1960 Summer Olympics

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Games of the XVII. Olympics
Venue: Rome ( Italy )
Stadion: Olympic Stadium
Opening ceremony: August 25, 1960
Closing ceremony: September 11, 1960
Opened by: Giovanni Gronchi (President)
Olympic oath : Adolfo Consolini (athlete)
Disciplines: 23 (17 sports)
Competitions: 150
Countries: 83
Athletes: 5352, including 611 women
← Melbourne 1956
Tokyo 1964 →
Medal table
space country G S. B. Ges.
1 Soviet Union 1955Soviet Union Soviet Union 43 29 31 103
2 United StatesUnited States United States 34 21st 16 71
3 ItalyItaly Italy 13 10 13 36
4th Germany team all GermanAll-German team Germany 12 19th 11 42
5 AustraliaAustralia Australia 8th 8th 6th 22nd
6th TurkeyTurkey Turkey 7th 2 - 9
7th Hungary 1957Hungary Hungary 6th 8th 7th 21st
8th Japan 1870Japan Japan 4th 7th 7th 18th
9 Poland 1944Poland Poland 4th 6th 11 21st
10 CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Czechoslovakia 3 2 3 8th
... ... ... ... ... ...
18th AustriaAustria Austria 1 1 - 2
24 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland - 3 3 6th
Complete medal table

The 1960 Summer Olympics (officially called the XVII Olympiad Games ) took place in Rome from August 25 to September 11, 1960 . The experience that the Italian organizers had gathered four years earlier when staging the Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo flowed into the organization . The games were characterized by the contrast between old and new. Except in Athens in 1896 , 1906 and 2004 , ancient sports facilities have never been so closely connected with modern sports architecture as in these games. The Caracalla thermal baths and the ruins of the Maxentius basilica faced the new buildings erected by Pier Luigi Nervi , with the Olympic Stadium being equipped with antique elements as a modern stadium.

The Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm was the first modern athlete to win his fourth gold medal in an individual competition in four consecutive games, unless Ray Ewry's success in the interludes in 1906 is disregarded. The Hungarian saber fencer Aladár Gerevich was successful even longer, winning his sixth gold medal with the team at his sixth Olympic Games. With the Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila , a black African won Olympic gold for the first time .

Choice of venue

Rome was already scheduled to host the 1908 Olympic Games. The organizing committee, however, remained completely inactive and even disbanded in January 1906. After the eruption of Vesuvius on April 7, 1906 at the latest , the games in Rome would no longer have been financially feasible, since all available funds were used to rebuild the eastern suburbs of Naples. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) then awarded the 1908 Games to London . Rome then competed unsuccessfully for the 1924, 1936, 1940 and 1944 games.

The decision for Rome was made at the IOC meeting on June 16, 1955 in Paris . A total of seventeen cities stood for election, but only seven of them received votes. The two cities that were to be the next hosts after Rome fell out of the first round in 1955. The closest competitor Lausanne, the headquarters of the IOC, applied for the sixth and so far last time in 1960 (as of 2015).

Results of the ballots:

place country Round 1 round 2 Round 3
Rome ItalyItaly Italy 15th 26th 35
Lausanne SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 14th 21st 24
Detroit United StatesUnited States United States 6th 11 -
Budapest Hungary 1957Hungary Hungary 8th 1 -
Brussels BelgiumBelgium Belgium 6th - -
Mexico city Mexico 1934Mexico Mexico 6th - -
Tokyo Japan 1870Japan Japan 4th - -
Athens Kingdom of GreeceKingdom of Greece Greece 0 - -
Buenos Aires ArgentinaArgentina Argentina 0 - -
Chicago United StatesUnited States United States 0 - -
los Angeles United StatesUnited States United States 0 - -
Minneapolis United StatesUnited States United States 0 - -
new York United StatesUnited States United States 0 - -
Philadelphia United StatesUnited States United States 0 - -
Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1889Brazil Brazil 0 - -
San Francisco United StatesUnited States United States 0 - -

organization

The National Olympic Committee of Italy, the Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (CONI), has been headed since 1946 by Giulio Onesti , the driving force behind the Olympic applications for Cortina in 1956 and Rome in 1960. After the successful elections in 1955, a commission was set up to which the two Italians IOC members Paolo di Revel and Giorgio de Stefani as well as Mario Saini from CONI were members. This commission clarified in particular that the responsibility for the construction of sports facilities lay with the Ministry of Public Works. The actual organizers' committee was founded in November 1958. The president was then Defense Minister Giulio Andreotti . The organizer's executive committee was headed by Giulio Onesti, his deputy was Bruno Zauli . Marcello Garroni was Secretary General and Mario Saini Technical Director.

Exact records of total expenditure and income are not available. Most of the costs were borne by the Italian state, especially infrastructure costs. The largest single item on the cost side was the expansion of Fiumicino Airport . Total revenues are estimated at $ 7.2 million, of which television rights accounted for $ 394,000. The largest revenue item was viewer income with 2.6 billion lire, equivalent to 4.2 million US dollars. In addition, income was generated from special postage stamps and special coins . For two years, the state funds from the football toto were largely channeled into the construction of sports facilities.

