Melbourne '56

[Sir Rols]

It looks like the wheels are rolling to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Melbourne Games in November:

Quote

MELBOURNE, Sep 5 AAP - More than 300 veteran Olympians from around the world have confirmed they will be in Melbourne for this year's golden anniversary celebrations of the 1956 Melbourne Games.

The centrepiece of the celebrations will be a ceremony at the MCG commemorating Australia's first Olympics which will be preceded by an exhibition ``Melbourne 50 Years On''.

Organisers say representatives of almost all the 67 competing nations will be present.

``It looks like being as many as 320 - we had a reply the other day from an athlete from Iceland who was here in `56,'' said organiser Nadia Streat.

Olympians Club of Australia president Leon Wiegard said the golden anniversary would reinforce international recognition of Melbourne as one of the great sporting cities in the world.

``This recognition had its fouondations in the `56 Olympics and it was reflected again in the Commonwealth Games,'' Wiegard said.

He said the anniversary provided Victoria and Melbourne with the opportunity to have a ``50 year look at itself'' and acknowledge its international standing.

The highlight of 10 days of celebrations will be the MCG ceremony on November 19 with a commemorative dinner on November 22, the day in 1956 the Games began.

AAP

Edited March 10, 2023 by Sir Rols

[micheal_warren]

It looks like the wheels are rolling to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Melbourne Games in November:

wow 50 years! im sure there will be meny kiwi olympians heading accross the ditch to take in the celebrations

[Sir Rols]

MELBOURNE, Sept 29 AAP - A major Melbourne road could be renamed Olympic Boulevard in honour of the 50th anniversary of Melbourne's Olympic Games.

A Melbourne City Council planning committee meeting will next week consider renaming as Olympic Boulevard a stretch of Swan Street between Punt Road and Alexandra Avenue.

Swan Street passes through Melbourne's sporting precinct and past the Olympic Park stadium, built as a training venue for Olympic athletes, and the Lexus Centre, an indoor sports centre that originally housed the 1956 Olympic pool.

The proposal was put forward by the Victorian Olympic Council and the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust.

Lord Mayor John So said he supported the plan.

``Melbourne is the sporting capital of the universe - the only city to host the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, FINA World Championships and, hopefully, one day we will host a World Cup,'' Mr So said in a statement.

The proposal has the support of local clubs and organisations such as Melbourne Victory, the Collingwood Football Club, the Victorian Institute for Sport and Tennis Australia.

Melbourne will celebrate the 50th of the Olympic Games held in the Victorian capital in November 1956.

AAP

[ard72]

MELBOURNE, Sept 29 AAP - A major Melbourne road could be renamed Olympic Boulevard in honour of the 50th anniversary of Melbourne's Olympic Games.

A Melbourne City Council planning committee meeting will next week consider renaming as Olympic Boulevard a stretch of Swan Street between Punt Road and Alexandra Avenue.

Swan Street passes through Melbourne's sporting precinct and past the Olympic Park stadium, built as a training venue for Olympic athletes, and the Lexus Centre, an indoor sports centre that originally housed the 1956 Olympic pool.

Honestly can't see the point of this

The Olympic Park complex will not much longer represent anything involved with the 56 Olympics

Once the Athletics Stadium is torn down in a year or so, the only thing left from 1956 will be the old exterior shell of the Lexus Centre/Glasshouse which used to be the swimming pool (and itself hasn't been a swimming pool for 30 plus years)

Anything Olympic sould be linked with the MCG (which itself still has the Olympic Stand as a reminder)

[Sir Rols]

The 50 Years Commemorations are kicking into full gear here now _ there's a big event planned at the MCG this weekend.

And then ther'e this interesting snippet _ maybe Ron's still a bit sore from being singed way back then on opening day:

By Daniel Pace

GOLD COAST, Nov 16 AAP - Fifty years after lighting the Olympic flame in Melbourne as a starry-eyed teenager, former distance runner Ron Clarke maintains that the honour should have gone to Marjorie Jackson.

``I was selected to do that and I think wrongly,'' said Clarke, who is now mayor of the Gold Coast.

