Egypt at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Egypt boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, because of the British and French involvement in the Suez Crisis. The equestrian events for the 1956 Games, however, were held in Stockholm, Sweden, five months earlier, due to Australian quarantine regulations, and three Egyptian riders competed in the show jumping events. None of the athletes won individual medals and they failed to place in the team competition due to one rider's failure to finish the individual tournament. Background. Prior to 1956, Egypt had sent athletes to six editions of the Summer Olympic Games  and the 1906 Intercalated Games. Egypt, along with Cambodia, Iraq and Lebanon, boycotted the 1956 Games, held in Melbourne, Australia, in protest of Britain and France's involvement in the Suez Crisis, as they supported Israel's invasion of Egypt in an attempt to regain control over the recently nationalized Suez Canal. The equestrian events, however, were held several months earlier than the rest of the Games in Stockholm, Sweden, due to Australian horse quarantine regulations that prevented them from being held in Melbourne. This allowed three Egyptian equestrians to compete at the 1956 Olympics. Equestrian. Show jumping. Egypt's  three riders, Omar El-Hadary on "Auer", Gamal Haress on "Nefertiti II", and Mohamed Selim Zaki on "Inch'Allah", all competed both individually and as part of the a team in the jumping events. Zaki and Haress were veterans of the 1952 Summer Olympics and would go on to represent the United Arab Republic at the 1960 edition. They finished ninth and joint-21st (with Andrey Favorsky) respectively in the 1956 individual jumping tournament. El-Hadary, in his only Olympic appearance, failed to finish the second round, which also led to Egypt not being placed in the team competition. Egypt at the