Torch relay

The 1960 Olympic torch

The Olympic torch was lit at 9:30 a.m. in Olympia on August 12th . The first torch-bearer was the Greek decathlete Penaghoitis Epitropoulos, who should take 23rd place at the games in Rome. By the next day, the flame had been carried 330 kilometers via Pyrgos , Patras , Corinth , Megara , Elefsina and Athens to Piraeus . There the flame was brought onto the tall ship Amerigo Vespucci from a rowing boat on August 13 at 11 p.m. After approximately 900 kilometers of sea voyage, the flame arrived in Syracuse on August 18 at 9:00 p.m. From there it was carried to Messina via Catania . The crossing over the Strait of Messina took place in a rowboat. Then the run began in Reggio Calabria via Cosenza , Matera , Avellino , Salerno , Naples and Caserta to Rome. A total of 1532.8 kilometers were run in Italy; on August 24th the flame reached Rome. 330 runners took part in the torch relay in Greece and 1199 runners in Italy. On August 25, athlete Giancarlo Peris, an eighteen-year-old student with Greek ancestors, lit the fire in the Olympic Stadium.

The torch was designed by Amedeo Maiuri after an Etruscan torch found in Tarquinia . With a length of 40 centimeters, the torch weighed 580 grams.

Competition venues

The Foro Italico and the Tiber in 2011
Stadio dei Marmi in 1960

The sports facilities were spread over two main locations. The Foro Italico is located in the north of the city between Monte Mario and the Tiber . Here you will find the Olympic Stadium (Stadio Olimpico), the swimming stadium (Stadio del Nuoto) and the marble stadium (Stadio dei Marmi). The Olympic Stadium was the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics competitions. Part of the hockey tournament took place in the marble stadium. On the other side of the Tiber is the Palazzetto dello Sport , where the weightlifting competitions and the basketball tournament were held. In the same district is the Stadio Flaminio , where part of the football tournament took place.

In the south of the city lies the EUR district , which was designed for the 1942 Universal Exhibition (Esposizione Universale di Roma). The Palazzo dello Sport there was the venue for the boxing tournament. The fencers competed in the Congress Palace ( Palazzo dei Congressi ). In addition, the cycling stadium ( Velodromo ) was built here for the track cycling competitions. Parts of the water polo tournament were held in the Piscina delle Rose swimming pool and other hockey games were held on sports fields in EUR.

The architect Pier Luigi Nervi , together with Annibale Vitellozzi, was responsible for the overall concept and design of the Foro Italico with the expansion of the Olympic Stadium. Nervi also built the Palazzo dello Sport and the Palazetto dello Sport. The Velodromo was built according to plans by the German architect Herbert Schürmann .

Olympic competitions were also held in other parts of Rome, such as the Roman Forum . The wrestling competitions were held there in the Maxentius Basilica. The Caracalla thermal baths were prepared for gymnastics competitions and provided with a canvas roof to protect them from the sun. The marathon started at Campidoglio ( Capitol ). Via Viale Cristoforo Colombo , the route led south to Citinia and from there to Via Appia Antica , on which the last few kilometers into town were run. The goal was at the Arch of Constantine .

Outside of Rome in the Alban Lake ( Lake Albano ) at Castel Gandolfo , the regatta for rowers and canoeists was established. The Olympic sailing competitions were held off Naples . Naples was also one of the host cities for the Olympic football tournament, with matches being played in Florence , Grosseto , L'Aquila , Livorno and Pescara . The Stadio San Paolo in Naples was the largest sports facility with a specified capacity of 90,000 spectators, the Olympic Stadium in Rome held 80,000.

Accommodations

The Olympic Village ( Villagio Olimpico ) for the participants of the Olympic Games and for the participants of the Summer Paralympics 1960 was built on the Campo Parioli. The Campo Parioli is located in the Parioli district opposite the Foro Italico on the other side of the Tiber. The Palazzetto dello Sport and the Stadio Flaminio are in the immediate vicinity of the Olympic Village . The expansion of the Olympic village together with the necessary infrastructure cost around 13.5 billion lire. After the Paralympics, the residential complexes were used as apartments for Italian state officials.

Attendees

Participating nations in Rome in 1960. The nations that have already participated in the Olympic Games are marked in green, those that took part for the first time in 1960 are in blue
Number of athletes

A total of athletes from 83 countries took part in the Olympic Games. The Chile team received special financial support from the organizers after a severe earthquake in southern Chile in May left a million people homeless. For the first time Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia as well as San Marino were there. Ghana had already participated as the Gold Coast before independence in 1952.

In 1958 Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago had merged. They ran together as the West Indian Federation . The team consisted of eight Jamaicans and six athletes from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados only sent athletes to the Olympic Games in 1968 for the first time. Sometimes the sprinter James Wedderburn is also assigned to Barbados.

Also in 1958, Egypt and Syria had merged to form the United Arab Republic and also competed together under this name.

Europe (3,473 athletes from 31 nations)
America (827 athletes from 19 nations)
Asia (506 athletes from 18 nations)
Africa (318 athletes from 12 nations)
Oceania (228 athletes from 3 nations)
(Number of athletes) * Participation in summer games for the first time

Four cases turned out to be particularly problematic in advance.

