Summer Olympic Games 1956
VII Winter Olympic Games were held in the Italian Cortina d "Ampezzo from January 26 to February 5, 1956.
City selection
The famous Italian winter resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo was supposed to host the Winter Olympics back in 1944, but they were canceled due to World War II. After the war, Cortina fought for the right to host the 1952 Games, but lost to Oslo. But when choosing the capital of the VII White At the Olympics, it outperformed its competitors - Colorado Springs, Lake Placid and Montreal - by a huge advantage in the number of votes.37 members of the IOC voted for the Italian city, only 10 for all other applicants (for Canadian Montreal - seven, for the American Colorado Springs and Lake Placid - respectively, two and one).
Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956
Preparing for the Games
The 7th Winter Games were unique for their time for several reasons.
First, funding. For the first time, most of the costs of organizing and holding the Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo were borne not by the state, but by attracted sponsors.
Secondly, television. The 1956 Games were the first to be broadcast live on television. Owners of television receivers in 22 countries could follow the battles of the Olympians.
Third, infrastructure. Italian observers sent to Oslo in 1952 came to the conclusion that Cortina's sports facilities did not meet Olympic standards. And by 1956, a modern Ice Stadium with four-tier stands for 12,000 spectators was erected in the resort town, skiing, skiing and bobsleigh tracks, the new ski jump in Cortina d'Ampezzo then became one of the best, and Italian know-how - a skating track on a floating ice floe at an altitude of 1750 meters above sea level - made it possible to update more than one world record. The organizers tried to arrange all the Olympic facilities so that from one to the other could be easily and quickly reached on foot.In addition, when building sports facilities, the interests of television were also taken into account. ski Track"looked" to the south so that the sun at sunrise or sunset would not spoil the "picture".
Springboard in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Games emblem
The emblem of the Games was stylized as a snowflake with the image of a star, in the center of which there are five Olympic rings. It vaguely resembled the emblem of the Italian National Olympic Committee. It was selected from 86 options developed by 79 artists. According to the results of the competition, the first place was shared by the Milanese Franco Rondinelli and artist Bonilauri from Genoa.
Emblem
Pennant with symbols of the Games
Official poster of the Games
The symbol of the Games featured on the poster was selected from 86 sketches submitted by various artists. The winner is Franco Rondinelli from Milan. The issued edition amounted to 40,000 copies, translated into 4 languages.
Participating countries
In the 1956 Winter Olympics, a record number of athletes took part at that time - 821 people (134 women and 687 men) from 32 countries.
The teams of Greece, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Chile took part in the VII Winter Olympic Games, South Korea, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Iran, Iceland, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, USA, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Hungary, USSR and Italy.
Among the debutants were athletes from the USSR, the GDR (they played in a joint team with the FRG), Bolivia and Iran.
Kinds of sports
Compared to the Oslo Games, there were only minor changes in the Olympic program - the distance of the men's cross-country skiing race was reduced from 18 to 15 kilometers, a 30-kilometer pursuit was added, as well as a women's relay race of 3x5 kilometers. Demonstration species, which were present at all previous Winter Games, were completely absent in 1956.
The main types (in brackets - the number of medals played): bobsleigh (2), alpine skiing (6), speed skating (4), Nordic combined (1), ski race(6), ski jumping (1), figure skating (3), ice hockey (1).
USSR at the 1956 Winter Games
When releasing a delegation to the Winter Olympic Games for the first time, the Soviet government, of course, demanded an exclusively team victory. Chairman of the Physical Education Committee Nikolay Romanov a detailed medal plan was drawn up, the main bet in which was made on ski racers, skaters and hockey players. In addition, there was a ghostly hope for a medal in skiing. At the same time, sports officials were aware that it would be extremely difficult to fight for high positions in ski jumping and biathlon. But the skaters and bobsledders did not go to Italy at all. In the first case, due to lack of competitiveness, in the second, due to the "mortal danger to the lives of athletes" of the discipline itself, which was not cultivated in the Union.
