1956 United States Olympic trials (track and field)

1956 United States Olympic track and field trials
1956 United States Olympic track and field trials
Dates	July 1–2
Host city	Los Angeles, United States
Venue	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Level	Senior
Type	Outdoor
	← 1952 1960 →

The men's 1956 United States Olympic trials for track and field for men were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, on June 28 and 29. The 20 kilometer walk trials were held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on August 26, and the 50 kilometer walk trials were held on September 16 in Baltimore, Maryland. Two marathon trials were held between two races, the AAU National Championships in Yonkers, New York, on September 30 and the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 19. As it turned out, the three selectees were the top 3 Americans at both events. The 10,000 meters was held in Bakersfield, California, on June 23.

The decathlon was held two weeks after the trials on July 13-4 in Crawfordsville, Indiana, allowing athletes to make attempts in individual events. Rafer Johnson qualified in the long jump but didn't jump in Melbourne. Bob Richards qualified in the Decathlon after winning the pole vault in his attempt to repeat as Olympic pole vault champion. He did compete in both events in Melbourne, successfully winning the pole vault, but after scoring in 11th place through nine events, he chose not to suffer through a 1500 and did not finish. The process was organized by the AAU.

The women's Olympic trials were held separately at American University (Reeves Field) in Washington, D.C., on August 25.^[1]

Men's results

Key: ≠ Athlete without "A" standard, not selected.

Men track events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 meters	Bobby Morrow	10.3 (10.28)	Ira Murchison	10.4 (10.32)	Thane Baker	10.4 (10.36)
200 meters	Bobby Morrow	20.6 =WR	Thane Baker	20.7	Andy Stanfield	20.9
400 meters	Lou Jones	45.2 WR	Jim Lea	45.7	Charlie Jenkins	46.1
800 meters	Tom Courtney	1:46.4 NR	Arnie Sowell	1:46.9	Lon Spurrier	1:47.6
1500 meters	Jerome Walters	3:47.6	Ted Wheeler	3:48.0	Don Bowden	3:48.6
5000 meters	Bill Dellinger	14:26.0 NR	Curtis Stone	14:29.0	Max Truex	14:30.8
10,000 meters	Max Truex	30:52.0	Dick Hart	31:06.3	Gordon McKenzie	31:06.8
110 m hurdles	Jack Davis	13.8	Lee Calhoun	13.9	Joel Shankle	14.1
400 m hurdles	Glenn Davis	49.5 WR	Eddie Southern	49.7	Josh Culbreath	49.9
3000 m s'chase	Phil Coleman	9:00.3	Charles Jones	9:00.6	Horace Ashenfelter	9:02.4
20K racewalk	Alex Oakley Canada James Hewson	1:39:06 1:39:16	Henry Laskau	1:39:45	Bruce MacDonald	1:39:56
50K racewalk	Adolf Weinacker	4:38:58	Leo Sjogren	4:44:18	James Hewson	4:51:03
Boston Marathon	Antti Viskari Finland John J. Kelley	2:14:14 2:14:33	Eino Oskanen Finland Nick Costes	2:17:56 2:18:01	Dean Thackeray	2:20:24
Yonkers Marathon	John J. Kelley	2:24:52.2	Dean Thackeray	2:31:14	Nick Costes	2:31:52

Men field events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
High jump	Charles Dumas	2.15 m (7 ft 1⁄2 in)WR	Vernon Wilson	2.07 m (6 ft 9+1⁄4 in)	Phil Reavis	2.07 m (6 ft 9+1⁄4 in)
Pole vault	Bob Richards	4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)	George Mattos	4.53 m (14 ft 10+1⁄4 in)	Jim Graham	4.48 m (14 ft 8+1⁄4 in)
Long jump	John Bennett Greg Bell	7.83 m (25 ft 8+1⁄4 in) 7.83 m (25 ft 8+1⁄4 in)			Rafer Johnson	7.70 m (25 ft 3 in)
Triple jump	Ira Davis	15.66 m (51 ft 4+1⁄2 in) NR	George Shaw	15.23 m (49 ft 11+1⁄2 in)	Bill Sharpe	15.16 m (49 ft 8+3⁄4 in)
Shot put	Parry O'Brien	18.54 m (60 ft 9+3⁄4 in)	Ken Bantum	18.15 m (59 ft 6+1⁄2 in)	Bill Nieder	17.71 m (58 ft 1 in)
Discus throw	Fortune Gordien	57.21 m (187 ft 8 in)	Al Oerter	54.44 m (178 ft 7 in)	Ron Drummond	54.06 m (177 ft 4 in)
Hammer throw	Al Hall	60.24 m (197 ft 7 in)	Hal Connolly	60.03 m (196 ft 11 in)	Cliff Blair	59.91 m (196 ft 6 in)
Javelin throw	Cy Young	74.65 m (244 ft 10 in)	Phil Conley	74.40 m (244 ft 1 in)	Ben Garcia	71.45 m (234 ft 4 in)
Decathlon	Rafer Johnson	7755	Milt Campbell	7559	Bob Richards	7054

