Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Women's discus throw

Women's discus throw at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Venue	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Date	November 23
Competitors	22 from 12 nations
Winning distance	53.69 OR
Medalists
Olga Fikotová  Czechoslovakia Irina Beglyakova  Soviet Union Nina Ponomaryova  Soviet Union

Video on YouTube Official Video @1:02:14

The women's discus throw was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. The qualification round mark was set at 42.00 metres. Nine competitors failed to reach that distance.

Summary

In the final, Irina Beglyakova broke Nina Ponomaryeva's 4 year old Olympic record with a 51.74m. American Earlene Brown was not far off the old record with 51.35m, the only one interrupting the top three Soviet throwers. In the second round, defending champion Ponomaryeva improved to 51.61m, better than her previous record, to take over silver position. In the third round, Olga Fikotová improved on the record with a 52.04m, but her lead and record were short lived as Beglyakova improved it again to 52.54m. In the fourth round, Fikotová improved to 52.28m, but still was in second place. In the fifth round, Ponomaryeva got off her best throw of 52.02m, but it only improved her hold on bronze. Then Fikotová threw the winner. 53.69 m (176 ft 1 in), over a meter past Beglyakova for another Olympic record. Beglyakova had no answer, settling for silver.

In a much publicized Olympic romance, Fikotová would marry American hammer throw champion, Hal Connolly. After moving to the United States, she was refused permission to continue to throw for Czechoslovakia by the country's communist authorities. As Olga Connolly, she would represent USA in the next four Olympics.

Final classification

RANK	NAME ATHLETE	DISTANCE
	Olga Fikotová (TCH)	53.69 m
	Irina Beglyakova (URS)	52.54 m
	Nina Ponomaryeva (URS)	52.02 m
4.	Earlene Brown (USA)	51.35 m
5.	Albina Yelkina (URS)	48.20 m
6.	Isabel Avellán (ARG)	46.73 m
7.	Jiřina Vobořilová (TCH)	45.84 m
8.	Štěpánka Mertová (TCH)	45.78 m
9.	Lia Manoliu (ROU)	43.90 m
10.	Marianne Werner (EUA)	43.34 m
11.	Paola Paternoster (ITA)	42.83 m
12.	Nada Kotlusek (YUG)	42.16 m
13.	Lois Jackman (AUS)	40.84 m
—	Almut Brömmel (EUA)	DNQ
—	Shirley Cotton (AUS)	DNQ
—	Toyoko Yoshino (JPN)	DNQ
—	Suzanne Allday (GBR)	DNQ
—	Anne-Katrin Lafrenz (EUA)	DNQ
—	Valerie Dawn Lawrence (AUS)	DNQ
—	Jacqueline MacDonald (CAN)	DNQ
—	Marjorie Larney (USA)	DNQ
—	Pamela Joan Kurrell (USA)	DNQ

External links

• Official Report
• Results