| Opening date | 22.11.1956 |
| Closing date | 08.12.1956 |
| Candidate cities | Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, Detroit, Mexico, Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphie, San Francisco |
| Participating countries | 67 - First time in Olympics (Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Malaisia, Taiwan, Uganda, Fiji) |
| Athletes | 3184 - (371 women, 2813 men) |
| Spectators | 1 341 483 |
| Chairman of Olympic Management Committee | W.S. Kent Hughes |
| Games secretary-general | Edgar S. Tanner |
| The Patron of the Games | Elizabeth II |
| Official opening of the Games by | Philip Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh |
| Lighting the Olympic Flame by | Ron Clarke (athletics) |
| Olympic Oath by | John Landy (athletics) |
Obverse
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Reverse
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Discus throw
Date - 27.11.1956
Countries - 15
Competitors - 20
World record - 59.28 Fortune Gordien (USA) 1953
| Pos | Athlete |  | Nat | Mark | | | |
| 1 | Alfred | Oerter | USA | 56.36 | | | |
| 2 | Fortune | Gordien | USA | 54.81 | | | |
| 3 | Desmond | Koch | USA | 54.40 | | | |
| 4 | Mark | Pharaoh | GBR | 54.27 | | | |
| 5 | Otto | Grigalka | URS | 52.37 | | | |
| 6 | Adolfo | Consolini | ITA | 52.21 | | | |
| 7 | Ferenc | Klics | HUN | 51.82 | | | |
| 8 | Dako | Radosevic | YUG | 51.69 | | | |
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