The men's eight competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Wendouree near Ballarat, Australia.

Canada, Great Britain, and the United States each made their 10th appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

The heavily favored United States surprisingly finished third, possibly trying to conserve strength for later rounds; this sent the Americans to the repechage.

In a rematch of the quarterfinals, this time the United States came out on top of Australia, though the race was close.

The start of the race looked as if it might be a replay of the first quarterfinal, with Australia and Canada battling for the lead and the United States in third, with a fourth boat (Sweden this time, rather than Great Britain) well behind.

The United States, however, finally pulled ahead in the latter half and were able to hold off Canada.