After World War II, the Olympic movement continued to develop. In particular, in the 1950s, socialist countries began to actively participate in the Games. The Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne became a great success for these states.
The place for the next Olympiad was determined at a meeting of the Commission of the International Olympic Committee in 1949 in Rome. Candidate cities included several major American cities, as well as Melbourne, Mexico City and Buenos Aires. Melbourne won, but it was decided to transfer equestrian competitions from there. Due to the laws of Australia, horses would have to go through too long a quarantine. Therefore, this stage of the games was held in Stockholm.
In Australia itself, the games have become an element of political confrontation. The governor of one of the states refused to fund his part of the Olympics. This jeopardized the construction of some of the Olympic venues, but it was eventually completed on time.
67 countries sent their teams to the games. The number of participating States has decreased compared to previous competitions. Several countries refused to participate in the games for political reasons. Egypt refused to represent its team due to the conflict over the Suez Canal with Great Britain. Australia, as a member of the British Commonwealth, was perceived by Egypt as an enemy. At the same time, several European countries did not present their athletes due to disagreement with the actions of the USSR in Hungary, and the PRC did not share the right to participate in competitions with Taiwan.
Against this difficult political background, the USSR team nevertheless took part in the games, for the second time in its history. It was a tremendous success for Soviet athletes - the country's team took first place in the unofficial medal standings. Soviet gymnasts, both men and women, especially distinguished themselves. For example, Larisa Latynina won 4 gold medals. The USSR national football team also received gold.
The second place in the unofficial standings was left for the United States. Among the athletes of this country, athletes have achieved particular success, for example, Bobby Morrow, who became twice the Olympic champion.
Athletes from Australia have also achieved serious success. We can also mention the Hungarian gymnast Agnes Keleti, who won 3 gold and 2 silver Olympic medals.
