1960 Summer Olympics
From WikiRun
| 1960 Summer Olympics | |
| Olympiad | XVII |
|---|---|
| Host City | Rome, Italy |
| # Nations | 84 |
| Events | 150 |
| Sports | 17 |
| Males | 4,738 |
| Females | 610 |
| Total Athletes | 5,348 |
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated 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. On June 15, 1955, at the 50th IOC Session in Paris, France, the city beat out Lausanne, Detroit, Budapest, Brussels, Mexico City and Tokyo for the rights to the Games.
CBS paid $394,000 for the right to broadcast the Games in the United States.[1]
Contents |
Highlights
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Lázaro 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.
- Armin Hary won the 100 m in a world record time of 10.2 seconds.
Medal summary
At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, 34 events in athletics were contested, 24 by men and 10 by women. There were a total number of 1016 participating athletes from 73 countries.[2] [3]
Men's events
Women's events
Medal table
| Place | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States | 12 | 8 | 6 | 26 |
| 2 |  Soviet Union | 11 | 5 | 5 | 21 |
| 3 |  United Team of Germany | 2 | 8 | 3 | 13 |
| 4 |  Poland | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 |  New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 |  Great Britain | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 |  Australia | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 |  Italy | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 |  Romania | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 |  Ethiopia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 |  Hungary | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 12 |  France | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 |  Belgium | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Czechoslovakia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Morocco | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Republic of China | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Sweden | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 18 |  British West Indies | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 19 |  Finland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 South Africa | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
References
- ↑ http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/O/htmlO/olympicsand/olympicsand.htm
- ↑ http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/results/search_r_uk.asp International Olympic Committee results database
- ↑ http://www.athletics.com.au/history/international/int24.htm Athletics Australia]
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