Summary
This medal was designed by Hungarian-Jewish sculptor Andor Mészáros (1900–73), who migrated to Australia in 1939. His commissions in Australia include many large sculptures, often with a religious theme and created for churches and hospitals. Between his major commissions, Mészáros also designed numerous medals to mark notable events and advances in his new home country. These included the participant’s medal for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
This 63mm bronze medal shows the city’s coat of arms on the obverse, above which sits the Olympic rings and a kangaroo, flanked by floral ornamentation. At the centre of the reverse is the Olympic flag, held aloft by a single athlete, around which is inscribed ‘citius altius fortius’ (faster higher stronger). Fanning out around the coin from this flag-bearer, pairs of determinedly marching athletes reflect all the classicism of the participants at ancient Olympia. The die for the medal was struck by London-based Pinches, while the medal itself was minted locally by KG Luke.
While the 1956 Olympics represented a colossal sporting event in its own right, the games had broader significance for Melbourne, catalysing socio-cultural change and plotting on the international map what was then something of an antipodean backwater. As well as designing the medal for participants, Andor Mészáros took up the role of organising a sculpture exhibition, held at the Melbourne Town Hall, for the games’ cultural program.