Problem case in Germany

Postage stamp from the Deutsche Bundespost (1960) : Olympic year 1960
Postage stamp from the Post Office of the GDR (1960): 1960 Summer Olympics

As in 1956, the FRG and the GDR competed with a common team . The flag was a new problem after the GDR incorporated hammer and compasses into the flag as an emblem in 1959. The Olympic team came up as a compromise with the German flag and had the Olympic rings in white as an emblem in the red field. The government of the FRG protested against this proposal, but ultimately the compromise formula prevailed under pressure from the IOC. In most sports, qualification competitions took place between the athletes from the GDR and the FRG. In the end, there were 173 athletes from the FRG and 119 from the GDR in the joint team. Compared to Melbourne, the team strength had more than doubled. While only athletes who had a chance of a final fight were posted for Melbourne, all athletes who were able to prevail in the domestic German competitions were sent to Rome. Joint teams in team sports were not reported. There were exceptions to this rule in sports such as gymnastics, where individual performances are added to the team result. The canoe relay, consisting of two BRD canoeists and two GDR canoeists, even won Olympic gold; both women's swimming teams achieved medals as mixed teams. Gerhard Stöck (FRG) acted as head of the German team's delegation , while Manfred Ewald (GDR) was his deputy .

Problem case China

For the IOC, the question of whether the People's Republic of China or Taiwan, or both or even both, were allowed to compete in a joint team turned out to be particularly tricky and tedious. After the People's Republic of China wanted to take part in the Helsinki Games in 1952 - only one swimmer competed due to visa problems - Taiwan withdrew its athletes. In 1956 in Melbourne, the People's Republic had asked for a start that Taiwan had to be excluded from the Olympic Games, which the IOC had rejected. 21 athletes from Taiwan competed in Melbourne. In the run-up to the Rome Games, the conflict had eased somewhat after the People's Republic of China left the IOC and all its individual associations on August 25, 1958. Nevertheless, there was a dispute in the run-up to the Games in Rome: Should Taiwan be allowed to compete under the name of the Republic of China or not. IOC President Avery Brundage decided early on that the name China should only be mentioned with the addition of Taiwan, as the Republic of China does not represent all of China.

Problem case Korea

In the IOC, the representatives of Bulgaria and the Soviet Union tried to enforce the admission of North Korea, which encountered bitter resistance from South Korea. The compromise proposal for a joint team was also categorically rejected by South Korea, as intra-Korean sports traffic was not possible due to the closed border. The IOC finally postponed the question of the admission of North Korea, North Korea did not take part in the Games in Rome.

The problem of apartheid

In 1955, the amateur boxing association AIBA was the first to address the fact that in some countries sporting contact between black and white athletes was prohibited. Avery Brundage had called this incompatible with the Olympic spirit. The subject was discussed in detail at the IOC in 1959, when the representative of South Africa declared that his country would not prevent black athletes from traveling to the Olympic Games. 55 athletes from South Africa took part in the Olympic Games in Rome, all of them white athletes. Before the Summer Olympics in 1964, South Africa was excluded from the Olympic movement and only returned after the end of apartheid in 1992.

Medals and Awards

Award certificate of the gold medal to Bernd Cullmann

In 1957, at the 54th session, the IOC rejected the request to honor the winners with an olive wreath. Nevertheless, there was an innovation at the award ceremonies: the medals were no longer presented in a box, but were attached to a bronze chain that was placed around the neck of the athletes. The chain was made of stylized olive leaves. In fake team competitions, the winning team only received one medal, but each team member received the Olympic diploma. Decisions such as the team competition of the military rider or the modern pentathlon, which resulted from the addition of the individual performances without having to perform beyond the individual competition, were regarded as fake team competitions.

Gold medal from the 1960 Olympic Games

The medals were made by the Aristici Florentini workshop in Florence . They were 68 mm in diameter, 3.6 mm thick and weighed 102 grams. The front showed a victorious athlete and the Italian name of the sport as an inscription, the reverse showed the goddess of victory and the inscription Giochi Olimpici Roma 1960 (Olympic Games Rome 1960). The winning diploma for the six best in each sport showed the logo of the games, designed by Armando Testa , a she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. Each diploma contained the athlete's name, the athlete's NOK, and placement and discipline.

Competition program

As agreed with the Roman Catholic Church , the organizing committee set the schedule so that the first two Sundays were free of events. On the second Sunday, however, there was a play-off in field hockey, as the Netherlands and New Zealand tied on points after the preliminary round. On the third Sunday the Prize of Nations and the closing ceremony were held. 150 competitions (113 for men, 29 for women and 8 open competitions) in 17 sports / 23 disciplines were held. That is one less competition, but the same number of sports / disciplines as in Melbourne 1956 or Stockholm . The changes are detailed below:

  • When Fencing Foil Team has been added for women.
  • In the canoe , the program was expanded to include a K1-4 × 500 m relay for men and K2 500 m for women - on the other hand, the men's classes C1 10,000 m, C2 10,000 m, K1 10,000 m and K2 10,000 m were omitted.
  • In athletics , the program for women was expanded by the 800 m.
  • In road cycling , the team time trial replaced a team race for men.
  • There was no team ranking in the equestrian dressage discipline .
  • When shooting , the small-bore rifle Laufender Hirsch 100 m single and double shot was omitted.
  • In swimming , the program for men and women has been expanded to include the 4 × 100 m individual relay.
  • In sailing , the open class Flying Dutchman replaced the open boat class Sharpie.
  • In gymnastics , there was no group gymnastics for women - a predecessor of rhythmic sports gymnastics.