The USSR team, which made its debut at the 1956 Winter Olympics, consisted of 55 athletes from 11 cities and towns of 4 Union republics.
For almost a year, Soviet athletes were purposefully preparing for the Olympics - first in various regions of their native country, then in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.
But the reality has surpassed all expectations. The national team of the Soviet Union made a triumphant debut at the Olympic Games. Soviet athletes won 16 medals (7 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze). As a result, both in terms of the number of gold medals and total medals, the USSR national team confidently took first place in the team medal standings of the Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Among the Soviet athletes became Olympic champions:
2 times - speed skater Evgeny Grishin- at distances of 500 m and 1500 m (shared the second victory with Mikhailov).
Skater Boris Shilkov- at a distance of 5000 m.
Skater Yuri Mikhailov- at a distance of 1500 m (shared with Grishin).
skier Lyubov Kozyreva- in a 10 km race.
The USSR men's ski team in the 4x10 km relay.
USSR national ice hockey team.
medal standings
The USSR national team with 7 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze medals confidently won the unofficial team standings. The second were the Austrians (4-3-4), the third - the Finns (3-3-1). Having won five Winter Olympics, the Norwegians unexpectedly took only seventh place (2-1-1).
For the first time, representatives of the USSR, Poland and Japan became Olympic champions.
Gold, silver and bronze medals of the Games
torch relay
The torch relay race through Italy was carried out along the following route: by plane from Rome to Venice, and then to Cortina d'Ampezzo with a relay race of skiers.
Torch of the Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Before departure from Rome, the Olympic flame was kept in a special bowl on a tripod, arrived from Olympia (Greece), which was installed in the temple at the foot of the Capitoline Hill.
Olympic champion Helsinki 1952 in the 50 km walk. Giuseppe Dordoni lights a torch on the steps of the Temple of Jupiter in Rome, from where it will be transported to Venice by a special plane of the Italian Air Force
In the presence of honored guests who were in the Senator's Palace, the Olympic torch was handed over to the torchbearer.
After the performance of the Italian national anthem, accompanied by a military escort and in the presence of spectators, the first torchbearer by car headed for Ciampino Airport.
Departure of Olympic champion Giuseppe Dordoni from Rome to Venice
On January 23 and 24, at night, the Olympic Flame was kept at the city halls of Treviso and Belluno, respectively.
On the night of January 25-26, the torch was in the shelter d "Aosta of the Tofana mountain range (at an altitude of 2098 m above sea level) under the protection of the mountain shooters of the Italian army.
On the morning of January 26, 1956, the athletes continued the torch relay. Their progress from the slopes of the mountain was illuminated by multi-colored flashes of rockets, and then through the town - the capital of the Games, accompanied by joyful spectators.
A well-defined plan was carried out in full, except that the landing of the plane at Venice airport was delayed due to heavy fog.
Olympic flame on gondolas in Venice
At 11:37 on January 26, 1956, the torch relay finished (Olympic Stadium, Cortina d'Ampezzo - lighting the fire in the Olympic Bowl).
The last torchbearer was the Italian torchbearer speed skating Guido Caroli, and he was also entrusted with lighting the Olympic flame in the bowl Central Stadium VII Winter Olympic Games.
The opening ceremony
The opening ceremony began as standard with a parade of participating countries.
For the first time in the parade, as, in fact, in the Olympic Games, the USSR team took part. The standard-bearer of the Soviet team at the opening ceremony was a skater Oleg Goncharenko, who subsequently won the bronze medal at the 1956 Games twice (at distances of 5,000 m and 10,000 m).
The USSR national team at the opening of the Games in Cortina d "Ampezzo. Oleg Goncharenko carries the banner
Then the President of Italy Giovanni Gronchi addressed the audience with a solemn speech and announced the opening of the VII Winter Olympic Games.
