ITA) Cherepovsky (URS) Van Der Auwera (BEL) Porebski (GBR) Echeverry (COL) | 6 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 19 |
| Jerzy Pawłowski Wojciech Zabłocki Marian Kuszewski Ryszard Zub Andrzej Piątkowski Zygmunt Pawlas | Team sabre | Great Britain (GBR) W 12-4 | 1 Q | — | — | United States (USA) W 10-6 | 2 Q | Soviet Union (URS) W 9-7 France (FRA) W 10-6 Hungary (HUN) L 4-9 | |

## Gymnastics
### Artistic
#### Women

| Athlete | Event | Final Standings | Final Standings | Final Standings | Final Standings | Final Standings | Final Standings | Apparatus Final | Apparatus Final | Apparatus Final | Apparatus Final | Apparatus Final | Apparatus Final |
| Athlete | Event | Apparatus | Apparatus | Apparatus | Apparatus | Total | Rank | Apparatus | Apparatus | Apparatus | Apparatus | Total | Rank |
| Athlete | Event | F | V | UB | BB | Total | Rank | F | V | UB | BB | Total | Rank |
| Dorota Horzonek-Jokiel | All-around | 17.366 | 18.233 | 18.200 | 17.866 | 71.666 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Natalia Kot | All-around | 18.366 | 18.500 | 18.600 | 18.166 | 73.633 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Danuta Nowak-Stachow | All-around | 17.833 | 17.866 | 18.533 | 17.566 | 71.800 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Helena Rakoczy | All-around | 18.366 | 18.500 | 18.700 | 18.133 | 73.700 | 8 | — | — | 18.700 | — | 18.700 | 5 |
| Lidia Szczerbińska | All-around | 17.733 | 17.733 | 17.200 | 17.633 | 70.300 | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Barbara Wilk-Ślizowska | All-around | 17.733 | 17.566 | 17.900 | 17.333 | 70.533 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dorota Horzonek-Jokiel Natalia Kot Danuta Nowak-Stachow Helena Rakoczy Lidia Szczerbińska Barbara Wilk-Ślizowska | Team all-around | 90.264 | 90.863 | 91.928 | 89.430 | 436.485 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Athlete | Event | Final | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Portable | Total | Rank |
| Athlete | Event | Apparatus | Total | Rank |
| Dorota Horzonek-Jokiel Natalia Kot Danuta Nowak-Stachow Helena Rakoczy Lidia Szczerbińska Barbara Wilk-Ślizowska | Team Portable apparatus | Hoop | 74.00 | |

## Rowing

Poland had eight male rowers participate in three out of seven rowing events in 1956.

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Heats | Heats | Repechage | Repechage | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Teodor Kocerka | Single sculls | 7:28.1 | 2 Q | BYE | BYE | 9:05.7 | 2 Q | 8:12.9 | 4 |
| Zbigniew Schwarzer Henryk Jagodziński Bertold Mainka | Coxed pair | 7:43.7 | 2 Q | BYE | BYE | 9:22.8 | 1 Q | 8:31.5 | 4 |
| Kazimierz Błasiński Szczepan Grajczyk Zbigniew Paradowski Marian Nietupski | Coxless four | 6:46.3 | 2 R | 8:29.3 | 1 Q | 8:32.0 | 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Shooting

Two shooters represented Poland in 1956, with Adam Smelczyński winning a silver medal in the trap event.

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Score | Rank |
| Adam Smelczyński | Trap | 190 | |
| Zygmunt Kiszkurno | Trap | 170 | 15 |

## Swimming
### Women

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Elżbieta Gellner | 100 metre backstroke | 1:16.2 | 5 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Weightlifting
### Men

| Athlete | Event | Military Press | Military Press | Snatch | Snatch | Clean & Jerk | Clean & Jerk | Total | Rank |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Total | Rank |
| Marian Zieliński | 60 kg | 105 | 3 | 102.5 | 3 | 127.5 | 4 | 335 | |
| Jan Czepułkowski | 67.5 kg | 120 | 2 | 105 | 7 | 135 | 10 | 360 | 6 |
| Krzysztof Beck | 75 kg | 122.5 | 3 | 112.5 | 6 | 145 | 6 | 380 | 6 |
| Jan Bochenek | 75 kg | 120 | 5 | 112.5 | 6 | 150 | 3 | 382.5 | 4 |
| Czesław Białas | 90 kg | 130 | 5 | NVL | NVL | DNS | DNS | DNF | DNF |