Olympic sports / disciplines

Number of competitions in brackets

Time schedule

Time schedule
discipline Thursday
25.		 Fr.
26.		 Sat.
27.		 Sun.
28.		 Mon.
29.		 Tuesday
30		 Wed.
31.		 Thu.
1.		 Fri.
2.		 Sat.
3.		 Sun.
4.		 Mon.
5.		 Tuesday
6th		 Wed.
7.		 Thursday
8		 Fri.
9.		 Sat
10.		 Sun
11.		 Decision-
disk-
applications		 spectator
August September
Olympic rings without rims.svg Opening ceremony 57,382
Basketball pictogram.svg basketball 1 1 76,310
Boxing pictogram.svg Boxing 10 10 83,529
Fencing pictogram.svg fencing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8th 20,939
Football pictogram.svg Soccer 1 1 252,759
Weightlifting pictogram.svg Weightlifting 2 2 2 1 7th 8.008
Field hockey pictogram.svg hockey 1 1 23,604
Canoeing (flatwater) pictogram.svg canoe 7th 7th 5,366
Athletics pictogram.svg athletics 2 4th 7th 3 3 4th 4th 6th 1 34 448,338
Modern pentathlon pictogram.svg Modern pentathlon 2 2 3,765
Cycling Cycling (track) pictogram.svg train 1 1 2 4th 31,022
Cycling (road) pictogram.svg Street 1 1 2
Equestrian sport Equestrian Dressage pictogram.svg dressage 1 1 64,465 *
Equestrian Jumping pictogram.svg Leap 1 1 2
Equestrian Eventing pictogram.svg versatility 2 2
Wrestling Wrestling Freestyle pictogram.svg Freestyle 8th 8th 26,729
Wrestling pictogram.svg Greco-Roman 8th 8th
Rowing pictogram.svg rowing 7th 7th 18,434
Shooting pictogram.svg shoot 1 1 1 2 1 6th 3,718
Swimming Swimming pictogram.svg swim 2 1 2 2 3 2 3 15th 181,432
Water polo pictogram.svg Water polo 1 1
Diving pictogram.svg Diving 1 1 1 1 4th
Sailing pictogram.svg sailing 5 5 3.233
Gymnastics (artistic) pictogram.svg do gymnastics 2 2 4th 6th 14th 44,443
Exhibitions 15,586
training 12,430
Olympic rings without rims.svg Closing ceremony 54,599
decisions 2 4th 11 5 14th 8th 11 15th 14th 15th 12 12 11 15th 1 150
Thursday
25.		 Fr.
26.		 Sat.
27.		 Sun.
28.		 Mon.
29.		 Tuesday
30		 Wed.
31.		 Thu.
1.		 Fri.
2.		 Sat.
3.		 Sun.
4.		 Mon.
5.		 Tuesday
6th		 Wed.
7.		 Thursday
8		 Fri.
9.		 Sat
10.		 Sun
11.
August September

(* Number of visitors while riding was calculated as the difference to the total number of spectators of 1,436,091.) Color legend

  • Opening ceremony
  • Competition day (no decisions)
  • Competition day (x decisions)
  • Closing ceremony

    • A total of 150 disciplines were held, one less than four years earlier. Six disciplines were added or returned to the program, seven disciplines were deleted, two disciplines were exchanged. The medley relays for men and women in swimming and the team competition in foil fencing for women were completely new. The two-person kayak for women and the 4-by-500-meter relay for men in kayaks were also new, with the relay being replaced by the four-kayak from 1964 . The women's 800 meter race was held for the second time after 1928 . In cycling, the team classification in road races was replaced by the 100 km team driving. In sailing, the Sharpie has been replaced by the Flying Dutchman . All four competitions for canoeists over 10,000 meters were canceled. Group gymnastics with hand-held equipment for women was again on the program in 1996 in rhythmic sports gymnastics. The running deer shooting competition revived in 1972 as running target shooting . After all, no team competition was held in dressage, for the only time since 1928. Five historical games were shown as demonstration sports. In today's parlance, however, it is more likely to have been part of the framework program.

    Ceremonies

    On the day before the opening, a service was held in St. Peter's Square , attended by 100,000 spectators, including athletes from all teams except the Soviet Union. Pope John XXIII gave his blessing to all participants in the Olympic Games.

    Opening ceremony on August 25, 1960 in the Olympic Stadium

    The opening ceremony on August 25th in the fully occupied Olympic Stadium began with the invasion of the nations. The National China / Taiwan team followed a sign that said Taiwan, a Taiwanese marched away with another sign that said “under protest”. The flag bearer of the team from the United States was a colored man for the first time, the decathlete Rafer Johnson . The standard bearer of the Soviet team, weightlifter Yuri Vlasov , demonstrated his strength and carried the flag with one outstretched arm. The flag of the all-German team was carried by the West German rider Fritz Thiedemann . The Olympic oath was spoken by Adolfo Consolini , Olympic discus winner from 1948. The speech by Giulio Andreotti , the President of the Organizing Committee, aroused displeasure because he had prepared an extensive manuscript which he read out in full. IOC President Avery Brundage , who demonstratively put his manuscript in a suit pocket on the way to the lectern, spoke after him . Brundage thanked the organizer only briefly for the preparations and then asked President Giovanni Gronchi to open the games.

    The schedule for the closing ceremony on September 11th was based on the fact that the second round of the show jumping team competition should take place beforehand. After some teams were busted in the first round due to the elimination of the third rider, the rules were quickly changed. In the second round, riders whose team had already been eliminated were allowed to compete, otherwise the event would have been over too quickly. The actual closing ceremony took place afterwards, with Avery Brundage as the main speaker.