After that, an athlete-torchbearer appeared at the stadium - speed skater Guido Caroli, who carried the Olympic flame. And then the main curiosity of the opening ceremony happened - Guido stumbled over a television cable and fell! As a result, the Olympic flame went out and had to be lit again. From the second time, Karoli was able to carry the fire and lit it over the stadium.
Guido Caroli with the Olympic flame
Then came the turn of the Olympic Oath. For the first time in history Olympic Games it was pronounced by a woman - an Italian skier Giuliana Kenal-Minuzzo (bronze medalist Games 1952 in Oslo).
After the stadium was raised olympic flag, and the ceremony ended with a parade of teams from the participating countries, leaving under the stands.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremonies of the VII Winter Olympic Games were preceded by demonstration performances figure skaters who became Olympic champions and medalists of the Games in doubles and singles among women and men.
The ceremony would have been opened to the sound of the trumpets of the heralds. Arrival of the IOC President Avery Brundage accompanied by an escort of young athletes.
After that, the flag bearers of the participating countries and a group of 6 Italian athletes entered the arena, who carried the unfolded flag of the IOC flag, handed over to them by representatives of Norway, the host country of the previous 1952 Games.
The national anthems of Greece, the progenitor of the Olympic Games, Italy, the current host of the Games, and the United States, the host country of the 8th Winter Olympic Games in 1960, were played.
Avery Brundage solemnly announced the closing of the 7th Winter Olympic Games in 1956 and handed over the IOC flag to the mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo for safekeeping.
Then salute was given in honor of the end of the Games.
1956 16th Summer Olympic Games, Melbourne, Australia. These were the first games to be held in the southern hemisphere. On the one hand, expanding the geography of sports has always been the goal of the International Olympic Committee. On the other hand, in the southern hemisphere, as you know, summer is when winter is the opposite in Europe and North America. And representatives of these continents are legislators of sports fashion. Therefore, to the delight of all, it was impossible to solve the dilemma.
However, in the competition to choose the capital of the games in 1956, Melbourne was ahead of another contender from the southern hemisphere of the Earth - the Argentinean Buenos Aires.
Having received the right to host the games, the Australians quickly quarreled among themselves. The Victorian government refused to finance the construction Olympic Village and the federal government to allocate funds for this from its budget. IOC President Avery Brundage was already preparing to announce the transfer of the games from Australia, but at the last moment the hosts changed their minds and managed to build all the necessary facilities on time.
The Soviet delegation traveled to the green continent by sea. From Vladivostok on a ship called "Burma". The journey took several weeks and was, of course, tiring, but our athletes got enough time to get used to the Far Eastern time zone.
In addition to these understandable, in general, problems, the games in Melbourne went down in history as the first post-war games in which politics made itself felt. It's a boycott for political reasons. By the way, there were several of them. Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon withdrew due to the Suez Crisis, the so-called Anglo-French-Israeli aggression undertaken after the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Cairo. The armed suppression of the Hungarian uprising in October 1956 led to the refusal to participate in the games in protest of such countries, from which, at first glance, this was not to be expected. The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland boycotted their participation due to the aggressive policy of the USSR. And finally, the People's Republic of China postponed, it turned out that on long years, his debut on the international sports arena due to the fact that the IOC granted the right to participate in the Olympics to Taiwan or Formosa.
In general, only 67 teams took part in the games, the number of participants was one and a half thousand less than at the games in Helsinki. Yes, and equestrian competitions were held in Stockholm, simply because of the quarantine on the importation of animals from other continents, which exists in Australia as a law.
As for the results, the Soviet team took first place. By a wide margin. 98 awards, 37 of them gold. The American runners-up had just 74 medals and 32 gold. In third place were the hosts of the games - the Australians - a huge success. In comparison, the United German Team managed to take seventh place, winning only six gold medals. Athletes from Hungary, because of which, as we have already said, a major conflict arose, also did not let us down, they ended up in an all-time high fourth overall team place.
