1956 Summer Olympics / Participant (Belgium)

BEL

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Belgium took part in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne with a delegation of 54 athletes (51 men and three women) in 37 competitions in twelve sports. The flag bearer at the opening ceremony was the sailor André Nelis , one of the two medalists. In addition to him, the wrestler Jef Mewis also won the silver medal. Belgium was previously represented at the equestrian games in Stockholm with three participants (two men and one woman).

Participants by sport

Boxing

Men

• Danny Hellebuyck

  Bantamweight: 2nd round

fencing

Men

• Roger Eighth

  Epee, singles: quarter-finals

  Epee, team: 5th place

• Marcel Van Der Auwera

  Foil, team: preliminary round

  Epee, team: 5th place

  Saber, singles: semi-finals

• Jacques Debeur

  Foil, team: preliminary round

  Epee, singles: quarter-finals

  Epee, team: 5th place

• François Dehez

  Foil, singles: preliminary round

  Epee, team: 5th place

• Ghislain Delaunois

  Foil, singles: preliminary round

  Foil, team: preliminary round

  Epee, singles: semi-finals

  Epee, team: 5th place

• André Verhalle

  Foil, singles: semi-finals

  Foil, team: preliminary round

Weightlifting

Men

• Willy Claes

  Lightweight: 9th place

hockey

Men

• 7th place

• Squad

  André Carbonnelle

  Luc Decrop

  Jean Dubois

  Jean-Jacques Enderle

  Yvan Freedman

  Roger Goossens

  Franz Lorette

  André Muschs

  Roger Paternoster

  Jean-Pierre Rensburg

  Jean Van Leer

  Jacques Vanderstappen

canoe

Men

• Germain Van De Moere & Rik Verbrugghe

  Two kayaks, 1000 meters: 6th place

athletics

Men

• André Ballieux

  1500 meters: heats

• Frans Herman

  10,000 meters: 14th place

  3000 meter obstacle: DNF / prelims

• Walter Herssens

  Triple jump: 29th place in qualification

  Decathlon: DNF

• Marcel Lambrechts

  400 meter hurdles: prelims

• Émile Leva

  800 meters: 7th place

  1500 meters: heats

• Aurèle Vandendriessche

  Marathon: 24th place

Cycling

Men

• André Bar

  4000 meters team pursuit: 5th place

• Frans Van Den Bosch

  Road race, individual: 42nd place

  Road race, team: 7th place

• Evrard Godefroid

  Sprint: quarter-finals

  1000 meters TIME driving: 19th place

• Gustaaf De Smet

  Road race, individual: 24th place

  Road race, team: 7th place

  4000 meters team pursuit: 5th place

• Guillaume Van Tongerloo

  4000 meters team pursuit: 5th place

• Norbert Verougstraete

  Road race, individual: 23rd place

  Road race, team: 7th place

• François De Wagheneire

  Road race, individual: DNF

  Road race, team: 7th place

  4000 meters team pursuit: 5th place

horse riding

• Brigitte Schockaert

  Jumping, singles: 34th place

  Jumping, team: DNF

• Raymond Lombard

  Jumping, singles: 43rd place

  Jumping, team: DNF

• Georges Poffé

  Jumping, singles: DNF

  Jumping, team: DNF

Wrestling

Men

• Maurice Mewis

  Flyweight, Greco-Roman: 3rd round

• Omer scouting

  Bantamweight, Greco-Roman: 2nd round

  Bantamweight, freestyle: 2nd round

• Jef Mewis

  Featherweight, freestyle: silver

rowing

Men

• Fernand Steenacker & Henri Steenacker

  Double sculls: hope run

• Bob Baetens & Michel Knuysen

  Two without a helmsman: reunion

• Jos Van Thillo , Antoon Ven & Livien Ven

  Two with a helmsman: semi-finals

shoot

• François Lafortune

  Small caliber, three-position battle: 19th place

  Small caliber, lying: 42nd place

• Marcel Lafortune

  Free pistol: 23rd place

swim

Men Gilbert Desmit 200 meters chest: heats Louis Kozma 200 meters chest: heats André Laurent 100 meters freestyle: prelims

Women Éva Gérard-Novák 200 meters chest: heats Colette Goossens 200 meters chest: heats Irène Sweyd 100 meters freestyle: prelims

sailing

• André Nelis

  Finn dinghy: silver

Web links

• Belgian Olympic team from 1956 in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Belgian Olympic team at the 1956 Equestrian Games