A lunchtime lecture by Dr Ian Jobling, Director for the Centre for Olympic Studies, on Tuesday 29 August 2000 in the UQ Library Conference Room
Since the inaugural Olympic Games of the modern era several Australian cities have proposed hosting the Olympics. 60 years after those first Games in Athens in 1896, the Olympics came to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time - to Melbourne, Australia.
In July 1946 the Victorian Olympic Council (VOC) was called together for its first meeting in seven years and a motion was put to host the 1956 Olympic Games. The motion was accepted unanimously despite the fact that the VOC's assets were only six pounds, seven shillings and ten pence (less than $13). However, the motion had the support of the then Lord mayor of Melbourne, Sir James Connelly, as well as Frank Beaurepaire, former Lord Mayor and Olympian (swimming: 1908, 1920, 1924). It was thanks to Frank Beaurepaire's public profile that the bid was successful.
Beaurepaire assumed presidency of the VOC in May 1947 and established an Invitation Committee of influential media and businessmen. This committee created an extravagant Invitation Book which was sent to all IOC members and other international sports administrators, explaining that Australia was one of only four countries that had attended all summer Olympics and therefore deserved the opportunity to be host .
Australians lobbied extensively for the 1956 Games and were eventually successful, beating Buenos Aires by one vote.
Most Australians thought that the Melbourne Cricket Ground would be the Olympic Stadium. However, the Royal Agricultural Society's 60 acres was chosen instead, because the Melbourne Organising Committee (MOC) did not want to remodel and resurface the grounds for an event which would last only 17 days, and cause disruption to and significant lack of income from one AFL and two cricket seasons.
In 1951 the Victorian government said that it may have to withdraw support for the Games unless the Commonwealth government helped financially. The Commonwealth Government paid half the costs involved an the MCG was partly remodelled.
Another issue of concern to the MOC and IOC was Australia's strict quarantine laws, which prevented foreign horses from entering the country. This was not mentioned in the bid to the IOC and nearly led to the Games being taken from Melbourne. After much debate between countries, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, the only time in the history of the modern Olympic Games, both summer and winter, that all events were not held in the same state or region.
Nevertheless, there was a great deal of behind the scenes division, with IOC member Angelo Bolanaki criticising and England's Lord Burghley defending Melbourne. The IOC could not make Australia change its quarantine laws, and eventually granted the equestrian events to Sweden in June 1956.
Meanwhile, progress on erection of the sporting facilities in Melbourne was slow. IOC President Avery Brundage finally took what he considered to be a necessary trip to Australia in May 1955 where he made a "mild atomic explosion". He said that even at that late stage, several other cities would be prepared to stage the 1956 Games.
His criticisms seemed to work, though, and there was much cohesion in finishing the job. As these were Brundage's first Olympics, he was determined that they not fail. By mid-1956 only global war could jeopardise the success of the Games.
The IOC only recognised in the mid-1950s television's financial opportunities but there was international disagreement between television and newsreel companies and so the Games were boycotted. However, local television stations screened up to 20 hours a day of Olympic footage to local viewers (NSW and Victorian television owners).
Greek athletes entered the stadium on the first day to the cheers of over 100,000 spectators. Ron Clarke was the last of 3500 torch bearers and lit the Olympic flame. John Landy read the oath from rough notes he had made, as the written copy he expected to read from was unavailable.
Australian athletes won a total of 13 gold medals, their best ever performance. Most notable were Betty Cuthbert, Shirley Strickland, Dawn Fraser, Murray Rose and Jon Henricks.
The closing ceremony featured an idea submitted by a local 17-year-old Chinese Australian boy, John Ian Wing. This was for all athletes to mingle together in one large group and wave to the crowds as one, rather than march separately for each country. The decision was a great success and symbolised the dictum, "It's not the winning but the taking part." Melbourne truly deserves to be known as the "Friendly Games".