| Host City: Melbourne, Australia |
Format: Scoring by 1950 point tables. |
| Date Started: November 29, 1956 |
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| Date Finished: November 30, 1956 |
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| (Competitors: 15; Countries: 9) |
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Venue(s): Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria
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| Overview by IAAF |
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| Johnson, the world record holder, was favourite to win, but to the knee injury he suffered before the Games was added an abdominal muscle pull in the long jump. Campbell produced a superlative effort, and had he not had a poor pole vault might well have broken Johnson’s record of 7985. On the first day Campbell drew gradually away from Johnson with superior marks in the high jump and 400m to lead with 4564 compared with Johnson’s 4375. Lauer (4064) trailed in third ahead of Kuznetsov (3991). The 110m hurdles was the decisive event as Campbell ran a superb 14.0, despite almost shattering the fourth hurdle. His time was seven tenths faster than that of Lauer, who was fourth in the individual 110m hurdles final, . The 336 points gained on Johnson’s 15.1 was almost all of Campbell’s final winning margin of 350. As he felt himself flagging in the final event, Campbell found himself picked up by the encouragement of 11th placed Ian Bruce, who ran with him over the last 400m, exhorting him to sprint at the finish. It was a typical piece of sportsmanship in an event which encourages humanity through shared suffering. |
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| Summary by Sports-reference.com |
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| With Bob Mathias retired, the top two Americans were Milt Campbell and Rafer Johnson. Campbell had won the silver medal in 1952 and won the 1953 AAU Championship. Johnson began contesting the decathlon in 1954, broke the world record and won the Pan-American Games in 1955, and won the 1956 AAU/Olympic Trials, with Campbell second. But at Melbourne, Johnson was slightly injured, with a bad knee. But Campbell would have been difficult to beat, even if Johnson was at his best, as he won the gold medal by 350 points. Johnson later commented, “I lost to a good man.” The bronze medal went to the Soviet decathlete, Vasily Kuznetsov, who had won the 1954 European Championships. |
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |
 Rafer Johnson (USA) |
7985 |
Kingsburg, United States |
June 11, 1955 |
| Olympic record |
Bob Mathias (USA) |
7887 |
Helsinki, Finland |
July 26, 1952 |
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Results |
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| Decathlon |
Men |
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Final |
30 November |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
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Notes |
| 1 |
7937 |
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Milt Campbell |
United States |
USA |
22 |
OR |
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| 2 |
7587 |
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Rafer Johnson |
United States |
USA |
21 |
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| 3 |
7465 |
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Vasily Kuznetsov |
Soviet Union |
URS |
24 |
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| 4 |
6930 |
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Uno Palu |
Soviet Union |
URS |
23 |
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| 5 |
6853 |
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Martin Lauer |
Germany |
GER |
19 |
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| 6 |
6773 |
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Walter Meier |
Germany |
GER |
29 |
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| 7 |
6565 |
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Torbjörn Lassenius |
