1956 Melbourne Summer Games

But between June and the Melbourne Olympics, the world was thrown into turmoil. On 29 October, Israel invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Then on 4 November 1956, 200,000 Soviet troops invaded Budapest, Hungary, to quell political uprisings in that country. [Egypt], [Lebanon] and [Iraq] withdrew in protest of Israel's action. [The Netherlands], [Spain], and, surprisingly, [Switzerland] withdrew in protest of the Soviet action. Switzerland kept alive its record of competing in every modern Olympics only because it had already been represented by athletes in Stockholm. These protests constituted the first true boycott in modern Olympic history, though the scene would be repeated many times in coming Olympiads. The [Gold Coast], [Guatemala], and [Panama] also did not enter the 1956 Olympic Games, although it is not exactly clear if this was part of a planned boycott or because of the distance to Australia.

With that background, [water polo] had the unusual distinction of being perhaps the most awaited event of the Olympics. In one of the round robin matches, the Soviet Union met the Hungarians, usually a water polo power. The athletes from both countries wasted no time in breaking all known rules and niceties of water polo. The water was literally blood red in several areas during the match and several players had to be helped out of the water because of bleeding. Hungary achieved some measure of revenge for the invasion of its country when it won, 4-0.

Three Soviet gymnasts and Hungarian Gymnast [Ágnes Keleti] won three or more gold medals in the gym. After the Olympics, Keleti refused to return to Hungary in protest of the Soviet intrusion into her nation, emigrating first to Australia, and eventually to Israel. But the most popular athletes in Melbourne were Australian female sprinter [Betty Cuthbert], who won the [100] and [200 metres] and helped Australia win the [400 metre relay]; Australian swimmer [Murray Rose], who won three gold medals in the swimming pool; and the American sprinter [Bobby Joe Morrow], who duplicated Cuthbert's victories in the men's events.

The Games were less well attended than those of other years because of the travel distance to Australia. Still, all the major sporting countries were represented. In a precursor of problems to come, the People's Republic of China (Beijing, then Peking) withdrew because the Republic of China (Taiwan) was allowed to compete. The question of the two countries representation would not be resolved for 28 years.

The closing ceremony of the Melbourne was poignant and new to the Olympics. At the Closing Ceremony, the competing nations had been represented previously only by a flag bearer and the name standard bearer. But an Australian boy named John Ian Wing had written to the Melbourne organizing committee and suggested a change. He proposed that the athletes march in as a group, without regard to nationality or sport, to show how the athletes of varying nations had come together during the two weeks of the Olympics. As the final march of the athletes occurred at the Closing Ceremony, the Australian crowd serenaded them with the almost mystical Scottish hymn, "Will Ye' No' Come Back Again?" The Official Report noted, "A wave of emotion swept over the crowd, the Olympic Flame was engulfed in it and died; the Olympic flag went out in tears, not cheers, and a great silence. This, more than any remembered laurel of the Games, was something no-one had ever experienced before – not anywhere in the world, not anywhere in time."