1960 Summer Olympics

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Games of the XVII Olympiad

Host city	Rome, Italy
Nations participating	83
Athletes participating	5,348 (4,738 men, 610 women)
Events	150 in 17 sports
Opening ceremony	August 25, 1960
Closing ceremony	September 11, 1960
Officially opened by	Giovanni Gronchi
Athlete's Oath	Adolfo Consolini
Olympic Torch	Giancarlo Peris
Stadium	Stadio Olimpico

The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, were held in 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had been awarded the organization of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but, after the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, had to decline and pass the honours to London. In 1955, the city beat out Lausanne, Detroit, Budapest, Brussels, Mexico City and Tokyo for the rights to the Games.

1 Highlights
2 Venues
3 Medals awarded
4 Participating nations
5 Medal count
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Highlights

Jeff Farrell, USA, won 2 gold medals in Swimming after undergoing an emergency appendectomy 6 days before the Olympic Trials
Representatives of the USSR won 15 of 16 possible medals in women's gymnastics
Danish sailer Paul Elvstrøm won his fourth straight gold medal in the Finn class, the first athlete to achieve this feat in an individual event. The only other two to have emulated his performance are Al Oerter and Carl Lewis.
Finnish Vilho Ylönen, a field shooter, shot a bullseye to a wrong target and was dropped from the second place to fourth.
The future Constantine II, King of Greece, won his country a gold in sailing Dragon Class.
Fencer Aladar Gerevich of Hungary won his sixth consecutive gold medal in the team sabre event (1932-1936, 1948-1960).
Wilma Rudolph, a former polio patient, won three gold medals in sprint events on the track.
Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the marathon bare-footed to become the first black African Olympic champion although he specialized in the 25km race.
Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, won boxing's light-heavyweight gold medal.
The Japanese men's gymnastics team won the first of five successive golds, the last of which was won in 1976, in Montreal.
South Africa appeared in the Olympic arena for the last time under the apartheid regime. They would not be allowed to return until 1992, after the abandonment of apartheid and during the transition to majority rule.
Swedish canoer Gert Fredriksson won his sixth Olympic title.
Danish cyclist Knud Enemark collapsed during his race under the influence of amphetamines and later died in the hospital. It was the second time an athlete died in competition at the Olympics, after the death of Portuguese marathon runner Francisco Lazaro at the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Australian athlete Herb Elliott won the men's 1500 meters in one of the most dominating performances in Olympic history.
American athlete Rafer Johnson defeated his rival and friend C.K. Yang in one of the greatest decathlon events in Olympic history.
American vice-presidential candidate Peter Camejo competed in yachting for Venezuela.
Armin Hary won the 100m in a world record time of 10.2 seconds.

[edit] Venues

Olympic Stadium² (Stadio Olimpico) - opening/closing ceremonies, athletics, equestrian events
Flaminio Stadium¹ (Stadio Flaminio) - football/soccer finals
Swimming Stadium¹ - swimming, diving, water polo
Sports Palace¹ (Palazzo dello sport) - basketball, boxing
Olympic Velodrome¹ - cycling, hockey
Small Sports Palace¹ (Palazzetto dello Sport) - basketball, weightlifting
Marble Stadium² (Stadio dei Marmi) - hockey preliminaries
Baths of Caracalla - gymnastics
Basilica of Maxentius - wrestling
Palazzo dei Congressi - fencing
Umberto I Shooting Range¹ - shooting
Roses Swimming Pool¹ (Piscina delle Rose) - water polo
Lake Albano, Castelgandolfo - rowing, canoeing
Piazza di Siena, Villa Borghese gardens - equestrian events
Pratoni del Vivaro, Rocca di Papa - equestrian events
Bay 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
Fuorigrotta Stadium, Naples - football/soccer preliminaries

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

[edit] Medals awarded

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Hockey
Modern pentathlon
Rowing
Sailing
Shooting
Swimming
Water polo
Weightlifting
Wrestling

[edit] Participating nations

Participants

A total of 84 nations competed at the Rome Games. Morocco, San Marino, Sudan, Suriname, and Tunisia competed at the Olympic Games for the first time. Athletes from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago would represent the new West Indies Federation, but this nation would only exist for this single Olympiad. Athletes from East Germany and West Germany would compete as the United Team of Germany from 1956-1964.

[edit] Medal count

Main article: 1960 Summer Olympics medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games:

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	43	29	31	103
2	United States	34	21	16	71
3	Italy (host nation)	13	10	13	36
4	United Team of Germany	12	19	11	42
5	Australia	8	8	6	22
6	Turkey	7	2	0	9
7	Hungary	6	8	7	21
8	Japan	4	7	7	18
9	Poland	4	6	11	21
10	Czechoslovakia	3	2	3	8

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

IOC Site on 1960 Summer Olympics

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