``I think Marjorie Jackson should've done it. She would've been virtually the first woman torch-bearer.

``She was the world champion, world record-holder and Olympic gold medallist who had just retired.

``It was something that I fluked.''

Jackson, known as the Lithgow Flash, won two gold medals at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and later that year lowered the 100m world record time to 11.4 seconds.

She was finally given her time in the sun at the 2000 Sydney Olympics when she was one of the eight bearers of the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony.

Clarke remembers the roar of the crowd at the MCG in 1956 as he held the torch aloft.

``The noise that came around was like the final kick in a grand final,'' said the Australian Rules fan, who was 19 at the time.

``I would've much rather have been out there competing and marching and watching someone else carry the torch.

``But the next best honour is to be involved in the ceremony so it's something I very much appreciate.''

Clarke set 17 world records during his career but never won an Olympic gold medal, although he did win bronze in the 10,000m at the 1964 Tokyo Games.

Melbourne was the first time the Olympics would burn him but not the last.

``It sparked and spluttered,'' he recalled about the specially-made Olympic torch.

``I didn't notice but the magnesium had dropped all over my shirt and shorts.

``I hadn't seen myself in the mirror so I looked down and my shirt was burnt to smithereens.

``It looked like I was a brave little boy but it was just a few hairs singed.''

Clarke, 69, said it was a great honour to light the Olympic flame but it wasn't the highlight of his life.

He lists marriage, breaking world records and watching his brother Jack lead Essendon to the 1965 VFL premiership as the moments to savour.

AAP

[Sir Rols]

Well, it was 50 years ago today that the Olympic Cauldron was first lit in Australia.

Ron Clarke lights the Cauldron at the MCG in 1956

Ron Clarke at the MCG, 2006

Edited November 21, 2006 by roltel

[baron-pierreIV]

Didn't he trip or something and/or the flame died out in a day or so?

[Sir Rols]

Didn't he trip or something and/or the flame died out in a day or so?

Not to my knowledge. Rather, his big story is he was singed badly. The organisers wanted the flame to burn spectacularly when it enetered the MCG, so they mixed the fuel with magnesium, which ended up popping and sputtering and generally raining sparks down on him as he lapped the stadium and gave him some nasty burns. if you seee film of the event you can see the torch raining sparks down and all over him as he ran.

[baron-pierreIV]

Not to my knowledge. Rather, his big story is he was singed badly. The organisers wanted the flame to burn spectacularly when it enetered the MCG, so they mixed the fuel with magnesium, which ended up popping and sputtering and generally raining sparks down on him as he lapped the stadium and gave him some nasty burns. if you seee film of the event you can see the torch raining sparks down and all over him as he ran.

Oh God. Did he have a good lawyer?

[Guardian]

IOC article:

Link: IOC: To The Antipodes Of Their Ancient Roots

Edited November 23, 2006 by Guardian

[Guardian]

And, to think, Canada has "Captain Canada" Ian Millar right now. Never mind that he cannot compete against the likes of this German showjumper, who celebrates his 81st birthday today. He had won SEVEN Olympic medals, 5 of them GOLD, in showjumping in SIX Olympic Games which spans from Melbourne 1956 to Montreal 1976.

Link 1: IOC: The Close Relationship Between A Horseman And His Mount

Germany's Hans Günter Winkler

Link 2: His Personal IOC Page

[Sir Rols]

We were discussing "back-up" hosts in a Sochi thread, and I was prompted to look back over some of the warnings Brundage gave Melbourne that the games could be taken from them when they appeared to be dragging their feet. And came across this from The Argus in the national Archives. Interesting reading!

[runningrings]

Very interesting situation and ill take time to read those clippings when I get some time. Interesting to see those tensions between Unions and the State as far back as then (which is what this really boils down to)

[FYI]

Funny to read how other cities were willing to spend $20 million on the 1956 Games. That's a bargain in today's Olympic prices!

Makes Madrid 2020 seem like a total Qatar 2022-like rip-off!

[runningrings]

Funny to read how other cities were willing to spend $20 million on the 1956 Games. That's a bargain in today's Olympic prices!