Women's results

Women track events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 meters	Isabelle Daniels	11.5 =NR	Mae Faggs	11.6	Lucinda Williams	11.7
200 meters	Mae Faggs	24.2	Wilma Rudolph	24.2	Meredith Ellis	25.2
80 m hurdles	Barbara Mueller	11.9	Constance Darnowski	12.0	Irene Robertson	12.1

Women field events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
High jump	Mildred McDaniel	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)	Anne Flynn	1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)	Veneda Thomas	1.53 m (5 ft 0 in)
Long jump	Margaret Matthews	6.02 m (19 ft 9 in)NR	Willye White	5.88 m (19 ft 3+1⁄4 in)	Joan Wolski	5.49 m (18 ft 0 in)
Shot put	Earlene Brown	14.26 m (46 ft 9+1⁄4 in)NR	Lois Testa	13.88 m (45 ft 6+1⁄4 in)	Paula Deubel	12.75 m (41 ft 9+3⁄4 in)
Discus throw	Earlene Brown	44.31 m (145 ft 4 in) NR	Pamela Kurrell	43.78 m (143 ft 7 in)	Marjorie Larney	43.40 m (142 ft 4 in)
Javelin throw	Karen Anderson	46.75 m (153 ft 4 in)	Marjorie Larney	43.78 m (143 ft 7 in)	Amelia Wershoven	43.79 m (143 ft 8 in)

References

^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-20. Retrieved 2019-12-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-20. Retrieved 2019-12-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

v t e USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
1888–1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980–1992 The Athletics Congress	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
1993–onwards USA Track & Field	1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 2011 2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 2022 2023 2025
US Olympic Trials	1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

v t e 1956 USA Olympic track and field team
Men's track and road athletes	Horace Ashenfelter Thane Baker Don Bowden Lee Calhoun Phil Coleman Nick Costes Tom Courtney Josh Culbreath Glenn Davis Jack Davis Bill Dellinger Elliott Denman Dick Hart James Hewson Charles Jenkins Deacon Jones Lou Jones Johnny Kelley Leamon King (r) Henry Laskau Jim Lea Bruce MacDonald Jesse Mashburn (r) Gordon McKenzie Bobby Morrow Ira Murchison Joel Shankle Leo Sjogren Eddie Southern Arnie Sowell Lonnie Spurrier Andy Stanfield Curt Stone Dean Thackwray Max Truex Jerome Walters Adolf Weinacker Ted Wheeler
Men's field athletes	Ken Bantum Greg Bell John Bennett Milt Campbell Phil Conley Hal Connolly Ira Davis Charles Dumas Benjamin Garcia Fortune Gordien Bob Gutowski Al Hall Rafer Johnson Des Koch George Mattos Bill Nieder Parry O'Brien Al Oerter Phil Reavis Bob Richards Bill Sharpe George Shaw Vern Wilson Cy Young
Women's track athletes	Isabelle Daniels Constance Darnowski Meredith Ellis Mae Faggs Margaret Matthews (r) Barbara Mueller Irene Robertson Wilma Rudolph Lucinda Williams
Women's field athletes	Karen Anderson Earlene Brown Paula Deubel Ann Marie Flynn Pam Kurrell Marjorie Larney Margaret Matthews Mildred McDaniel Lois Testa Amelia Wershoven Willye White
Coaches	Jim Kelly (men's head coach) Frank Anderson (men's assistant coach) Bob Giegengack (men's assistant coach) Jess Mortensen (men's assistant coach) Nell Jackson (women's head coach) Boo Morcom (women's field event coach)