1960 Summer Olympics

The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially called the Games of the XVII Olympiad and commonly known as Rome 1960, were a big international multi-sport event. They took place from August 25 to September 11, 1960, in Rome, Italy. This was a special moment for Rome because it had been chosen to host the 1908 Summer Olympics before, but had to give up that honor after Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1906. Instead, London hosted those games.

During the 1960 Olympics, the Soviet Union won the most gold medals and the most medals overall. This showed their strong performance in many sports.

For the first time, the 1st Paralympic Games were held together with the Summer Olympics in Rome. This was important because it meant that athletes with disabilities could also compete in a big, exciting event alongside the main Olympic games.

Host city selection

On 15 June 1955, during a meeting in Paris, France, Rome was chosen to host the 1960 Summer Olympics. Rome won against other cities like Brussels, Mexico City, Tokyo, Detroit, Budapest, and Lausanne. Later, Tokyo hosted the 1964 Games, and Mexico City hosted the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Toronto had wanted to bid too, but they missed a required form by the deadline. This happened after their main organizer, Robert Hood Saunders, passed away in a plane crash just before the deadline. This was one of several times Toronto tried but didn’t get to host the Summer Olympics, with their most recent try being for the 2008 Games.

Highlights

• Swedish sprint canoeist Gert Fredriksson won his sixth Olympic title.
• Hungarian fencer Aladár Gerevich won his sixth straight gold medal in the team sabre event.
• The Japanese men's gymnastics team won their first of five straight gold medals.
• The United States men's basketball team, with players like Walt Bellamy, Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry West, won its fifth straight Olympic gold medal.
• Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm won his fourth straight gold medal in the Finn class. Others who have matched this feat in individual events include Al Oerter, Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps, Kaori Icho, Mijaín López, and Ray Ewry if the 1906 Intercalated Games are counted.
• German Armin Hary won the 100 metres in an Olympic record time of 10.2 seconds.
• Wilma Rudolph, who had polio as a child, won three gold medals in sprint events and was called "the fastest woman in the world".
• Jeff Farrell won two gold medals in swimming, just six days after having an emergency appendectomy.

• Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the marathon barefooted, becoming the first African and Ethiopian Olympic champion.
• 18-year-old Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, won the light-heavyweight boxing gold medal. His coach was Ramon "Buddy" Carr.
• Herb Elliott of Australia won the men's 1500 meters in one of the most dominating performances in Olympic history.
• Rafer Johnson defeated his friend and rival C.K. Yang in one of the greatest Decathlon events ever.
• Lance Larson of the United States was controversially denied a gold medal in the 100 metres freestyle swimming, even though he had the best time.
• 16-year-old Chris von Saltza won four medals in women's swimming, three of them gold.
• The future Constantine II, the last King of Greece, won a gold medal in sailing.
• The Pakistani Men's Field Hockey team broke India's long winning streak and won Pakistan's first Olympic gold medal.
• Wrestlers Shelby Wilson and Doug Blubaugh, who grew up wrestling together, both won gold medals in their weight classes.

Historical landmarks

• South Africa appeared in the Olympics for the last time under its old government rules. It would not return until 1992.
• Singapore competed for the first time under its own flag. Tan Howe Liang won silver in Weightlifting, the first and only Olympic medal for Singapore until 2008.

Non-medal winners

• Finnish Vilho Ylönen, a field shooter, accidentally shot at the wrong target and dropped from second to fourth place.
• Peter Camejo, who later ran for vice-president of the United States for the Green Party, competed in yachting for Venezuela.
• The future Queen Sofía of Spain competed for Greece in sailing events.

Broadcasting

CBS paid a lot of money, US$394,000 (which is like $3.19 million today), to show the 1960 Summer Olympics in the United States. This was the first time the Olympics were shown on TV in North America. Besides the United States, people in Canada could watch on CBC Television, and people in Mexico could see it on Telesistema Mexicano.

