Väst- och Östtyskland ställde upp med ett gemensamt lag för spelen.
Ungraren László Papp blev förste boxaren att vinna tre OS-guld.
I tyngdlyftningens tungviktsklass lyfte Paul Anderson (USA) och Humberto Selvetti (Argentina) lika mycket totalt - 500 kg. Anderson fick OS-guld eftersom han vägde minst (137,9 kg). Argentinaren Selvetti vägde nämligen 143,5 kg.
Vattenpolomatchen mellan Ungern och Sovjet urartade totalt och domaren Sam Zuckerman fick i förtid avbryta matchen, som Ungern vann med 4-0. Vid prisutdelningen började publiken bua när de sovjetiska spelarna skulle få sina bronsmedaljer. Den ungerske lagkaptenen vände sig då mot sovjetspelarna och började applådera. Hans lagkamrater gjorde samma sak, varefter publiken tystnade.[1][2]
I Stockholm försvarade den svenska dressyrryttaren Henri St Cyr sitt guld från 1952. Även denna gång kom danskan Lis Hartel tvåa.
Totalt deltog 72 länder i spelen 1956. Av dessa deltog 67 länder i Melbourne och fem länder deltog endast i Stockholm. Sju länder gjorde sin OS-debut i dessa spel. Dessa länderna var Etiopien, Fiji, Kambodja (deltog endast i tävlingarna i Stockholm), Kenya, Liberia, Malaya, Nordborneo och Uganda. Västtyskland och Östtyskland deltog för första gången med en gemensam OS-trupp som kallades Tysklands förenade lag. Första gången i OS-sammanhangen var det också som Republiken Kina representerades endast av Taiwan.
Fem länder deltog endast vid ryttartävlingarna i Stockholm och inte vid huvudtävlingarna i Melbourne. Egypten deltog inte på grund av Suezkrisen och Nederländerna, Schweiz och Spanien bojkottade spelen i Melbourne på grund av Sovjetunionensinvasion av Ungern.
^Olympiaboken 1956. Stockholm: Svenska Sportförlaget. 1957. sid. 216
^XVI Olympiaden, Melbourne 1956 med Vinterspelen, Cortina; XVII Olympiaden, Rom 1960 med Vinterspelen, Squaw Valley. Stockholm: Hans Levart Förlag. 1960. sid. 42
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