Australia Melbourne
XVI Summer International Olympic Games

Organization and celebration of the 1956 Summer Olympics were entrusted to the Australian city of Melbourne. At the final voting, Melbourne was selected to host the Games over the bid from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, by one-vote margin only (!).
Participation of Northern Hemisphere athletes in the 1956 Olympic Games was associated with certain problems – the unusual time of the Games (it was winter in the majority of the NH countries) complicated training of the athletes, besides, many nations had to shorten the list of their teams due to high travel expenses. Therefore, the number of athletes competing at the Melbourne Games was less than that at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. The total number of competing athletes was 3155 (including 364 female ones) of 67 nations.
They had played for 145 sets of medals in 20 sports (according to other sources in 17 sports).
Athletes of Cambodia, Kenya, Liberia, Malaya, UTG (the United Team of Germany that included both the East Germany team and West Germany team), Northern Borneo, Taiwan, Uganda, Fiji and Ethiopia made their debut.
The Soviet delegation included 283 athletes. They competed in all sports but for field hockey.
The Olympic Flame was lit at the Melbourne Stadium by famous Australian runner Ron Clarke. The Athlete’s Oath was voiced by athlete John Landy.
The Games of the XVI Olympiad were officially opened by Duke of Edinburgh Philip. 

WINNER MEDALS
A new IOC regulation stipulated that the winner medal was to have an engraved name of the sport concerned. However, the IOC regulation failed to be implemented in Melbourne, since by the day of its approval all medals had been minted already. Totally, 280 silver-gilt medals, 280 silver medals and 290 bronze medals had been made by the day of the Olympics.
The winner medals of the XVI Olympiad were of the traditional appearance (both the obverse and reverse sides), but for the date and name of the host city.
The design of the Olympic medal obverse and reverse sides was a replica of the medals stricken for the preceding Games. The only difference was in the name of the host city and date of the XVI Olympiad.
OBVERSE: a figure of the Greek Goddess of Victory, holding a laurel wreath in her right hand, hand raised, and a palm leaf in her left hand. On the left of the goddess, there is a Panathenaean amphora standing on a shelf rock, with depicted competing athletes. A view of an amphitheatre looking like the Roman Coliseum appears on the right of the goddess. A horizontal four-line inscription in English reading “XVI – Olympiad – Melbourne – 1952” is engraved in the right upper segment.
REVERSE: a scene of an Olympic champion with a palm leaf in his left hand carried in triumph by other athletes; his right hand is raised to hail. The designer’s initials “G.C.” (Giuseppe Cassioli) are engraved at the right edge of the medal next to an athlete figure. 

COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL
OBVERSE: the Olympic motto in Latin “Citius, Altius, Fortius” within a circle of athletes marching in pairs, and an Olympic banner-bearer marching leftward at the medal bottom edge, with the designer’s signature in English - “Andor Meszaros” and year of minting ”1956” on the right of the banner-bearer.
REVERSE: a composition of the coat-of-arms of the City of Melbourne surmounted by the Olympic rings with acanthus. A band with the Latin phrase “Vires acquirit eundo” (English: It gains strength by going) is on the left and right of the coat-of-arms. A two-line legend in English around the medal upper rim reads: “Olympic Games – Melbourne – 1956”