    Competitions

    basketball

    Jānis Krūmiņš , Soviet basketball player, serving food

    For the first time, a qualification took place before the basketball tournament. A week before the games in Bologna , five teams qualified for participation in Rome, with eleven teams seeded. The actual Olympic tournament was played in three rounds, with the results of the second round being carried over to the third round. There was no real final because the teams from the USA and the Soviet Union had already met in the second round. The US won this game with 81:57. In the third round, both teams won against Brazil and Italy. The US selection won the fifth Olympic basketball tournament for the fifth time. Ten members of the 1960s team later moved to the NBA . In addition to head coach Peter Newell , four players on the team were inducted into the Hall of Fame after their career : Walt Bellamy , Jerry Lucas , Oscar Robertson and Jerry West . With the admission of the entire team in 2010, these five experienced the special honor of becoming a member of the Hall of Fame for a second time.

    Overview of results see basketball

    Boxing

    The boxing tournament in the Palazzo dello Sport was marked by numerous misjudgments in the preliminary round. 17 judges were then excluded. The strongest season was the Italian, which boxed seven medals, three of which were gold. The season also received three gold medals from the United States, with the final victory of the American Edward Crook in the middleweight division 3-2 against the Pole Tadeusz Walasek leading to tumult in the stands. The Val Barker Cup for the technically best boxer of the tournament was awarded to the Italian welterweight Nino Benvenuti , who became the professional middleweight champion several times in the late 1960s. The 18-year-old Olympic light heavyweight champion should have the most successful professional career in front of him: Cassius Clay became world heavyweight boxing champion under this name and, under his later name Muhammad Ali, he became the most famous and greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.

    In the final of the light welterweight division, the Ghanaian Clement Quartey lost against Bohumil Němeček from Czechoslovakia. Quartey won the silver medal, the first ever Olympic medal for a black African. Five days later, the first black African won Olympic gold in the marathon.

    Results overview see boxes

    fencing

    In saber fencing and epee fencing, the teams that had been successful for years dominated. The Hungarian saber fencers had won team gold at all games since 1928 . Aladár Gerevich has been there since 1932 , Pál Kovács since 1936 and Rudolf Kárpáti since 1948 . In Rome Gerevich won his seventh gold medal, Kovács his sixth and Kárpáti his fifth and sixth, as he also won the individual. Italy's Edoardo Mangiarotti also won his sixth gold medal with the Italian epee team, Giuseppe Delfino won the individual ranking. Michael Alexander , who later became the British ambassador to Austria, won silver with the British epee team. In foil fencing, however, the French did not achieve a podium after three individual victories. The team of the Soviet Union around the individual winner Viktor Schdanowitsch dominated the tournament. In the women's field, Heidi Schmid, 32 years after Helene Mayer, won again a German fencer in 1928. The first team championship was won by the Soviet team ahead of the Hungarians and Italians.

    For an overview of the results, see fencing

    Soccer

    Only amateur footballers were allowed to participate, although this generally excluded all first division players in western countries with professional football. In the Eastern Bloc countries, the top leagues were also defined as amateur leagues in the Olympic sense. In addition, only players who had not participated in the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden were admitted, which is why the teams of Yugoslavia, Hungary, the CSSR and the Soviet Union had to forego some aces in qualifying. Hungary and Yugoslavia still qualified in the first qualifying round .

    The surprise of the tournament was the Danish selection, which defeated Argentina and Poland in the preliminary round; In the semifinals, the Danes won 2-0 against the third-placed Hungarians. In the final, the Danes were finally subject to the Yugoslav selection. In the Yugoslav team, eight players were on the field in the final, who had played in the final of the European Football Championship against the Soviet Union two months earlier .

    Results overview see football

    Weightlifting

    Four years earlier in Melbourne, the US jacks had won gold four times, the Soviet Union only three times. The bantamweight Charles Vinci defended his title in Rome , but remained the only winner from the USA. Five lifters from the Soviet Union won their weight class, with Arkady Vorobyov defending his middle heavyweight title. Ireneusz Paliński from Poland won a class below . He was the first Olympic champion since the Egyptians Fayad and Shams in 1948 , who did not come from the USA or the Soviet Union. In the top weight class, Yuri Vlasov replaced the US jacks, which had been successful since 1948, and initiated a winning streak that was only interrupted by the Olympic boycott in 1984 until the collapse of the Soviet Union .

    With the exception of the Pole , who benefited from the failure of the favorite Rudolf Pljukfelder , all Olympic champions set the existing world record or exceeded it. Viktor Buschujew won the lightweight ahead of Tan Howe Liang from Singapore and Abdu l-Wahid Aziz from Iraq. For both Singapore and Iraq, this is the only medal at the Olympic Games so far.

    For an overview of the results, see weightlifting

    hockey

    The Indian team had won the Olympic hockey tournament six times in a row since 1928 . At the Asian Games in 1958, however, the Indians lost to Pakistan. These two teams also faced each other in the final in Rome. A goal from Nasir Ahmad in the sixth minute won the Pakistani team. It was the first gold medal for Pakistan in the Olympics. For India, the defeat ended an Olympic series of thirty wins with a goal difference of 196: 8.

    Curiously, the tournament did not end with the final. In the games for places 5 to 8, the game between Australia and Kenya ended in a draw. Then the referee had the Australians promoted by lot. After a protest by the Kenyans, the game was repeated the day after the final and the Australians won this replay. On the day of the closing ceremony, the Australians and New Zealanders then played out fifth place, and the more rested New Zealanders won.

