Soviet Union at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Soviet Union at the
1956 Summer Olympics
Soviet Union at the; 1956 Summer Olympics
	Flag of the Soviet Union
IOC code	URS
NOC	Soviet Olympic Committee
in Melbourne/Stockholm
Competitors	272 (233 men, 39 women) in 17 sports
Flag bearer	Aleksey Medvedev
Medals; Ranked 1st	Gold 37 Silver 29 Bronze 32 Total 98
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1952; 1956; 1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988;
Other related appearances
	Russian Empire (1900–1912); Estonia (1920–1936, 1992–); Latvia (1924–1936, 1992–); Lithuania (1924–1928, 1992–); Unified Team (1992); Armenia (1994–); Belarus (1994–); Georgia (1994–); Kazakhstan (1994–); Kyrgyzstan (1994–); Moldova (1994–); Russia (1994–2016); Ukraine (1994–); Uzbekistan (1994–); Azerbaijan (1996–); Tajikistan (1996–); Turkmenistan (1996–); ROC (2020–2022); Individual Neutral Athletes (2024)

The Soviet Union (USSR) competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 272 competitors, 233 men and 39 women, took part in 135 events in 17 sports.^[1] the Netherlands, Spain, the Netherlands Antilles, Egypt, Lebanon, Cambodia, Iraq and Switzerland protested against this by boycotting the games. As a partial support to the Dutch-led boycott, Soviet athletes under the Olympic flag instead of the national flag.

Medalists

The USSR finished first in the final medal rankings, with 37 gold and 98 total medals.

Gold

Valentin Muratov — Artistic gymnastics, men's floor exercise
Larisa Latynina — Artistic gymnastics, women's floor exercise
Viktor Chukarin — Artistic gymnastics, men's individual all-round
Larisa Latynina — Artistic gymnastics, women's individual all-round
Victor Chukarin — Artistic gymnastics, men's parallel bars
Boris Shakhlin — Artistic gymnastics, men's pommel horse
Albert Azaryan — Artistic gymnastics, men's rings
Victor Chukarin, Valentin Muratov, Boris Shakhlin, Albert Azaryan, Yuri Titov, Pavel Stolbov — Artistic gymnastics, men's team competition
Tamara Manina, Larisa Latynina, Sofia Muratova, Lidiya Kalinina-Ivanova, Polina Astakhova, Lyudmila Egorova — Artistic gymnastics, women's team competition
Valentin Muratov — Artistic gymnastics, men's vault
Larisa Latynina — Artistic gymnastics, women's vault
Vladimir Kuts — Athletics, men's 10000 m
Leonid Spirin — Athletics, men's 20 km walk
Vladimir Kuts — Athletics, men's 5000 m
Inese Jaunzeme — Athletics, women's javelin throw
Tamara Tyshkevich — Athletics, women's shot put
Vladimir Safronov — Boxing, men's featherweight
Vladimir Yengibaryan — Boxing, men's light-welterweight
Gennadi Shatkov — Boxing, men's 71–75 kg
Pavel Kharin, Gratsian Botev — Canoeing, men's C-2 10000 m
Elizaveta Dementyeva — Canoeing, women's K-1 500 m
Lev Yashin, Nikolai Tishchenko, Mikhail Okonkov, Aleksei Paramonov, Anatoli Bashashkin, Igor Netto, Boris Tatushin, Anatoli Isayev, Eduard Streltsov, Valentin Ivanov, Vladimir Ryzhkin, Boris Kuznetsov, Iosif Betsa, Sergei Salnikov, Boris Razinsky, Anatoli Maslenkin, Anatoli Ilyin and Nikita Simonyan — Football (soccer), men's team competition
Igor Novikov, Ivan Deryugin, Aleksandr Tarasov — Modern pentathlon, men's team competition
Aleksandr Berkutov, Yuriy Tyukalov — Rowing, men's double sculls
Vyacheslav Ivanov — Rowing, men's single sculls
Vitali Romanenko — Shooting, men's 100 m running deer, single/double shots
Vasily Borisov — Shooting, men's 300 m free rifle 3 positions
Anatoli Bogdanov — Shooting, men's 50 m rifle 3 positions
Igor Rybak — Weightlifting, men's lightweight
Fedor Bogdanovsky — Weightlifting, men's middleweight
Arkady Vorobyov — Weightlifting, men's middle-heavyweight
Mirian Tsalkalamanidze — Wrestling, men's freestyle flyweight
Anatoli Parfenov — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman super-heavyweight
Nikolai Soloviev — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman flyweight
Konstantin Vyrupaev — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman bantamweight
Givi Kartoziya — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman middleweight
Valentin Nikolayev — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman light-heavyweight

