The 1956 Summer Olympics were held during a time of political unrest, and were the first games that featured a boycott when China refused to participate on the grounds of Taiwan's participation. Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands also sat out the Olympics in protest of the Soviet invasion of Hungary, while Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq withdrew after the invasion of Egypt by Israel, the United Kingdom and France.
Laszlo Papp
The 1956 Summer Olympics featured the first three-time gold medalist when Laszlo Papp of Hungary captured the gold in the light middleweight division with a 2-1 decision over Jose Torres. In keeping with the traditional that was established in the 1952 Olympics, bronze medals were awarded to the two losing semifinalists, John McCormick and Zbigniew Pietryzykowski.
Flyweight & Bantamweight
Great Britain's Terence Spinks won the gold medal in the flyweight division, defeating Mircea Dobrescu in the gold-medal bout. Meanwhile, Rene Libeer and John Caldwell were the bronze medalists. The bantamweight gold medal was won by Germany's Wolfgang Behrendt, who defeated Sun-Chun Song in the finals. Bronze medals were won by Frederick Gilroy and Claudio Barrientos.
Featherweight & Lightweight
The Soviet Union's Vladimir Safronov captured the gold medal in the featherweight class, defeating Thomas Nicholls in the title championship bout. Bronze medalists in the 1956 games were Henryk Niedzwiedzki and Pentti Hamalainen. The lightweight gold medalist was Great Britian's Richard McTaggart, while the silver medalist was Harry Kurschat. Anatoly Lagetko and Anthony Byrne took home bronze medals.
Light Welterweight & Welterweight
The Soviet Union's Vladimir Yengibaryan captured the gold medal in the light welterweight division, with Italy's Franco Nenzi taking home the silver. The bronze medals were won by Henry Loubscher and Constantin Dumitrescu. In the welterweight division, Romania's Nicolae Linca captured the gold, with Frederick Tiedt winning the silver. Bronze medals were won by Nicholas Gargano and Kevin Hogarth.
Middleweight & Light Heavyweight
The Soviet Union's Gennady Shatkov won the middleweight gold medal, with Ramon Tapia taking the silver. Gilbert Chapron and Victor Zalazar won the bronze medals. In the light heavyweight division, Jim Boyd of the United States won the gold medal. Gheorghe Negrea won the silver, with Romualdas Murauskas and Carlos Lucas winning bronze medals.
Heavyweight
The United States' Pete Rademacher won the heavyweight gold medal, with Lev Mukhin taking the silver. The bronze medalists were earned by Giacomo Bozzano and Daniel Bekker.
Closing Ceremonies
The closing ceremonies of the 1956 Summer Games were the first when all athletes marched together, as opposed to with their individual countries. Australian John Ian Wing was credited with the idea of having the athletes show a united front at the end of the Olympic Games, something that still takes place today.
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