The audience remembered the uncompromising, actually beyond wrestling, a match between the water polo teams of Hungary and the USSR, it went down in history as the "Bloody Battle". The Hungarians won 4:0. On the other hand, the games in Melbourne are memorable for the triumph of the Soviet runner, stayer Vladimir Kuts, who won the most prestigious distances - 5 and 10 kilometers. As well as the absolute superiority of our gymnasts, who won 11 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals. Well, of course, the victory of the Soviet football team, the success of which gave rise to illusions and hopes of imminent victories in the world championships, which, unfortunately, never took place.
The VII Winter Olympic Games were held in the Italian city of Cortina d'Ampezzo from January 26 to February 5, 1956.
The Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo were supposed to take place back in 1944, but as you know, World War II was raging in Europe at that time.
On April 27, 1949, in Rome, at the 43rd session of the IOC, by an absolute majority of votes, Cortina d'Ampezzo was elected the capital of the VII Winter Olympic Games.
One of the main factors that influenced this choice was the presence of a large number of sports facilities world level. Even at the turn of the 20-30s, world championships in skiing and mountain skiing were held here. skiing.
By the beginning of the 1956 Olympic Games, Cortina d'Ampezzo had completely changed.
in addition to the already existing sports facilities a modern stadium with four-tier stands was built.
The new 80m ski jump turned out to be one of the best in the world. The prepared high-altitude high-speed track allowed skaters to develop speeds that were not available in other places.
The 7th Winter Games were unique for their time for several reasons.
- For the first time, most of the costs of organizing and holding the Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo were borne not by the state, but by attracted sponsors.
- The 1956 Games were the first to be broadcast live on television. Owners of television receivers in 22 countries could follow the battles of the Olympians.
- During the construction of the Olympic venues, the interests of the spectators were taken into account as much as possible. Almost all of them were within walking distance from each other.
The opening ceremony
Traditionally, the ceremony began with a parade of participants.
For the first time among the participants in the opening parade of the White Olympics was the team of the Soviet Union.
For the first time in the parade, as, in fact, in the Olympic Games, the USSR team took part. The standard-bearer of our team was skater Oleg Goncharenko.
Italian President Giovanni Gronchi addressed the audience with a solemn speech, declaring the games open.
After that, the skater Guido Caroli appeared at the stadium with the Olympic torch in his hands, who became the protagonist of almost the main curiosity in the history of the Olympics.
On his way to the Olympic cauldron, the athlete tripped over a thick TV cable and fell! The torch, extinguished as a result of this fall, had to be lit right on the spot.
Only after that Karoli ran to the bowl and lit a fire over the stadium.
For the first time in the history of the Games, the Olympic oath was pronounced by a woman - Italian skier Giuliana Kenal-Minuzzo, bronze medalist of the 1952 Games in Oslo.
Countries and participants
In terms of the number of participants, the VII Winter Olympic Games surpassed all previous ones. They were attended by 924 athletes, including 146 women from 33 countries. For the first time, representatives of the Soviet Union arrived at the Winter Olympics - 53 people who participated in skiing competitions, speed run ice skating and hockey. Athletes from the GDR made their debut as part of the unified German team at the Winter Olympics.
USSR at the 1956 Winter Games
For the first time in history Winter Olympics, the team of the Soviet Union took part in the competition.
Our team was given a very ambitious task to achieve a team victory, which was successfully completed.
The main bet was made on skiers, skaters and hockey players.
In alpine skiing, in principle, we could count on medals, but in ski jumping and winter biathlon it was extremely difficult to fight for high positions.
Figure skating and bobsleigh were not represented at all in our team.
At that time, these sports were taking their first timid steps in our country.
The USSR national team at the 1956 Winter Olympics included 55 athletes from 11 cities of 4 republics of the union.
The debut turned into a real triumph for Soviet athletes.
7 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze medals were won, which made it possible to confidently take first place in the team event.
The first Soviet winners of the Winter Olympic Games were:
Skater Evgeny Grishin - at distances of 500 m and 1500 m (shared the second victory with Mikhailov).