Finland |
FIN |
25 |
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| 8 |
6521 |
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Yang C. K. |
Chinese Taipei |
TPE |
23 |
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| 9 |
6427 |
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Pat Leane |
Australia |
AUS |
26 |
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| 10 |
6278 |
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John Cann |
Australia |
AUS |
18 |
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| 11 |
6025 |
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Ian Bruce |
Australia |
AUS |
21 |
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| 12 |
5103 |
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Nadjmeddin Farabi |
Iran |
IRI |
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| AC |
DNF |
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Bob Richards |
United States |
USA |
30 |
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| AC |
DNF |
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Yuriy Kutenko |
Soviet Union |
URS |
24 |
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| AC |
DNF |
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Walter Herssens |
Belgium |
BEL |
26 |
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Detailed Results
|
 |
 Milt Campbell (USA) |
7937 |
990
10.8 s |
898
7.33 m |
850
14.76 m |
886
1.89 m |
940
48.8 s |
1124
14.0 s |
775
44.98 m |
476
3.40 m |
668
57.08 m |
330
4:50.6 min |
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Rafer Johnson (USA) |
7587 |
948
10.9 s |
902
7.34 m |
819
14.48 m |
806
1.83 m |
900
49.3 s |
788
15.1 s |
688
42.17 m |
695
3.90 m |
738
60.27 m |
303
4:54.2 min |
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 Vasili Kuznetsov (URS) |
7465 |
834
11.2 s |
798
7.04 m |
820
14.49 m |
711
1.75 m |
828
50.2 s |
840
14.9 s |
754
44.33 m |
720
3.95 m |
854
65.13 m |
306
4:53.8 min |
| 4 |
Uno Palu (URS) |
6930 |
737
11.5 s |
681
6.65 m |
709
13.39 m |
886
1.89 m |
786
50.8 s |
716
15.4 s |
637
40.38 m |
556
3.60 m |
768
61.59 m |
454
4:35.6 min |
| 5 |
 Martin Lauer (GER) |
6853 |
870
11.1 s |
734
6.83 m |
659
12.86 m |
806
1.83 m |
995
48.2 s |
894
14.7 s |
609
39.38 m |
364
3.10 m |
540
50.66 m |
382
4:43.8 min |
| 6 |
Walter Meier (GER) |
6773 |
800
11.3 s |
725
6.80 m |
671
12.99 m |
845
1.86 m |
900
49.3 s |
575
16.1 s |
562
37.59 m |
596
3.70 m |
492
47.97 m |
607
4:20.6 min |
| 7 |
 Torbjörn Lassenius (FIN) |
6565 |
650
11.8 s |
672
6.62 m |
715
13.45 m |
656
1.70 m |
786
50.8 s |
612
15.9 s |
664
41.36 m |
645
3.80 m |
717
59.33 m |
448
4:36.2 min |
| 8 |
 Yang Chuan-kwang (ROC) |
6521 |
834
11.2 s |
755
6.90 m |
544
11.56 m |
976
1.95 m |
751
51.3 s |
813
15.0 s |
469
33.92 m |
438
3.30 m |
685
57.88 m |
256
5:00.8 min |
| 9 |
 Pat Leane (AUS) |
6427 |
768
11.4 s |
722
6.79 m |
696
13.26 m |
845
1.86 m |
772
51.0 s |
523
16.4 s |
595
38.86 m |
516
3.50 m |
706
58.83 m |
284
4:56.8 min |
| 10 |
John Cann (AUS) |
6278 |
948
10.9 s |
659
6.57 m |
598
12.18 m |
656
1.70 m |
900
49.3 s |
673
15.6 s |
592
38.76 m |
226
2.70 m |
686
57.89 m |
340
4:49.2 min |
| 11 |
Ian Bruce (AUS) |
6025 |
678
11.7 s |
672
6.62 m |
609
12.30 m |
806
1.83 m |
751
51.3 s |
612
15.9 s |
536
36.62 m |
476
3.40 m |
554
51.38 m |
331
4:50.4 min |
| 12 |
 Nadjmeddin Farabi (IRI) |
5103 |
572
12.1 s |
575
6.25 m |
524
11.31 m |
656
1.70 m |
684
52.3 s |
372
17.4 s |
347
28.73 m |
438
3.30 m |
375
41.23 m |
560
4:24.8 min |
| N/A |
Bob Richards (USA) |
DNF |
678
11.7 s |
610
6.39 m |
628
12.52 m |
711
1.75 m |
684
52.3 s |
458
16.8 s |
566
37.77 m |
1023
4.45 m |
423
44.09 m |
DNS |
| N/A |
Yuriy Kutenko (URS) |
DNF |
707
11.6 s |
678
6.64 m |
817
14.46 m |
NM |
807
50.5 s |
632
15.8 s |
861
47.57 m |
795
4.10 m |
DNS |
DNS |
| N/A |
 Walter Herssens (BEL) |
DNF |
650
11.8 s |
656
6.56 m |
509
11.12 m |
770
1.80 m |
DNS |
DNS |
DNS |
DNS |
DNS |
DNS |
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