The1960 Summer Olympics (Italian:Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as theGames of the XVII Olympiad (Italian:Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known asRome 1960 (Italian:Roma 1960), were an internationalmulti-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 inRome, Italy. Rome had previously been awarded the administration of the1908 Summer Olympics. However, following the eruption ofMount Vesuviusin 1906, the city had no choice but to decline and pass the honour toLondon. The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals at the 1960 Games.
The1st Paralympic Games were held in Rome in conjunction with the 1960 Summer Olympics, marking the first time such events coincided.
On 15 June 1955, at the 50thIOC Session inParis,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 proceeding1964 and1968 Summer Olympics respectively.[2]
Toronto was initially interested in the bidding, but was automatically removed from consideration when it failed to return the IOC's mandatory questionnaire by the deadline. The questionnaire may have been mislaid in the confusion following the death of the Toronto bid's chief organiser,Robert Hood Saunders, in a plane crash weeks before the deadline.[3] This was the first of five unsuccessful attempts by Toronto to secure the Summer Olympics, the most recent being a bid for the2008 Games.[4]
GermanArmin Hary won the100 metres in an Olympic record time of 10.2 seconds. AmericanDave Sime also ran 10.2 s in the final, but was credited with silver after a controversial video review.
Wilma Rudolph, a formerpolio 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 emergencyappendectomy six days before the Olympic Trials.[6]
Rafer Johnson defeated his rival, fellowU.C.L.A. Bruin and friendC.K. Yang in one of the greatest Decathlon events in Olympic history.[8]
Lance Larson of the United States wascontroversially denied a 100 metres freestyle swimming gold, despite showing the best time.
16-years-old phenomChris von Saltza won four medals in women's swimming, three of them gold.
The future Constantine II, last King ofGreece (abdicated and ended hybrid monarchy, 1973) won his country a gold in sailing: dragon class.
ThePakistani Men'sField Hockey team broke a run ofIndian team victories since 1928, defeating India in the final and winning Pakistan's first Olympic gold medal.
WrestlersShelby Wilson, andDoug Blubaugh, who wrestled together growing up, won gold medals in their respective weight classes.
DanishcyclistKnud Jensen collapsed during the 100km team race because ofheat stroke and later died in the hospital. It was suspected that he had been under the influence ofRoniacol, a blood circulation stimulant.[9] The International Olympic Committee stated on its website that "drugs were implicated, although that was never proven."[10] It was the second time (and as of 2024, the most recent) an athlete died in competition at the Olympics, after the death ofPortuguese marathon runnerFrancisco Lázaro at the1912 Summer Olympics.[11]
South Africa appeared in the Olympic arena for the last time under itsapartheid regime. It would not be allowed to return until 1992, by whenapartheid 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.
CBS paidUS$394,000 (equivalent to $3.19 million in 2024) for the exclusive right to broadcast the Games in theUnited States. This was the first Summer Olympic games to be telecast inNorth America. In addition to CBS in the United States, the Olympics were telecast for the first time inCanada (onCBC Television) and inMexico (through the networks ofTelesistema 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 atIdlewild Airport inNew 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.[12]
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.