Silver

Tamara Manina — Artistic gymnastics, women's balance beam
Victor Chukarin — Artistic gymnastics, men's floor exercise
Yuri Titov — Artistic gymnastics, men's horizontal bar
Valentin Muratov — Artistic gymnastics, men's rings
Larisa Latynina — Artistic gymnastics, women's uneven bars
Tamara Manina — Artistic gymnastics, women's vault
Antanas Mikenas — Athletics, men's 20 km walk
Leonid Bartenev, Yuriy Konovalov, Vladimir Sukharev, Boris Tokarev — Athletics, men's 4 × 100 m relay
Yevgeniy Maskinskov — Athletics, men's 50 km walk
Irina Beglyakova — Athletics, women's discus throw
Mikhail Krivonosov — Athletics, men's hammer throw
Mariya Pisareva — Athletics, women's high jump
Galina Zybina — Athletics, women's shot put
Valdis Muizhniek, Maigonis Valdmanis, Vladimir Torban, Stasys Stonkus, Kazys Petkevičius, Arkadi Bochkarev, Jānis Krūmiņš, Mikhail Semyonov, Algirdas Lauritenas, Yuri Ozerov, Viktor Zubkov, Mikhail Studenetsky — Basketball, men's team competition
Lev Mukhin — Boxing, men's heavyweight
Pavel Kharin, Gratsian Botev — Canoeing, men's C-2 1000 m
Igor Pissarev — Canoeing, men's K-1 1000 m
Mikhail Kaaleste, Anatoli Demitkov — Canoeing, men's K-2 1000 m
Igor Buldakov, Viktor Ivanov — Rowing, men's coxless pair
Yevgeni Cherkasov — Shooting, men's 25 m rapid fire pistol
Allan Erdman — Shooting, men's 300 m free rifle 3 positions
Makhmud Umarov — Shooting, men's 50 m pistol
Vasily Borisov — Shooting, men's 50 m rifle prone
Vladimir Stogov — Weightlifting, men's bantamweight
Yevgeni Minaev — Weightlifting, men's featherweight
Ravil Khabutdinov — Weightlifting, men's lightweight
Vasili Stepanov — Weightlifting, men's light-heavyweight
Boris Kulayev — Wrestling, men's freestyle light-heavyweight
Vladimir Maneev — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman welterweight

