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The Melbourne Olympics

The Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956 are remembered as "The Friendly Games". Part of the reason for this was the contrast between the atmosphere in Australia and the Cold War which was at its height.

Early in November 1956, Soviet tanks crushed a democratic movement in Hungary. The Olympic Games commenced less than three weeks later. The Dutch and Spanish refused to attend the Olympics because the Soviets would be there. In October, the British and French commenced bombing Egypt in retaliation for annexing the Suez Canal. They ceased fire shortly after the Soviet action in Hungary. In the Americas, Castro's Communists invaded Cuba during the Olympic Games.

One of the most memorable events of the Games was the violent clash between Hungary and the USSR in water polo. The Hungarians eventually won the gold medal with the USSR getting the bronze. At the end of the Games, 56 Hungarian athletes from a team of 113 remained in Australia.

But the overall impression of the Games was the peaceful, open, friendly atmosphere of Australia focusing on sport in contrast to the Cold War atmosphere elsewhere.

John Landy

In the 1956 Australian National 1 Mile Championships (and Olympic trials), Ron Clarke tripped and Landy had to jump over him. In doing so, his spikes tore the flesh of Clarke's shoulder. Despite the importance of the race and the fact that Land looked certain to break the world record, he stopped, helped Clarke to his feet and checked that his shoulder was not badly injured before continuing with the race. Despite being 60 yards behind the field, Landy caught the leaders within the last 10 yards to win the race a time of 4 minutes 4 seconds.

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