Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. British athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 189 competitors, 163 men and 26 women, took part in 108 events in 17 sports.

The Melbourne Games saw an improvement on Great Britain and Northern Ireland's performance at the two preceding Games. British athletes won six gold medals (up from just one in 1952). Overall, they won twenty-four medals, finishing eighth.

Medallists + Medals by sportSportTotalBoxing2125Athletics1427Equestrian1023Swimming1012Fencing1001Cycling0123Sailing0123Total671124

Gold Chris Brasher — Athletics, Men's 3.000m Steeplechase Terence Spinks — Boxing, Men's Flyweight Richard McTaggart — Boxing, Men's Lightweight Bertie Hill, Arthur Rook, and Francis Weldon — Equestrian, Three-Day Event Team Gillian Sheen — Fencing, Women's Foil Individual Judy Grinham — Swimming, Women's 100m Backstroke

Silver Derek Johnson — Athletics, Men's 800m Gordon Pirie — Athletics, Men's 5.000m Jean Scrivens, Heather Armitage, June Foulds, and Anne Pashley — Athletics, Women's 4 × 100 m Relay Thelma Hopkins — Athletics, Women's High Jump Thomas Nicholls — Boxing, Men's Featherweight Arthur Brittain, William Holmes, and Alan Jackson — Cycling, Men's Team Road Race Robert Perry, David Bowker, John Dillon, and Neil Kennedy-Cochran — Sailing, Men's 5½ Meter Classo

Bronze Derek Ibbotson — Athletics, Men's 5.000m Michael Wheeler, Peter Higgins, Derek Johnson, and John Salisbury — Athletics, Men's 4 × 400 m Relay Nicholas Gargano — Boxing, Men's Welterweight John McCormack — Boxing, Men's Light Middleweight Tom Simpson, Donald Burgess, Michael Gambrill, and John Geddes — Cycling, Men's 4.000m Team Pursuit Alan Jackson — Cycling, Men's Individual Road Race Francis Weldon — Equestrian, Three-Day Event Individual Peter Robeson, Pat Smythe, and Wilf White — Equestrian, Jumping Team Margaret Edwards — Swimming, Women's 100m Backstroke Terence Smith and Jasper Blackall — Sailing, Men's Sharpie 12m² Graham Mann, Ronald Backus, and Jonathan Janson — Sailing, Men's Dragon

Athletics

Men's 110m Hurdles Peter Hildreth Heat — 14.5s (→ did not advance)

Jack Parker Heat — 14.8s (→ did not advance)

Men's 1500m Brian Hewson Final— 3:42.6 (→ 5th place)

Ian Boyd Final— 3:43.0 (→ 8th place)

Ken Wood Final— 3:44.76 (→ 9th place)

Men's Marathon Harry Hicks — 2:39:55 (→ 15th place) Fred Norris — did not finish (→ no ranking) Ron Clark — did not finish (→ no ranking)

Women's Discus Throw Suzanne Allday Qualifying Round — 41.45 m (→ did not advance, 14th place)

Boxing

Men's Light Flyweight (– 48 kg) Owen Reilly

Men's Flyweight (– 51 kg) Terence Spinks

Men's Bantamweight (– 54 kg) Thomas Nicholls

Men's Featherweight (– 57 kg) Richard McTaggart

Men's Light Welterweight (– 63.5 kg) Nicholas Gargano

Men's Light Middleweight (– 67 kg) John McCormack

Men's Middleweight (– 75 kg) Ron Redrup

Canoeing

Cycling

Benny Foster was the British cycling team manager.Daily Mirror Monday 10 September 1956, page 19

Sprint Keith Harrison — 15th place

Time trial Alan Danson — 1:12.3 (→ 5th place)

Tandem Eric ThompsonPeter Brotherton — 4th place

Team pursuit Donald BurgessJohn GeddesMichael GambrillTom Simpson — 4:42.2 (→ Bronze Medal)

Team road race Alan JacksonArthur BrittainWilliam Holmes — 23 points (→ Silver Medal)

Individual road race Alan Jackson — 5:23:16 (→ Bronze Medal) Arthur Brittain — 5:23:40 (→ 6th place) William Holmes — 5:23:40 (→ 14th place) Harold Reynolds — 5:24:44 (→ 19th place)