Bronze

Yuri Titov — Artistic gymnastics, men's individual all-round
Sofia Muratova — Artistic gymnastics, women's individual all-round
Victor Chukarin — Artistic gymnastics, men's pommel horse
Tamara Manina, Larisa Latynina, Sofia Muratova, Lidiya Kalinina-Ivanova, Polina Astakhova, Lyudmila Egorova — Artistic gymnastics, women's team, portable apparatus
Sofia Muratova — Artistic gymnastics, women's uneven bars
Yuri Titov — Artistic gymnastics, men's vault
Bruno Junk — Athletics, men's 20 km walk
Ardalion Ignatyev — Athletics, men's 400 m
Vasili Kuznetsov — Athletics, men's decathlon
Nina Romashkova — Athletics, women's discus throw
Anatoli Samotsvetov — Athletics, men's hammer throw
Igor Kashkarov — Athletics, men's high jump
Viktor Tsybulenko — Athletics, men's javelin throw
Nadezhda Konyaeva — Athletics, women's javelin throw
Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili — Athletics, women's long jump
Vitold Kreer — Athletics, men's triple jump
Anatoli Lagetko — Boxing, men's lightweight
Romualdas Murauskas — Boxing, men's light-heavyweight
Gennady Bukharin — Canoeing, men's C-1 10000 m
Gennady Bukharin — Canoeing, men's C-1 1000 m
Lev Kuznetsov — Fencing, men's sabre individual
Yakov Rylsky, David Tyshler, Lev Kuznetsov, Yevgeni Cherepovsky, Leonid Bogdanov — Fencing, men's sabre team
Igor Emchuk, Heorhiy Zhylin, Vladimir Petrov — Rowing, men's pair-oared shell with coxswain
Vladimir Sevryugin — Shooting, men's 100 m running deer, single/double shots
Kharis Yunichev — Swimming, men's 200 m breaststroke
Vitali Sorokin, Vladimir Struzhanov, Gennadi Nikolaev, Boris Nikitin — Swimming, men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay
Boris Goikhman, Valentin Prokopov, Yuri Shlyapin, Vyacheslav Kurennoi, Pyotr Breus, Pyotr Mshvenieradze, Boris Markarov, Mikhail Ryzhak, Viktor Ageev and Nodar Gvakhariya — Water polo, men's team competition
Mikhail Shakhov — Wrestling, men's freestyle bantamweight
Alimbeg Bestaev — Wrestling, men's freestyle lightweight
Vakhtang Balavadze — Wrestling, men's freestyle welterweight
Georgi Skhirtladze — Wrestling, men's freestyle middleweight
Roman Dzeneladze — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman featherweight

Athletics

Men's 110 m hurdles

Boris Stolyarov

Heat — 14.4s
Semifinals — 14.5s
Final — 14.6s (→ 6th place)

Anatoly Mikhailov

Heat — 14.5s (→ did not advance)

Men's marathon

Ivan Filine — 2:30:37 (→ 7th place)
Boris Grichaev — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Albert Ivanov — did not finish (→ no ranking)

Basketball

Boxing

Canoeing

Cycling

Sprint

Boris Romanov — 7th place

Time trial

Boris Savostin — 1:12.3 (→ 5th place)

Tandem

Rostislav Vargashkin
Vladimir Leonov — 9th place

Team pursuit

Eduard Gusev
Rodislav Chizhikov
Viktor Ilyin
Volodymyr Mitin — 8th place

Team road race

Anatoly Cherepovich
Mykola Kolumbet
Viktor Kapitonov — 63 points (→ 6th place)

Individual road race

Anatoly Cherepovich — 5:23:50 (→ 15th place)
Mykola Kolumbet — 5:23:50 (→ 16th place)
Viktor Kapitonov — 5:30:45 (→ 32nd place)
Viktor Vershinin — 5:34:21 (→ 35th place)

Diving

Men's 10 m platform

Roman Brener

Preliminary Round — 76.56
Final — 142.95 (→ 5th place)

Mikhail Chachba

Preliminary Round — 73.02
Final — 134.52 (→ 8th place)

Gennady Galkin

Preliminary Round — 68.92 (→ did not advance, 13th place)

Women's 3 m platform

Zoya Blyuvas

Preliminary Round — 62.12
Final — 98.15 (→ 11th place)

Women's 10 m platform

Tatyana Karakashyants-Vereina

Preliminary Round — 52.19
Final — 76.95 (→ 9th place)

Lyubov Shigalova

Preliminary Round — 49.22
Final — 76.40 (→ 9th place)

Raisa Gorokhovskaya

Preliminary Round — 52.64
Final — 73.84 (→ 9th place)

Fencing

20 fencers, 17 men and 3 women, represented the Soviet Union in 1956.