Makes Madrid 2020 seem like a total Qatar 2022-like rip-off!

Melbourne's original proposal was very impressive - with an entirely new Olympic Stadium to be built just off Royal Parade in Princes Park. Perhaps it was a shimmer of intelligence that they veered off these grand plans and went for the practicality of refurbishing the MCG instead - or Melbourne 1956 may have ended up as an earlier Montreal experience.

While Melbourne's organising experience leading up to its Olympics were plagued with organisational issues - the city certainly has built one of the best post-Games legacies of anywhere in the world - its Olympic Park precinct is now unrecognisable to 1956, and has new life, and has made it one of the most capable major events cities in the world.

[Lord David]

Funny to read how other cities were willing to spend $20 million on the 1956 Games. That's a bargain in today's Olympic prices!

Makes Madrid 2020 seem like a total Qatar 2022-like rip-off!

Hey, Madrid would still want to host even if they only had a mere dollar to work with.

Everyone involved is considered volunteers so they don't need to be paid. Athletes stay at Jose's house and there will be leftover Paella at Hector's!

[Sir Rols]

 

 

How time flies! Just noticed these pics in coverage of the 60th anniversary of the melbourne games, and realised iut's been 10 years since I started this thread for the 50th anniversary.

Anyway, as part of the celebrations, Melbourne's Herald Sun has published some rare coloured pics of the games - as someone who's always researched Oly history, colour pics of 56 are few and far between. Enjoy!

The closing ceremony

 

 

Crowds at the MCG

 

Entrance to the Athlete's Village at Heidelberg West

 

Department store Myerin Bourke St decked out for the games

 

Another department store, Foys on Bourne and Swanson Streets, decked out.

More at: HeraldSun

Edited November 22, 2016 by Sir Rols

[Sir Rols]

 

2 hours ago, AustralianFan said:

Great story about the win by Melbourne in landing the 1956 Olympic Games by 1 vote.

In 2032, it will also be the biggest thing that has ever happened in Brisbane and Queensland.

 

I

 

[Australian Kiwi]

In fairness it was the US's fault for not consolidating into a single candidate (which wasn't a requirement back then). Its interesting to reconstruct the 1956 vote with a single US bid in the equation (for discussion purposes I've chosen Los Angeles which got the highest number of votes, put an X for where i've removed American votes). Not a great deal would have changed, except LA would have come third on the first round of voting. 

HOWEVER it seems like some of that early fragmented American support went to Melbourne and not the Latin American bids. So in effect Melbourne had the support of the British Empire + run off support from pro-American votes (wherever they were coming from). Enough to get us that single vote. 

Surprising that Montreal was such a non-starter - apparently a pretty poorly put together bid that was diluted with a Winter bid. 

Even though Melbourne had organisational troubles it was still an amazing Olympics for its time. BA would have had its own issue too with a coup in 1955 doing unknown disruption to organisation (and violence extending into 1956).

Melbourne	Australia	14	18	19	21
Buenos Aires	Argentina	9	12	13	20
Los Angeles	United States	10	8	5	—
Detroit		X	X	0	—
Mexico City	Mexico	9	3	—	—
Chicago	United States	X	—	—	—
Minneapolis		X	—	—	—
Philadelphia		X	—	—	—
San Francisco		X	—	—	—
Montreal	Canada	0	—	—	—

[Australian Kiwi]

Also interesting to ponder how that single vote would impact Australia's Olympic hosting to this day. 

Say 1956 went to Buenos Aires...

• I doubt we'd have been successful at 1960 or 1964 (the weight of Europe and Japan would have been insurmountable). 
• with 1956 in Latin America, we may have had a good chance at 1968. This could have been either in Melbourne or Sydney (possibly that elusive Moore Park based Olympics). Brisbane really was too small back then. 
• Assuming 1968 is in Melbourne, this leaves Sydney chasing its Olympic dream. 
• Like Melbourne in 1956, Sydney won 2000 by the narrowest of votes. Would the hypothetical 1968 Australian Games, only 25 years prior, be enough to sway two votes to Beijing for 2000?
• With no Beijing for 2008, it really unlocks a lot of speculation thats too hard to guess. But my theory is that we'd like have a Sydney Games at some point between 2008-2028.
• That means no Brisbane 2032. 
• Conclusion: we are very lucky to be a three time Olympic host. 

