This was the sixth appearance of what had been standardised as the men's ISSF Olympic trap event.

The reigning World Champion from the 1952 ISSF World Shooting Championships, Argentina's Pablo Grossi, did not compete in Helsinki; the silver and bronze medalists (17-year-old George Genereux of Canada and Knut Holmqvist of Sweden, respectively) did.

[5] Argentina, Bulgaria, Egypt, Monaco, Poland, Puerto Rico, Soviet Union, and Switzerland each made their debut in the event.

Great Britain made its sixth appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the event to that point.

The end of the first day had Liljedahl and Aasnæs leading at 96, followed closely by Genereux, Čapek, and Holmqvist at 95.