    Results overview see hockey

    canoe

    Rowing and canoeing mates took place on Lake Albano

    In the regatta on Lake Albano ( Lago Albano ) have hitherto been common hope runs were introduced for the defeated in the heats canoeists. With bronze in the kayak one and gold in the kayak two, Sweden's Gert Fredriksson also managed to win two medals at his fourth Olympic Games. Most of the medals went to the Hungarian canoeists, for whom only János Parti won gold in the single canoe . The canoeists from the Soviet Union won four medals, two fewer than the Hungarians, but three gold medals. For Germany Therese Zenz received silver in one and two, behind Antonina Seredina . The kayak relay, which was held for the first time and for the last time, was won by an all-German team. Two canoeists from this team, Friedhelm Wentzke (West) and Günter Perleberg (East), were to win silver together in a four-kayak four years later after Perleberg had fled to the West.

    In both the canoe regattas and the rowing regattas, buoys were attached to one another for the first time, thereby separating the individual lanes to the finish. This use of buoy chains to demarcate the railroad is still called the Albano system after the venue .

    Results overview see canoe

    athletics

    Since the men's 4-by-100-meter relay was first held in 1912, the United States had always won at least one gold medal on the three sprint courses. This series ended in 1960. The German Armin Hary won over 100 meters in 10.2 seconds. In the sprint relay, Armin Hary achieved his second gold medal after the US relay was disqualified for exceeding the change mark. The Italian Livio Berruti won over 200 meters and set the world record with 20.5 seconds. On the long sprint route, setting the world record was not enough for gold: the US-American Otis Davis and the German Carl Kaufmann both undercut the world record by three tenths of a second, Davis won gold ahead of Kaufmann. Davis also crossed the finish line in front of Kaufmann in the 4 x 400 meter relay. With Lee Calhoun (110 meters) and Glenn Davis (400 meters), the Olympic champions from Melbourne defended their title in the hurdles .

    In the middle distance runners from Oceania dominated. The still largely unknown New Zealander Peter Snell sprinted the favored Belgian Roger Moens over 800 meters . The Australian Herb Elliott won over 1500 meters with a world record and a huge lead , who as an adult never lost a race over 1500 meters or the mile. A runner from the fifth continent also won over 5000 meters with the New Zealander Murray Halberg . Hans Grodotzki from the GDR received both over 5000 meters and over 10,000 meters of silver. In the marathon, the barefoot Ethiopian Abebe Bikila won the first Olympic gold medal from a black African, behind him Rhadi Ben Abdesselam won the first ever medal for Morocco in second place.

    In the technical disciplines, US athletes were usually the favorites: In the pole vault, the favorite Don Bragg , the last world record holder before the introduction of the plastic pole, won . In the high jump, however, there was a favorite fall: John Thomas was defeated by the Soviet jumpers Robert Schawlakadse and Valeri Brumel . Ralph Boston was able to beat the Olympic record of Jesse Owens in the long jump . Al Oerter won his second gold medal in the discus throw , while Parry O'Brien won only silver this time after two golds in the shot put. With the Pole Józef Szmidt in the triple jump and the Soviet walker Volodymyr Holubnytschyj , two athletes won their first gold medal, which should shape their discipline for years. The decathlon between the black American Rafer Johnson and the Taiwanese Yang Chuan-Kwang went down in track and field history as an exciting competition . In the end, Johnson won just ahead of Yang, both were over 500 points ahead of third-placed Vasily Kuznetsov from the Soviet Union.

    If the US sprinters disappointed, sprinter Wilma Rudolph became one of the biggest stars of the Rome Games. The runner, known as the “Black Gazelle” because of her elegant running style, won both courses by a clear margin and also crossed the finish line first as the final runner of the relay. The other women's competitions were largely dominated by female athletes from the Soviet Union. Lyudmila Schewzowa won the 800 meters, which were back on the program after 32 years. The Press sisters won the hurdles ( Irina ) and the shot put ( Tamara ); the two sisters dominated athletics in the early 1960s. Nina Ponomarjowa won the discus throw ahead of Tamara Press. In the javelin throw, Elvīra Ozoli vora won ahead of the 1952 Olympic champion, Dana Zátopková . Apart from the gold for Wilma Rudolph and her relay mates, only one gold medal did not go to the Soviet Union. The outstanding high jumper Iolanda Balaș from Romania won with fourteen centimeters ahead of her competitors. Like the pole vaulter Don Bragg, she tried to set a new world record, but in both cases there was no longer the necessary tension after the Olympic victory.

    For an overview of the results, see athletics

    Modern pentathlon

    The reigning world champion Igor Novikow from the Soviet Union and the Hungarian vice world champion András Balczó gave away their chances of winning in riding and in shooting. Although they caught up in swimming and cross-country skiing, they finished the competition in 5th and 4th place. The winner was Ferenc Németh, a pentathlon who could not achieve much success before and after Rome. In the team standings, the Hungarians won by around 500 points over the team from the Soviet Union.

    For an overview of the results, see Modern Pentathlon

    Cycling

    The track competitions were dominated by the Italian hosts who won gold in all four competitions. Sante Gaiardoni won both the sprint and the time trial. German cyclists won the silver medal in three competitions.