Skater Boris Shilkov - at a distance of 5000 m.
Speed skater Yuri Mikhailov - at a distance of 1500 m (shared the victory with Grishin).
Skier Lyubov Kozyreva in the 10 km race.
The USSR men's ski team in the 4x10 km relay.
USSR national ice hockey team.
Hockey tournament at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Of particular note is the victory of the USSR national hockey team and its leader, Vsevolod Bobrov.
Bobrov was a unique athlete who went down in history as a player who played both hockey and football equally brilliantly. Suffice it to say that he was the captain of the USSR national football teams on Summer Olympics 1952 and ice hockey winter games 1956. Moreover, it was under his leadership that the triumphal procession of Soviet hockey players for more than 30 years, who knew no equal on the world stage, began.
At the 1956 Olympiad, the USSR hockey team, having won in all meetings, including over the teams of Canada, with a score of 2:0, and the USA, with a score of 4:0, confidently took first place. The "invincible" Canadians also lost to the US team, with a score of 4:1, and were forced to be content with third place.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the VII Winter Olympic Games was preceded by demonstration performances by figure skaters who became Olympic champions and medalists of the Games in doubles and singles among women and men.
The ceremony would have been opened to the sound of the trumpets of the heralds. The arrival of IOC President Avery Brundage was accompanied by an escort of young athletes.
After that, the flag bearers of the participating countries and a group of 6 Italian athletes entered the arena, who carried the unfolded flag of the IOC flag, handed over to them by representatives of Norway, the host country of the previous 1952 Games.
The national anthems of Greece, the progenitor of the Olympic Games, Italy, the current host of the Games, and the United States, the host country of the 8th Winter Olympic Games in 1960, were played.
Avery Brundage solemnly announced the closing of the 7th Winter Olympic Games in 1956 and handed over the IOC flag to the mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo for safekeeping.
November 22 - December 8, 1956 in Melbourne, Australia hosted the Games of the XVI Olympiad.
For the first time, the Games were held on a green continent in the Southern Hemisphere.
This explains the timing of the competition. The very beginning of summer in the southern latitudes.
Due to the strict quarantine regulations in force in Australia at the time, the importation of animals, Olympic tournament equestrian sport was held in Sweden, from 10 to 17 June 1956.
Opening of the Equestrian Olympiad in Stockholm
USSR national team at the Olympic Games in Melbourne 1956
The national team of the Soviet Union has come a long way to the Olympic Games in Melbourne.
At that time, there were no passenger aircraft capable of covering long distances.
Therefore, our athletes first had to travel across the country by train from Moscow to Vladivostok, and then get to Australia on the Georgia ship.
Motor ship "Georgia" on the roads in Australia
On the streets of Olympic Melbourne
Main Olympic Stadium 1956 Olympics
3178 athletes from 67 countries took part in the Games.
The Duke of Edinburgh, husband of the Queen of England arrives at the opening ceremony of the 1956 Olympic Games
Olympic Flame at Melbourne Stadium
The USSR team included 283 athletes from 39 cities and towns of 11 union republics. Soviet athletes participated in all Olympic competitions other than field hockey.
USSR national team at the opening ceremony of the 1956 Olympics
Our team was the best with 37 gold, 29 silver and 32 bronze medals.
The greatest success fell to the lot of Soviet gymnasts.
During the competition for gymnastics in one hour, the Soviet flag was raised 11 times and the Soviet anthem sounded. USSR gymnasts took away 11 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals, becoming absolute champions.
The gold medals were won by the debutant of the Olympic Games Larisa Latynina, who later became the most titled participant in the Olympic Games.
Larisa Latynina on the podium
The real hero of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics was the Soviet athlete Vladimir Kuts, who won victories at distances of 5 and 10 thousand meters.
