Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games:

The defending champion, Shirley Strickland, now Strickland-de la Hunty, was back, and running in her native Australia. The silver medalist, Mariya Golubnichiya (URS), was also back and had won the 1954 European Championship in the interim. In August 1954, she had also equaled Strickland’s world record from the 1952 Olympic final. That record was broken in July 1956 by West German Zenta Gastl, who ran 10.6 in an International in Frechen. Gastl was in Melbourne but finished fourth in the second semi and did not make the final. Three Australians made it to the final, along with Golubnichiya and her teammate Galina Bystrova, later European Champion, and East German Gisela Köhler. In the first semi, Strickland-de la Hunty and Köhler both ran under 11 seconds auto timing, the first time that had been done. The final was not as close as expected, as Strickland-de la Hunty won by almost 2 metres.