1960 Summer Olympics Explained

Host City:	Rome, Italy
Nations:	83
Athletes:	5,347 (4,734 men, 613 women)
Events:	150 in 17 sports (23 disciplines)
Opening:	25 August 1960
Closing:	11 September 1960
Opened By:	President Giovanni Gronchi^[1]
Cauldron:	Giancarlo Peris
Stadium:	Stadio Olimpico
Summer Prev:	Melbourne 1956
Summer Next:	Tokyo 1964
Winter Prev:	Squaw Valley 1960
Winter Next:	Innsbruck 1964

The 1960 Summer Olympics (Italian: Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad (Italian: Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 (Italian: Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awarded the administration of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906, the city had no choice but to decline and pass the honour to London. The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals at the 1960 Games.

The 1st Paralympic Games were held in Rome in conjunction with the 1960 Summer Olympics, marking the first time such events coincided.

Host city selection

On 15 June 1955, at the 50th IOC Session in Paris, France, Rome won the right to host the 1960 Games, having beaten Brussels, Mexico City, Tokyo, Detroit, Budapest and finally Lausanne. Tokyo and Mexico City would subsequently host the proceeding 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics respectively.^[2]

Toronto was initially interested in the bidding, but appears to have dropped out during the final phase of the bid process.^[3] This was the first of five unsuccessful attempts by Toronto to secure the Summer Olympics from then until the 2008 Games.

1960 Summer Olympics bidding results^[4]

City	Country	Round
		1	2	3
		15	26	35
		14	21	24
		6	11	—
Budapest		8	1	—
		6	—	—
		6	—	—
		4	—	—

Highlights

• Swedish sprint canoeist Gert Fredriksson won his sixth Olympic title.
• Fencer Aladár Gerevich of Hungary won his sixth consecutive gold medal in the team sabre event.
• The Japanese men's gymnastics team won the first of five successive golds (see 1976 Summer Olympics).
• The United States men's national basketball team—led by promising college players Walt Bellamy, Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West—captured its fifth straight Olympic gold medal.
• Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm won his fourth straight gold medal in the Finn class. Others to emulate his performance in an individual event are Al Oerter, Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps, Kaori Icho, Mijaín López and, if the Intercalated (Interspaced) Games of 1906 are included, Ray Ewry.
• German Armin Hary won the 100 metres in an Olympic record time of 10.2 seconds. American Dave Sime also ran 10.2 s in the final, but was credited with silver after a controversial video review.
• Wilma Rudolph, a former polio patient, won three gold medals in sprint events on the track. She was acclaimed as "the fastest woman in the world".
• Jeff Farrell won two gold medals in swimming. He underwent an emergency appendectomy six days before the Olympic Trials.^[5]

• Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the marathon barefooted to become the first African and Ethiopian Olympic champion.
• 18-year-old Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, won boxing's light-heavyweight gold medal. Ramon "Buddy" Carr was his coach.^[6]
• Herb Elliott of Australia won the men's 1500 meters in one of the most dominating performances in Olympic history.
• Rafer Johnson defeated his rival, fellow U.C.L.A. Bruin and friend C.K. Yang in one of the greatest Decathlon events in Olympic history.^[7]
• Lance Larson of the United States was controversially denied a 100 metres freestyle swimming gold, despite showing the best time.
• 16-years-old phenom Chris von Saltza won four medals in women's swimming, three of them gold.
• The future Constantine II, last King of Greece (abdicated and ended hybrid monarchy, 1973) won his country a gold in sailing: dragon class.
• The Pakistani Men's Field Hockey team broke a run of Indian team victories since 1928, defeating India in the final and winning Pakistan's first Olympic gold medal.
• Wrestlers Shelby Wilson, and Doug Blubaugh, who wrestled together growing up, won gold medals in their respective weight classes.

Lowlights

• Danish cyclist Knud Jensen collapsed during the 100km team race because of heat stroke and later died in the hospital. It was suspected that he had been under the influence of Roniacol, a blood circulation stimulant.^[8] The International Olympic Committee stated on its website that "drugs were implicated, although that was never proven."^[9] It was the second time (and as of 2024, the most recent) an athlete died in competition at the Olympics, after the death of Portuguese marathon runner Francisco Lázaro at the 1912 Summer Olympics.^[10]

Historical landmarks

• South Africa appeared in the Olympic arena for the last time under its apartheid regime. It would not be allowed to return until 1992, by when apartheid in sport was being abolished.
• Singapore competed for the first time under its own flag, which was to become its national flag after independence, as the British had granted it self-government a year earlier. Tan Howe Liang won silver in the Weightlifting lightweight category, which was the first time (and the only time until 2008) that an athlete from Singapore won an Olympic medal.