    In the 100 km team time trial held for the first time on the road, the Italians also won ahead of the Germans around the GDR cycling legend Täve Schur . The four-way competition was overshadowed by the death of Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen . The official cause of death was a brain injury after heat stroke and a fall from a bike. It was later discovered that Jensen had been doped with amphetamines. Jensen was the second athlete to die while on duty at the Olympics; the first in 1912 was the Portuguese marathon runner Francisco Lázaro . Four days after the team time trial , the individual race started on a circuit through the Flaminio district . The Italian Livio Trapè and the Russian Viktor Kapitonow were able to pull away from the field after eight of twelve laps. Trapès breakaway attempt in the final round was countered by the Russian, who could win the only cycling gold for a non-Italian.

    Results overview see cycling

    horse riding

    Team competition in dressage had been part of the Olympic program since 1928 ; this competition was not held in 1960, but was resumed in 1964 . The Russian Sergei Filatow won the individual competition ahead of the Swiss Gustav Fischer and the German Josef Neckermann , fourth was the Swede Henri Saint Cyr , who had received gold in 1952 and 1956.

    The terrain ride in the military turned out to be very difficult, on the one hand because of the heat and on the other hand because of a demanding course in the Alban Mountains . The individual ranking was won by the Australian Lawrence Morgan , the team result was added up from the individual performances, the Australians received gold before the Swiss.

    Two Italian brothers dominated the individual jumping on the Piazza di Siena : Raimondo D'Inzeo won ahead of Piero D'Inzeo . The team competition, the Prize of Nations, was the last event of the Games to be held in the Olympic Stadium immediately before the closing ceremony. Raimondo D'Inzeo was also the best individual rider here, but Piero D'Inzeo and the third Italian Antonio Oppes failed, so that the way was free for the German team (with Halla and Meteor ), the Italians won bronze behind the team from the United States States.

    Results overview see riding

    Wrestling

    Wrestling mats were laid out in the barrel vaults of the Maxentius basilica. In the square in front of it stood the stands.

    Wrestling, especially in its Greco-Roman variant, is closely linked to Roman history by name, even if wrestling was more in the free style in antiquity. The wrestling competitions took place in a historical setting in the Maxentius basilica next to the Colosseum. For the wrestlers and especially for the referees, however, it was a problem that the white mats reflected the rays of the sun. Great heat during fights at lunchtime and inattentive referees particularly affected the fights in the first week. The competitions began with the Greco-Roman tournament, with three winners each from Turkey and the Soviet Union; Romania and Bulgaria provided an Olympic champion. Even fewer countries presented Olympic champions in the freestyle tournament: four Turks, three wrestlers from the USA and one German were successful. The heavyweight Wilfried Dietrich had already won silver in the Greco-Roman fighting style in Melbourne and now in Rome. His freestyle gold in front of the Turkish defending champion Hamit Kaplan made him the most popular wrestler in Germany.

    For an overview of the results, see rings

    rowing

    In the regattas on Lake Albano, the German rowers won three gold medals and one silver medal in seven boat classes. East Berlin's Achim Hill led the one for a long time, but was overtaken by defending champion Vyacheslav Ivanov in his typical final sprint. Achim Hill was the first medalist in rowing from the GDR. Yuri Tjukalow , the 1952 one, and in 1956, together with Alexander Berkutow won the double sculls, had this time was second in the double sculls; the two Russians were defeated by the boat from Czechoslovakia. In Germany, the victory in the two with helmsman and in the four with helmsman was somewhat lost, since the Olympic victory in the eighth received the most attention. The boat put together by Karl Adam in Ratzeburg ushered in a ten-year successful series of the Germany eight . The later philosopher Hans Lenk and the later picture reporter Karl-Heinrich von Groddeck sat in the eighth from 1960, both of whom, albeit in different ways, affirmed the fame of the eighth from 1960.

    For an overview of the results, see rowing

    shoot

    The shooting competitions took place at two shooting ranges in Rome, the competition with the free rifle was held in Cesano , 30 kilometers from Rome. The six decisions were won by shooters from five countries. Athletes from the Soviet Union received gold twice, athletes from the USA, Romania, Germany and Austria each received gold once. For Germany, 18-year-old Peter Kohnke from Bremervörde won the competition with the small-bore rifle in the lying position. The 35-year-old Hubert Hammerer won the only Olympic gold medal for Austria with the free rifle at the Games in Rome. The closest decision was to shoot with the rapid fire pistol. Three shooters had to jump off for the medals, and in the end William McMillan from the USA showed the best of nerves.

    Results overview see shooting

    swim

    The competitions showed the expected duel between the swimmers of Australia and the USA. Four Australians won the men's race; Murray Rose over 400 meters freestyle and the back swimmer David Theile had already won their competitions in Melbourne in 1956 . There was gold for the swimmers from the USA on the individual courses in breast and butterfly style as well as in both relays. The best freestyle swimmer in the United States, Jeff Farrell , only appeared in the relays because he could not qualify for the individual races; He had had an appendix operated on six days before the US trials. World records in the men swam both seasons and Michael Troy over 200 meters butterfly.

    In the women's category, the US swimmers received five gold medals, including both relays in world record times. Saltza's Chris won two relay golds and the 400-meter freestyle swim. The Australian defending champion Dawn Fraser won the 100-meter freestyle distance . She was the first and until 2008 only successful defending champion on this prestigious route; four years later in Tokyo she won for the third time. The 200-meter chest course was the only swimming competition in which gold did not go to the US or Australia. The British Anita Lonsbrough swam a world record in front of the Germans Wiltrud Urselmann and Barbara Göbel , followed by two Dutch swimmers.