Diving

Men AthleteEventPreliminaryFinalPointsRankPointsRankTotalRankRay Cann3 m springboard67.9621Did not advancePeter Tarsey72.6516Did not advanceRoy Walsh58.2124Did not advanceRay Cann10 m platform60.0821Did not advancePeter Tarsey68.3414Did not advanceRoy Walsh62.5620Did not advance

Women AthleteEventPreliminaryFinalPointsRankPointsRankTotalRankAnn Long3 m springboard63.237 Q44.387107.616Charmain Welsh59.4514Did not advanceAnn Long10 m platform49.159 Q27.00676.157Charmain Welsh46.5511 Q22.501069.0512

Fencing

Nine fencers, seven men and two women, represented Great Britain in 1956.

Men's foil Allan Jay Raymond Paul René Paul

Men's team foil René Paul, Bill Hoskyns, Raymond Paul, Allan Jay, Ralph Cooperman

Men's épée Bill Hoskyns Allan Jay Michael Howard

Men's team épée René Paul, Raymond Paul, Michael Howard, Bill Hoskyns, Allan Jay

Men's sabre Olgierd Porebski Ralph Cooperman Bill Hoskyns

Men's team sabre Olgierd Porebski, Bill Hoskyns, Ralph Cooperman, Allan Jay, Raymond Paul

Women's foil Gillian Sheen Mary Glen-Haig

Football

Gymnastics

The British Gymnastics team competed in 15 events, and was made up of 14 gymnasts, (6 men and 8 women), including Frank Turner, competing in his third Summer Olympics.

Hockey

Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Great Britain in 1956.

Individual Donald Cobley Thomas Hudson George Norman

Team Donald Cobley Thomas Hudson George Norman

Rowing

Great Britain had 12 male rowers participate in three out of seven rowing events in 1956.

Men's single sculls - unplaced Tony Fox

Men's double sculls - unplaced Sidney Rand Bill Rand

Men's eight Richard Wheadon Michael Delahooke Ian Welsh Kenneth Masser Simon Tozer Alan Watson John A. Russell Christopher Davidge John Hinde (cox)

Sailing

Shooting

Six shooters represented Great Britain in 1956.

25 m pistol Henry Steele Frederick Cooper

50 m pistol Frederick Cooper Henry Steele

300 m rifle, three positions Steffen Cranmer

50 m rifle, three positions Steffen Cranmer Frederick Hopkinson

50 m rifle, prone Steffen Cranmer Frederick Hopkinson

Trap Joe Wheater Ernest Fear

Swimming

Men AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankRonald Roberts100 m freestyle 58.3 =10 Q 58.9 15 Did not advanceKenneth Williams 59.4 19 Did not advanceNeil McKechnie400 m freestyle 4:42.6 15 colspan=2 Did not advanceJack Wardrop 4:39.8 11 colspan=2 Did not advanceJohn Brockway1500 m freestyle 1:07.7 19 Did not advanceHaydn Rigby 1:06.9 =14 Q 1:07.6 13 Did not advanceGraham Sykes 1:06.2 =8 Q 1:06.5 8 Q 1:05.6 6Christopher Walkden200 m breaststroke 2:47.1 11 colspan=2 Did not advanceGraham Symonds200 m butterfly 2:35.7 12 colspan=2 Did not advanceKenneth WilliamsRonald RobertsNeil McKechnieJack Wardrop4 × 200 m freestyle 8:39.1 3 Q colspan=2 8:45.2 6

Women AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankFearne Ewart100 m freestyle 1:08.8 =23 Did not advanceFrances Hogben 1:08.5 =20 Did not advanceMargaret Girvan400 m freestyle 5:23.6 16 colspan=2 Did not advanceMargaret Edwards100 m backstroke 1:13.0 1 Q colspan=2 1:13.1 Judy Grinham 1:13.1 2 Q colspan=2 1:12.9 Julie Hoyle 1:15.0 8 Q colspan=2 1:14.3 6Elenor Gordon200 m breaststroke 2:55.4 3 Q colspan=2 2:56.1 6Christine Gosden 2:58.2 =7 Q colspan=2 2:59.2 8Anne Morton100 m butterfly 1:17.7 =9 colspan=2 Did not advanceFrances HogbenJudy GrinhamMargaret GirvanFearne Ewart4 × 100 m freestyle 4:34.6 8 Q colspan=2 4:35.8 8

Water polo

Weightlifting

Wrestling

References