Non-medal winners

• Finnish Vilho Ylönen, a field shooter, shot a bullseye to a wrong target, and in doing so he dropped from second place to fourth.
• Peter Camejo, a 2004 American vice-presidential candidate for the Green Party, competed in yachting for Venezuela.
• The future Queen Sofía of Spain represented her native Greece in sailing events.

Broadcasting

• CBS paid for the exclusive right to broadcast the Games in the United States. This was the first Summer Olympic games to be telecast in North America. In addition to CBS in the United States, the Olympics were telecast for the first time in Canada (on CBC Television) and in Mexico (through the networks of Telesistema Mexicano). Since television broadcast satellites were still two years into the future, CBS, CBC, and TSM shot and edited videotapes in Rome, fed the tapes to Paris where they were re-recorded onto other tapes which were then loaded onto jet planes to North America. Planes carrying the tapes landed at Idlewild Airport in New York City, where mobile units fed the tapes to CBS, to Toronto for the CBC, and to Mexico City for TSM. Despite this arrangement, many daytime events were broadcast in North America, especially on CBS and CBC, the same day they took place.^[11]

Venues

See main article: Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics.

• Olympic Stadium² (Stadio Olimpico) – opening/closing ceremonies, athletics, equestrian events
• Flaminio Stadium¹ (Stadio Flaminio) – football finals
• Swimming Stadium¹ – swimming, diving, water polo, modern pentathlon (swimming)
• Sports Palace¹ (Palazzo dello sport) – basketball, boxing
• Olympic Velodrome¹ – cycling (track), field hockey
• Small Sports Palace¹ (Palazzetto dello Sport) – basketball, weightlifting
• Marble Stadium² (Stadio dei Marmi) – field hockey preliminaries
• Baths of Caracalla – gymnastics
• Basilica of Maxentius – wrestling
• Palazzo dei Congressi – fencing
• Umberto I Shooting Range¹ – modern pentathlon (shooting), shooting (pistol/ rifle)
• Roses Swimming Pool¹ (Piscina delle Rose) – water polo
• Lake Albano, Castelgandolfo – rowing, canoeing
• Piazza di Siena, Villa Borghese gardens – equestrian (dressage, eventing – jumping, jumping – individual)
• Pratoni del Vivaro, Rocca di Papa – equestrian (eventing)
• Gulf of Naples, Naples – yachting
• Communal Stadium, Florence – football/soccer preliminaries
• Communal Stadium, Grosseto – football/soccer preliminaries
• Communal Stadium, L'Aquila – football/soccer preliminaries
• Ardenza Stadium, Livorno – football/soccer preliminaries
• Adriatico Stadium, Pescara – football/soccer preliminaries
• Saint Paul's Stadium, Naples – football/soccer preliminaries
• Campo Tre Fontane – field hockey preliminaries
• Acqua Santa Golf Club Course – modern pentathlon (running)
• Arch of Constantine – athletics (marathon finish)
• Cesano Infantry School Range – shooting (300 m free rifle)
• Lazio Pigeon Shooting Stand – shooting (trap shotgun)
• Passo Corese – modern pentathlon (riding)
• Grande Raccordo Anulare – athletics (marathon)
• Via Appian Antica – athletics (marathon)
• Via Cassia – cycling (individual road race)
• Via Flaminia – cycling (individual road race)
• Via Cristoforo Colombo – athletics (marathon), cycling (road team time trial)
• Via di Grottarossa – cycling (individual road race)

¹ New facilities constructed in preparation for the Olympic Games. ² Existing facilities modified or refurbished in preparation for the Olympic Games.

Games

Participating National Olympic Committees

A total of 83 nations participated at the Rome Games. Athletes from Morocco, San Marino, Sudan, and Tunisia competed at the Olympic Games for the first time.Athletes from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago would represent the new (British) West Indies Federation, competing as "Antilles", but this nation would only exist for this single Olympiad. Athletes from Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia competed under the Rhodesia name while representing the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Athletes from East Germany and West Germany would compete as the United Team of Germany from 1956 to 1964. Athletes from the People's Republic of China last competed at the 1952 Summer Games but had since withdrawn from the Olympic movement due to a dispute with the Republic of China over the right to represent China.^[12] The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that each country contributed.

