Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump

The number one qualifier was Henryk Grabowski, but he was unable to produce similar results in the final. The world record was not in the discussion, with world record holder Jesse Owens sitting in the stands more than 21 years after he had jumped 8.13m. Owens also set the Olympic record at 8.06m in 1936. #2 qualifier John Bennett took the first round lead with a 7.68m jump. Dmitriy Bondarenko was in second with a 7.44m and in the first Olympics for Nigeria, Karim Olowu was in third with 7.28m. In the second round, Gregory Bell hit the winner, 7.83 m (25 ft 8 ¹⁄₄ in). In the third round, Jorma Valkama jumped into bronze position with a 7.48m. In the fourth round Bell reaffirmed his position with a 7.77m.

For the qualifying round, competitors needed to hit the standard of 7.15 meters in order to reach the final, with a minimum of 12 competitors making the final. Since 13 athletes hit the standard, no extra berths were given for the final. After an athlete met the standard in the qualifying round, they were not required to finish their three jumps, denoted by a dash in the table. A foul is denoted by an "X".

Rank	Athlete	Jump 1	Jump 2	Jump 3	Best Jump
1	Henryk Grabowski (POL)	7.52	-	-	7.52 m
2	John Bennett (USA)	7.50	-	-	7.50 m
3	Oleg Fyodoseyev (URS)	7.04	7.42	-	7.42 m
4	Ken Wilmshurst (GBR)	6.95	7.40	-	7.40 m
5	Dmytro Bondarenko (URS)	6.97	6.95	7.37	7.37 m
6	Jorma Valkama (FIN)	7.13	6.92	7.36	7.36 m
7	Gregory Bell (USA)	7.35	-	-	7.35 m
8	Roy Cruttenden (GBR)	7.32	-	-	7.32 m
9	Fermín Donazar (URU)	7.31	-	-	7.31 m
10	Karim Olowu (NGR)	7.05	7.29	-	7.29 m
11	Neville Price (RSA)	7.28	-	-	7.28 m
12	Kazimierz Kropidłowski (POL)	7.10	7.22	-	7.22 m
13	Igor Ter-Ovanesyan (URS)	7.15	-	-	7.15 m
14	Yoshiro Sonoda (JPN)	6.77	7.01	7.12	7.12 m
15	Masaji Tajima (JPN)	6.98	X	7.11	7.11 m
16	Ling Te-Sheng (ROC)	6.85	6.74	7.11	7.11 m
17	Muhammad Ramzan Ali (PAK)	6.75	7.11	X	7.11 m
18	Seo Yeong-ju (KOR)	7.08	7.09	6.92	7.09 m
19	Mike Moroney (AUS)	6.72	7.09	X	7.09 m
20	Ary de Sá (BRA)	6.86	7.00	6.97	7.00 m
21	Odon Foldessy (HUN)	6.96	6.92	6.93	6.96 m
22	Ram Mehar (IND)	6.92	6.84	5.53	6.92 m
23	Ian Bruce (AUS)	X	6.91	6.80	6.91 m
24	Hugh Jack (AUS)	6.90	6.87	6.45	6.90 m
25	David Kushnir (ISR)	6.09	6.89	6.66	6.89 m
26	Fred Hammer (LUX)	6.74	X	X	6.74 m
27	Lawrence Ogwang (UGA)	6.62	6.51	6.28	6.62
28	Wilhelm Porrassalmi (FIN)	X	6.58	X	6.58
29	Rafio Oluwa (NGR)	X	6.53	X	6.53 m
30	Muhammad Rashid (PAK)	6.13	6.10	5.90	6.13 m
31	Edward Martins (LBR)	5.79	6.01	5.96	6.01 m
32	Torgny Wahlander (SWE)	X	X	X	No Mark

The final round included all 13 competitors who had qualified earlier that day by reaching the mark of 7.15 meters. The finals format was set up in two sections. All 13 athletes made three jumps, and all but the best six jumpers were eliminated. Finally, three more jumps were contested for the top six; however, any jump made over all six attempts counted towards the final ranking. A dash means that the jumper elected not to attempt that round.

Rank	Athlete	Jump 1	Jump 2	Jump 3	Jump 4	Jump 5	Jump 6	Best Jump
	Gregory Bell (USA)	6.98	7.83	7.77	X	-	7.16	7.83 m
	John Bennett (USA)	7.68	7.61	X	-	X	-	7.68 m
	Jorma Valkama (FIN)	7.11	X	7.48	7.07	7.22	7.00	7.48 m
4	Dmitriy Bondarenko (URS)	7.44	X	7.13	X	6.89	6.99	7.44 m
5	Karim Olowu (NGR)	7.28	6.77	7.36	6.42	X	6.91	7.36 m
6	Kazimierz Kropidłowski (POL)	7.27	6.92	7.30	6.95	7.03	6.94	7.30 m
7	Neville Price (RSA)	X	7.28	X	OUT	OUT	OUT	7.28 m
8	Oleg Fyodoseyev (URS)	X	7.25	7.27	OUT	OUT	OUT	7.27 m
9	Roy Cruttenden (GBR)	7.15	X	6.96	OUT	OUT	OUT	7.15 m
10	Henryk Grabowski (POL)	X	X	7.15	OUT	OUT	OUT	7.15 m
11	Ken Wilmshurst (GBR)	7.14	7.06	7.05	OUT	OUT	OUT	7.14 m
12	Fermín Donazar (URU)	X	X	6.57	OUT	OUT	OUT	6.57 m
13	Igor Ter-Ovanesyan (URS)	X	X	X	OUT	OUT	OUT	No Mark

• Official report
• Results