Vladimir Kuts main character Olympics in Melbourne
Vladimir Kuts and his defeated rivals from the UK team
Football at the Melbourne Olympics
The Olympic Games in Melbourne for the Soviet Union national football team became a real triumph.
The final match between the national teams of the USSR and Yugoslavia took place on the closing day of the Olympics on December 8, 1956.
Team line-ups:
Yugoslavia: Radenkovic, Koshchak, Radovich, Shantek, Spaich, Krstic, Shekularac, Papets, Antic, Veselinovic, Muich.
USSR: Yashin, B. Kuznetsov, Bashashkin, Ogonkov, Maslyonkin, Netto (c), Tatushin, Isaev, Simonyan, Salnikov, Ilyin.
Coach - G. D. Kachalin.
Goal: Ilyin (48).
Here is what the captain of the USSR national team Igor Netto said about that game:
The last match with the Yugoslav team was traditionally held on the closing day of the Olympic Games. Everything was solemn and festive. All Melbourne rushed to the stadium. Flags fluttered with tightly woven rings.
Our match with Yugoslavia was the final chord. Of course, we were in the most fighting mood. We really wanted the huge, bright competitions to end with our success.
I think the match went well. Successful for both teams. It was a strong-willed and masterful duel worthy of high level world Olympics. It was a good game. For a long time, neither we nor the Yugoslavs were able to create a tangible advantage. The pace was high. 
But gradually the initiative passed to us. affected great experience. The denouement came at the fiftieth minute. We attacked. There was a pass from the right. Anatoly Isaev in a high jump intercepted the ball with his head and immediately threw it to Anatoly Ilyin, who rushed to the gate. He also head without delay sent the ball into the goal. All this took a fraction of a second.
Goal. Score 1:0! Subsequently, this goal was called golden. It was he who brought us gold medals.
In the remaining time, the Yugoslav footballers played energetically. But no less vigorously did we strive not only to keep the score, but also to increase it.
The anthem of the USSR sounded solemnly and majestically over the stadium. President of the International Olympic Committee Brundage presented us with the gold medals of the winners of the football tournament of the XVI Olympic Games.
I. NET. "This is football." Publishing house "Physical culture and sport", 1974.
On the same day, the closing ceremony of the 1956 Games in Melbourne took place.
Home with a win. Soviet Olympians aboard the "Georgia"
Many may not believe
but on this day
November 22
1956
opened XVI
summer
Olympic Games.
Ten cities claimed this right, and all except Melbourne were from the American continent: the capital of Argentina - Buenos Aires, Mexico - Mexico City, Canadian Montreal and six applicants from the United States of America: Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Francisco , Philadelphia and Chicago. The disputes were fierce, and yet Melbourne won.
H Oh, the fight didn't end there. At the meeting of the IOC in Vienna in 1951, the impression of a bombshell was made by the message that equestrian competitions under the Olympic Games program could not be held in Melbourne. The fact is that Australia still has an old law according to which animals from abroad can be imported only after a six-month quarantine, and even then only from two or three countries. This is explained by the fact that in Australia, a country with highly developed animal husbandry, there has not yet been a single epidemic among the horse population and, in order to continue to avoid epidemics, this law is not repealed. There was a danger that Melbourne would lose the right to host the Games, but the IOC nevertheless decided not to postpone the Games, but to postpone only the equestrian competitions. From June 11 to 17 of the same 1956, they took place in Stockholm.
ANDGames in Melbourne brought together 3184 athletes from 67 countries. For the first time, athletes from Kenya, Liberia, Malaysia, the United German Team (OGK), Fr. Taiwan, Uganda. Fiji, Ethiopia. Participation in the Melbourne Games for athletes of the Northern Hemisphere was associated with significant difficulties caused by the unusual timing of the Olympic competition: November - December. Due to high transport costs, many countries had to reduce the composition of their teams, so fewer athletes arrived in Melbourne than at the 1948 Olympics in London and 1952 in Helsinki.