Men's foil

Men's team foil

Yury Rudov, Iuri Osip'ovi, Mark Midler, Aleksandr Ovsyankin, Viktor Zhdanovich, Yury Ivanov

Men's épée

Men's team épée

Arnold Chernushevich, Valentin Chernikov, Lev Saychuk, Revaz Tsirek'idze, Juozas Ūdras, Valentin Vdovichenko

Men's sabre

Men's team sabre

Lev Kuznetsov, Yakov Rylsky, Yevgeny Cherepovsky, David Tyshler, Leonid Bogdanov

Women's foil

Football

Gymnastics

Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented the Soviet Union in 1956. The Soviet pentathletes won gold in the team event.

Individual

Team

Igor Novikov
Aleksandr Tarasov
Ivan Deriuhin

Rowing

The Soviet Union had 25 male rowers participate in seven rowing events in 1956.^[2]

Men's single sculls – 1st place ( gold medal)

Vyacheslav Ivanov (Вячеслав Иванов)

Men's double sculls – 1st place ( gold medal)

Aleksandr Berkutov (Александр Беркутов)
Yuriy Tyukalov (Юрий Тюкалов)

Men's coxless pair – 2nd place ( silver medal)

Igor Buldakov (Игорь Булдаков)
Viktor Ivanov (Виктор Иванов)

Men's coxed pair – 3rd place ( bronze medal)

Ihor Yemchuk (Ihor Yemchuk, Игорь Емчук)
Heorhiy Zhylin (Georgy Zhilin, Георгий Жилин)
Vladimir Petrov (Владимир Петров)

Men's coxless four

Leonid Zakharov (Леонид Захаров)
Aleksandr Sheff (Александр Шефф)
Nikolay Karasyov (Николай Карасёв)
Igor Ivanov (Игорь Иванов)

Men's coxed four

Andrey Arkhipov (Андрей Архипов)
Yury Popov (Юрий Попов)
Valentin Zanin (Валентин Занин)
Yaroslav Cherstvy (Ярослав Черствый)
Anatoly Fetisov (Анатолий Фетисов)

Men's eight

Ernest Verbin (Эрнест Вербин)
Boris Fyodorov (Борис Фёдоров)
Slava Amiragov (Слава Амирагов)
Leonid Gissen (Леонид Гиссен)
Yevgeny Samsonov (Евгений Самсонов)
Anatoly Antonov (Анатолий Антонов)
Georgy Gushchenko (Георгий Гущенко)
Vladimir Kryukov (Владимир Крюков)
Vladimir Petrov (Владимир Петров)

Sailing

Shooting

Eleven shooters represented the Soviet Union in 1956.

25 m pistol

50 m pistol

300 m rifle, three positions

50 m rifle, three positions

50 m rifle, prone

100 m running deer

Trap

Swimming

Water polo

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Medals by republic

In the following table for team events number of team representatives, who received medals are counted, not "one medal for all the team", as usual. Because there were people from different republics in one team.


Rank	Republic	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russian SFSR	47	33	36	116
2	Ukrainian SSR	14	4	11	29
3	Armenian SSR	4	0	0	4
4	Georgian SSR	2	0	6	8
5	Latvian SSR	1	4	0	5
6	Lithuanian SSR	0	3	1	4
7	Azerbaijan SSR	0	1	0	1
7	Byelorussian SSR	0	1	0	1
9	Estonian SSR	0	0	1	1
Totals (9 entries)		68	46	55	169

References

^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Soviet Union at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Soviet Union Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2015.

External links

Official Olympic Reports
International Olympic Committee results database
Boris Khavin (1979). All about Olympic Games (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. – for medal stats by republic

[sports-reference-1] Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Soviet Union at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2010.

[2] Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Soviet Union Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2015.

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