Weightlifting at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 56 kg

The men's 56 kg weightlifting competitions at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne took place on 23 November at the Royal Exhibition Building.Official Report, p. 634. It was the third appearance of the bantamweight class.

Each weightlifter had three attempts at each of the three lifts. The best score for each lift was summed to give a total. The weightlifter could increase the weight between attempts (minimum of 5 kg between first and second attempts, 2.5 kg between second and third attempts) but could not decrease weight. If two or more weightlifters finished with the same total, the competitors' body weights were used as the tie-breaker (lighter athlete wins).

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record Press 107.5 kg 1956 Snatch 102.5 kg Munich, West Germany 12 October 1955 Clean & Jerk 133 kg 1956 Total 335 kg Munich, West Germany 12 October 1955Olympic record Press 105 kg London, United Kingdom 9 August 1948 Snatch 97.5 kg Helsinki, Finland 25 July 1952 Clean & Jerk 127.5 kg Helsinki, Finland 25 July 1952 Total 315 kg Helsinki, Finland 25 July 1952

Results Rank Athlete Nation Bodyweight Press (kg) Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total123Result123Result123Result 56.00 100 105 105 105 = 100 105 107.5 105 127.5 132.5 135 132.5 342.5 56.00 100 105 107.5 105 = 97.5 102.5 105 105 127.5 132.5 132.5 127.5 337.5 56.00 95 100 105 100 95 100 102.5 102.5 125 130 130 130 332.5 4 Yu In-ho 55.70 82.5 87.5 90 90 90 95 95 95 130 135 140 135 320 5 Kim Hae-nam 55.70 85 90 90 85 95 100 100 95 120 125 127.5 127.5 307.5 6 55.60 82.5 82.5 87.5 87.5 90 95 97.5 97.5 115 120 125 120 305 7 56.00 85 92.5 97.5 97.5 85 90 92.5 90 110 117.5 122.5 117.5 305 8 55.80 85 90 92.5 90 87.5 92.5 92.5 87.5 115 120 125 125 302.5 9 55.10 85 85 90 85 77.5 82.5 85 85 105 112.5 117.5 117.5 287.5 10 55.70 82.5 87.5 92.5 87.5 80 85 87.5 85 112.5 117.5 117.5 112.5 285 11 Aw Chu Kee 56.00 85 85 85 85 80 85 85 80 110 110 115 110 275 12 55.00 72.5 80 82.5 80 75 80 85 80 107.5 112.5 112.5 112.5 272.5 13 55.50 72.5 77.5 77.5 72.5 85 90 90 85 105 110 115 115 272.5 13 Michael Swain 55.50 75 80 82.5 80 82.5 87.5 87.5 82.5 110 115 115 110 272.5 15 55.70 75 80 82.5 80 72.5 72.5 75 – 90 95 97.5 97.5 177.5 16 55.70 95 95 95 – Retired –

As weigh-in time approached, Vinci was one and a half pounds overweight. After an hour of running and sweating he was still seven ounces over the limit with 15 minutes to go. Fortunately, a severe last-minute haircut did the trick, and Vinci went on to win the gold medal.

New records Press 105 kg = Snatch 105 kg Clean & Jerk 135 kg Total 342.5 kg

References