WITH Soviet athletes won 37 gold, 29 silver and 32 bronze medals at this Olympics. In the unofficial team standings, the USSR national team scored 622.5 points and was far ahead of the representatives of the strongest sports powers, including the United States (497.5 points). Soviet athletes excelled in competitions in gymnastics, football, modern pentathlon, boxing, classical wrestling, rowing and canoeing, and shooting. In the competition for rowing, basketball, freestyle wrestling, light and weightlifting they took second place.
M The Elbourne Olympics went down in history as "Vladimir Kuts Olympics" . Outstanding runner Vladimir Kuts won two gold medals at the 5000 and 10000 meters at the 16th Olympic Games at once, setting new Olympic records.
E three more Soviet athletes climbed to the highest step of the podium in Melbourne, setting new Olympic records: the javelin throw among women was won by a woman from RigaInessa Jaunzeme, shot put - LeningradkaTamara Tyshkevich, in walking for 20 kilometers, the Muscovite became the firstLeonid Spirin.
P first Soviet Olympic champion in boxing
Vladimir Safronov . He came to Melbourne from distant Chita as a first-class player, and left there as an honored master of sports.WITH a kind of record was set by a wonderful Hungarian boxer Laszlo Papp, winning the third Olympics in a row. He became the first athlete in the history of world boxing to be awarded the highest Olympic award three times in a row.
IN Melbourne again demonstrated their high skills of Soviet gymnasts. They won the championship among both men and women. Second time absolute champion The Olympics was Viktor Chukarin. Among women, the absolute superiority was won by the Kiev student Larisa Latynina. The envoys of our country performed well in classical wrestling, shooting sports, weightlifting, and modern pentathlon.
At the success of the Soviet team was reinforced by the players. On the closing day of the XVI Olympic Games, December 8, 1956, they won the final match against the Yugoslav national team and won gold medals.
But this one wasn't the most dramatic. last match, and the semi-final, in which the players of the Soviet Union and Bulgaria met. The game was sharp, sharp, replete with dangerous moments at one or the other gate and ended in a draw, 0:0. According to the rules, two additional periods of 15 minutes each were assigned. During this extra time, the defender of our team Nikolay Tishchenko unsuccessfully collided with the Bulgarian striker. Tishchenko had a broken collarbone. Under the then rules, any substitutions of players were prohibited.
Only ten people remained in the Soviet team, besides one of the best strikers Valentin Ivanov played with an injury. There was no time to think. And Tishchenko rushed back to the field. The team doctor froze the swollen shoulder with chlorethyl and tightly - so that the fingers went numb - bandaged his hand to the body. Every movement caused pain. Tishchenko took a place on the left flank and tried to somehow help his comrades. How much endurance and courage is needed to continue the fight in such a situation!
And the score is a draw. And yet, the Soviet team managed to snatch victory in this match with the direct participation of Nikolai Tishchenko. Thrown "unattended", he received the ball in the middle of the field. No, they don't take him seriously: each opponent "guards" the active player. Meanwhile, Tishchenko is slowly moving forward with the ball. Ten meters, twenty ... And only when Nikolai approached the line of the penalty area, the Bulgarian defender rushed towards him.
Late! Already rushed into the open zone Vladimir Ryzhkin. Pass to him, right on the hit. Terrible excitement affected: Vladimir "cut off" the ball, he went along the gate. But even among the Bulgarians, the nerves are not made of iron. The goalkeeper could not resist, rushed into the near corner. And the ball - past him, straight to the attacker Boris Tatushin. He put his foot up and... goal!!!
The Olympic Football Code, in addition to the prohibition to change an injured player, contained at that time one more cruel clause. In case of victory, the team was given only 11 gold medals. Therefore, only the participants of the last, final match are awarded. So it turned out that Tishchenko played all the qualifying matches, participated in one-eighth of the finals, in the quarter-finals, in the semi-finals. But he was not given a medal. He was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor, he was awarded the title of Honored Master
sports. But he is a real Olympic Champion!