Because satellites for TV were not ready yet, special tapes were made in Rome. These tapes were sent to Paris, then put on fast planes to New York City. From there, they were quickly shown on TV in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Because of this, many events were shown the same day they happened.

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics

The 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome were held at many different places. Some were brand new buildings made just for the games, while others were older places that were changed to fit the Olympic events.

Here are the main places where the games took place:

• Olympic Stadium² (Stadio Olimpico) – for the opening and closing ceremonies, plus running and horse events
• Flaminio Stadium¹ (Stadio Flaminio) – for the final football matches
• Swimming Stadium¹ – for swimming, diving, water polo, and part of the modern pentathlon
• Sports Palace¹ (Palazzo dello sport) – for basketball and boxing
• Olympic Velodrome¹ – for cycling and field hockey
• Small Sports Palace¹ (Palazzetto dello Sport) – for basketball and weightlifting
• Marble Stadium² (Stadio dei Marmi) – for early field hockey games
• Baths of Caracalla – for gymnastics
• Basilica of Maxentius – for wrestling
• Palazzo dei Congressi – for fencing
• Umberto I Shooting Range¹ – for shooting and part of the modern pentathlon
• Roses Swimming Pool¹ (Piscina delle Rose) – for water polo
• Lake Albano, Castelgandolfo – for rowing and canoeing
• Piazza di Siena, Villa Borghese gardens – for horse events
• Pratoni del Vivaro, Rocca di Papa – for more horse events
• Gulf of Naples, Naples – for sailing
• Communal Stadium, Florence – for early football games
• Communal Stadium, Grosseto – for early football games
• Communal Stadium, L'Aquila – for early football games
• Ardenza Stadium, Livorno – for early football games
• Adriatico Stadium, Pescara – for early football games
• Saint Paul's Stadium, Naples – for early football games
• Campo Tre Fontane – for early field hockey games
• Acqua Santa Golf Club Course – for part of the modern pentathlon
• Arch of Constantine – for the end of the marathon race
• Cesano Infantry School Range – for shooting
• Lazio Pigeon Shooting Stand – for shooting
• Passo Corese – for part of the modern pentathlon
• Grande Raccordo Anulare – for the marathon race
• Via Appian Antica – for the marathon race
• Via Cassia – for cycling races
• Via Flaminia – for cycling races
• Via Cristoforo Colombo – for the marathon and cycling races
• Via di Grottarossa – for cycling races

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 took part in the Rome Games. Athletes from Morocco, San Marino, Sudan, and Tunisia joined the Olympics for the very first time. Athletes from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago competed together as the new British West Indies Federation, called "Antilles", but this group only competed in these Games. Athletes from Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia competed under the name Rhodesia for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Athletes from East Germany and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany from 1956 to 1964. Athletes from the People's Republic of China last joined the Olympics at the 1952 Summer Games but did not join again because of a disagreement with the Republic of China about who should represent China. The number in parentheses shows how many athletes each country sent.

• Suriname also joined the Olympics for the first time, but its only athlete, Wim Esajas, could not compete because of a timing mistake.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

Sports

The 1960 Summer Olympics included 17 different sports with 23 categories, and medals were given out in 150 events. Below is a list of the sports and how many events were in each category.

• Aquatics
  • Diving (4)
  • Swimming (15)
  • Water polo (1)
• Athletics (34)
• Basketball (1)
• Boxing (10)
• Canoeing (7)
• Cycling
  • Road (2)
  • Track (4)
• Equestrian
  • Dressage (1)
  • Eventing (2)
  • Jumping (2)
• Fencing (8)
• Field hockey (1)
• Football (1)
• Gymnastics (14)
• Modern pentathlon (2)
• Rowing (7)
• Sailing (5)
• Shooting (6)
• Weightlifting (7)
• Wrestling
  • 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

Here are the top ten countries that won medals at the 1960 Olympics. The games took place in Rome, Italy, from August 25 to September 11, 1960.