[Australian Kiwi]

But then another thought - when exactly did the IOC get struct on the July-August hosting? 

Sydney would be too cold in this time, so its possible that Sydney could have been seriously damaged by this technical requirement. Maybe it could still be Brisbane 2032 with either Melbourne/Sydney 1968?
 

 

[FYI]

On 9/23/2023 at 8:38 PM, Australian Kiwi said:

In fairness it was the US's fault for not consolidating into a single candidate (which wasn't a requirement back then). Its interesting to reconstruct the 1956 vote with a single US bid in the equation (for discussion purposes I've chosen Los Angeles which got the highest number of votes, put an X for where i've removed American votes). Not a great deal would have changed, except LA would have come third on the first round of voting. 

I did some recent reading on this, but it has more to do with the all-darling of Olympic bridesmaids - Detroit, than it has to do with Melbourne 1956. However, that said, it appears that out of all of Detroit's nine bids for the Olympics, 1956 was deemed their best chance. 

And yes, while so many other U.S. cities were also at that IOC session to vote on 1956, & that in itself didn't help matters any (which was the last time that could be done, precisely because of that debacle), Detroit did have the best prepared & most politically-supported bid than any of the other U.S. cities there, due to their already multiple attempts under their belt. They were really played dirty, especially by the guy who was heading the L.A. attempt at the time, saying to then IOC president Avery Brundage, that L.A. is really the only city in the U.S. that can stage the Olympics.

Another interesting note I find, is that Avery Brundage was born in Detroit, but never really seemed interested in helping the city obtain it's Olympic dream. On the contrary, he always seemed to work against the city in that regard. I find that so ironic considering what we later saw with a later IOC president (& much later, a certain VP).

On 9/23/2023 at 8:48 PM, Australian Kiwi said:

Also interesting to ponder how that single vote would impact Australia's Olympic hosting to this day. 

Say 1956 went to Buenos Aires...

• I doubt we'd have been successful at 1960 or 1964 (the weight of Europe and Japan would have been insurmountable). 

Which did prove insurmountable for Detroit's 6th & 7th Olympic bid attempts. And Brundage being a huge collector of Asian art back then, Tokyo 1964 probably seemed like a nice little gateway perk in that area.

[StefanMUC]

1 hour ago, FYI said:

I did some recent reading on this, but it has more to do with the all-darling of Olympic bridesmaids - Detroit, than it has to do with Melbourne 1956. However, that said, it appears that out of all of Detroit's nine bids for the Olympics, 1956 was deemed their best chance. 

And yes, while so many other U.S. cities were also at that IOC session to vote on 1956, & that in itself didn't help matters any (which was the last time that could be done, precisely because of that debacle), Detroit did have the best prepared & most politically-supported bid than any of the other U.S. cities there, due to their already multiple attempts under their belt. They were really played dirty, especially by the guy who was heading the L.A. attempt at the time, saying to then IOC president Avery Brundage, that L.A. is really the only city in the U.S. that can stage the Olympics.

Another interesting note I find, is that Avery Brundage was born in Detroit, but never really seemed interested in helping the city obtain it's Olympic dream. On the contrary, he always seemed to work against the city in that regard. I find that so ironic considering what we later saw with a later IOC president (& much later, a certain VP).

Which did prove insurmountable for Detroit's 6th & 7th Olympic bid attempts. And Brundage being a huge collector of Asian art back then, Tokyo 1964 probably seemed like a nice little gateway perk in that area.

Let‘s not forget that AB was a really bad character overall.

[FYI]

15 hours ago, StefanMUC said:

Let‘s not forget that AB was a really bad character overall.

Guess in the sense of Brundage not helping Detroit (or any other U.S. summer bid), is akin to Bach not really doing anything for any of Germany's recent Olympic aspirations, either.