MCG marks 60 year anniversary of 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games

While the Melbourne Cricket Ground has played host to countless major sporting events, its most famous role on the world stage is arguably as the main stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Today (Tuesday 22nd November), marks 60 years since the 'friendly Games' opening ceremony was held at the MCG in front of a then-capacity crowd of 103,000, with millions more watching around the world.

In addition to the Opening and Closing ceremonies, the MCG was used for athletics, football finals, hockey finals, an exhibition game of baseball and a demonstration of Australian Rules football.

The history and memories from the 1956 Olympics continue to be celebrated throughout the stadium, and in particular in the National Sports Museum.

Key artefacts on display in the museum include:

• The 1956 Olympic games Cauldron: lit by Ron Clarke during the Opening Ceremony, the torch sparked and spluttered, showering Clarke with hot magnesium and burning holes in his shirt
• Sprint queen Betty Cuthbert's three Gold medals won at the 1956 Olympics in the 100 metre, 200 metre and 4 x 100 metre relay athletics events
• Shirley Strickland's two Gold medals won at the 1956 Olympics in the 80 metre hurdles and the 4 x 100 metre relay athletics events
• The official participants register containing the signatures of all the torchbearers involved in the 1956 Olympic Torch Relay to Melbourne
• Swimmer Murray Rose's three Gold medals won at the 1956 Olympics in the 4 x 200 metre, 400 metre and 1500 metre freestyle races.

Beyond the namesake Olympic Stand, outside Gate 3 at the MCG a commemorative stone plaque lists all the gold medallists from the 1956 games while nearby Cuthbert and Strickland are immortalised in bronze sculptures.

The 1956 Olympics took place in Melbourne from 22nd November until 8th December. 

Images: The Olympic flame cauldron from the 1956 Games in the National Sports Museum (top) and runner Ron Clarke enters the MCG  during the Opening Ceremony (below).

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