• also made its first Olympic appearance, but its lone athlete (Wim Esajas) withdrew from competition due to a scheduling error.^[13]

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

IOC Letter Code	Country	Athletes
AFG		12
BWI		13
ARG		92
AUS		189
AUT		103
BAH		17
BEL		108
BER		9
BRA		71
GUY		5
BUL		98
BIR		10
CAN		85
CEY		5
CHI		9
COL		16
CUB		12
TCH		116
DEN		100
ETH		10
FIJ		2
FIN		117
ROC		27
FRA		238
EUA		294
GHA		13
GBR		253
GRE		48
HAI		1
HKG		4
HUN		180
ISL		9
IND		45
INA		22
IRI		23
IRQ		21
IRL		49
ISR		23
ITA		280
JPN		162
KEN		27
KOR		35
LIB		19
LBR		4
LIE		5
LUX		52
MAL		9
MLT		10
MEX		69
MON		11
MAR		47
NED		110
AHO		5
NZL		37
NGR		12
NOR		40
PAK		44
PAN		6
PER		31
PHI		40
POL		185
POR		65
PUR		27
RHO		14
ROU		98
SMR		9
SIN		5
RSA		55
URS		283
ESP		144
SUD		10
SWE		134
SUI		149
THA		20
TUN		42
TUR		49
UGA		10
UAR		74
USA		292
URU		34
VEN		36
VIE		3
YUG		116
Total	5,347

Sports

The 1960 Summer Olympics featured 17 different sports encompassing 23 disciplines, and medals were awarded in 150 events. In the list below, the number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.

• Aquatics
  • • • • • • • • • • • • Road (2)
  • Track (4)
    • Dressage (1)
  • Eventing (2)
  • Jumping (2)
    • • • • • • • • • • Freestyle (8)
  • Greco-Roman (8)

Calendar

All dates are in Central European Time (UTC+1)

See also: Chronological summary of the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Medal count

See main article: 1960 Summer Olympics medal table. These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1960 Games:^[14]

See also

• Universiades celebrated in Italy
  • 1959 Summer Universiade – Turin
  • 1966 Winter Universiade – Sestriere
  • 1970 Summer Universiade – Turin
  • 1975 Winter Universiade – Livigno
  • 1975 Summer Universiade – Rome
  • 1985 Winter Universiade – Belluno
  • 1997 Summer Universiade – Sicily
  • 2003 Winter Universiade – Tarvisio
  • 2007 Winter Universiade – Turin
  • 2013 Winter Universiade – Trentino
  • 2019 Summer Universiade – Naples
  • 2025 Winter Universiade – Turin
• Deaflympics celebrated in Italy
  • 1957 Summer Deaflympics – Milan
  • 2001 Summer Deaflympics – Rome
  • 2019 Winter Deaflympics – Province of Sondrio

External links

• • Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World, David Maraniss, New York, NY, U.S.: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
• The program of the 1960 Rome Olympics
• LIFE 12 Sep 1960

Notes and References

1. Factsheet - Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad . live . International Olympic Committee . 9 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160814215458/https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Opening_ceremony_of_the_Games_of_the_Olympiad.pdf . 14 August 2016 . 22 December 2018.
2. Web site: IOC VOTE HISTORY . 11 June 2008 . 25 May 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080525070757/http://www.aldaver.com/votes.html . dead .
3. News: Toronto has made 5 attempts to host the Olympics. Could the sixth be the winner? . 24 July 2015 . thestar.com. Edwards . Peter .
4. Web site: Past Olympic host city election results . . 17 March 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110124022022/http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/past.html . 24 January 2011 . live.
5. Web site: Profiling Jeff Farrell, 1968 ISHOF Honor Swimmer . Joseph . Coplan . . July 19, 2000 . March 23, 2011.
6. News: Ramon 'Buddy' Carr (1926-2016): TPD officer coached gold-medalist boxer . March 11, 2016 . Mark . Zaborney . Toledo Blade.
7. News: Great Olympic Moments: UCLA friends Rafer Johnson and Yang Chuan-kwang make decathlon history in 1960 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120726182940/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/olympicsvideo/great-olympic-moments/9346841/Rafer-Johnson-beats-Yang-Chuan-kwang-Olympic-decathlon-1960.html . dead . July 26, 2012 . Jon . Henderson . June 26, 2012 . . June 21, 2018.
8. Book: Wallechinsky, David . The complete book of the Winter Olympics : 2014 edition . 978-1-937530-70-9 . 870338894.
9. https://olympics.com/ioc/1967-creation-of-the-ioc-medical-commission 1967: Creation of the IOC Medical Commission
10. Book: Maraniss, David . David Maraniss . . . 2008 . New York City, NY . 1st . 138 . 978-1-4165-3407-5.
11. Web site: OLYMPICS AND TELEVISION - The Museum of Broadcast Communications . Museum.tv . March 23, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090727104517/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/O/htmlO/olympicsand/olympicsand.htm . July 27, 2009 . dead.
12. Web site: China and the Olympic Movement. Xiao. Li. China Internet Information Center. August 4, 2011.
13. Book: Official Olympic Reports . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060622162855/http://www.la84foundation.org/5va/reports_frmst.htm . 2006-06-22.
14. News: Byron, Lee . Cox, Amanda . Ericson, Matthew . A Map of Olympic Medals . February 26, 2012 . The New York Times . August 4, 2008.