    Results overview see swimming

    Diving

    Award ceremony in women's jumping

    In the men's jump, Gary Tobian won the ninth time in a row, a US jumper, the series was not to end until 1972 . Tobian also won a medal in diving with a silver medal, but just lost to his compatriot Robert Webster . For women, only female jumpers from the United States had received gold since 1924 ; since 1948 , the same female jumpers had won both art and high diving. Only the second series also held in Rome, as Ingrid Krämer from Dresden won both gold medals for the all-German team. She was the first German female diver to be awarded Olympic gold.

    For an overview of the results, see diving

    Water polo

    The Italians won all of the tournament's games with the exception of the last against the Hungarians. The draw was enough for the Italians, however, as they had previously defeated the Soviet Union in the decisive game. The Soviet Union won silver ahead of the Hungarians. The Hungarian team still had eight members of the winning team from 1956 , four of whom had already received gold in 1952 .

    With the Italians, the host's team won the water polo tournament for the first time since 1924 . After the Italians this was achieved by 2007 only the Soviet Union 1980 .

    Results overview see water polo

    sailing

    From a sporting point of view, the highlight of the competitions in the Bay of Naples was the fourth gold medal in a row that the Dane Paul Elvstrøm won in the Finn dinghy . He was also the clearest winner of all sailing classes in Naples. In the Flying Dutchman class , which was held for the first time , the Norwegian Peder Lunde , who comes from a sailing dynasty, won; his grandfather had become an Olympic champion in 1924 and his parents had sailed Silber with his uncle in 1952 . However, the focus of public interest was the Greek boat in the dragon class , as the Greek Crown Prince Constantine was sitting in this boat . The 20-year-old student and his crew achieved an Olympic victory.

    Results overview see sailing

    do gymnastics

    At the Olympic Games in 1956 , Takashi Ono was the first Japanese to win gold in gymnastics. In Rome, the Japanese gymnasts won the team competition ahead of the gymnasts from the Soviet Union and Italy, thus initiating a winning streak that would last until 1976. Boris Schachlin , a gymnast from the Soviet Union, was once again successful in the twelve fight , whereby Ono lost, as four years earlier, with the closest possible deficit of 0.05 points. The men's twelve fight also served as a qualification for the first ever device finals. In the six individual decisions, eight gold medals were awarded because two gold medals were awarded on the pommel horse and two gold medals in the horse jump if there was a tie. The Finn Eugen Ekman received a gold medal , three gold medals went to Japan, four to the Soviet Union, three of which went to Boris Schachlin. With four gold medals as well as two silver and one bronze medals, Schachlin was the most successful participant in the games in Rome, only in the final on the ground he was not represented.

    Also the most successful participant was a Soviet gymnast. Larissa Latynina was able to add three more gold medals to her four Melbourne gold medals, winning two silver and one bronze. So she received a medal in all six competitions in Rome; together with her successes four years later in Tokyo, Latynina is the most successful Olympic participant ever. In Rome, she won the eight-fight and on the ground in addition to the team classification. Two other apparatus finals also went to Soviet gymnasts. The Czech Eva Bosáková won the only individual medal on the balance beam with gold that did not go to the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia also won silver in the team competition, with Bosáková only being the second best gymnast on her team, the best was the young Věra Čáslavská . The Japanese Keiko Ikeda demonstrated an exercise on the uneven bars which , in the opinion of the audience and the reporters, was rated too low by the judges. A minute-long whistle concert meant that the next gymnast Polina Astachowa competed five times before she did her freestyle gymnastics. Astachowa won ahead of Latynina, the Japanese was placed in 5th place.

    Results overview see gymnastics

    Outstanding athletes and achievements

    Wilma Rudolph
    The most successful participants
    rank athlete country sport gold silver bronze total
    1 Boris Schachlin Soviet Union 1955Soviet Union Soviet Union do gymnastics 4th 2 1 7th
    2 Larissa Latynina Soviet Union 1955Soviet Union Soviet Union do gymnastics 3 2 1 6th
    3 Takashi Ono Japan 1870Japan Japan do gymnastics 3 1 2 6th
    4th Chris from Saltza United StatesUnited States United States swim 3 1 - 4th
    5 Wilma Rudolph United StatesUnited States United States athletics 3 - - 3

    By 1960, six athletes had won six or more gold medals at the modern Olympic Games: the track and field athletes Paavo Nurmi (9) and Ray Ewry (8, with the 1906 Olympic Intermediate Games it would be 10), the gymnast Viktor Tschukarin (7), the fencers Nedo Nadi (6) and Aladár Gerevich (6) as well as the archer Hubert Van Innis (6). In Rome, Aladár Gerevich and Larissa Latynina won their seventh gold medal. The gymnast Boris Schachlin, the canoeist Gert Fredriksson and the fencers Pál Kovács , Rudolf Kárpáti and Edoardo Mangiarotti each won their sixth gold medal . Of these twelve greatest Olympic athletes of modern times, Hubert Van Innis was able to achieve their last Olympic victory in front of a home audience in Antwerp in 1920 and Edoardo Mangiarotti in Rome in 1960.

    The youngest Olympic champion in Rome was the German rowing helmsman Klaus Zerta at the age of 13 years and 283 days . The oldest Olympic champion, aged 50 and 179 days, was Aladár Gerevich. The oldest medalist was the Swiss sailor Manfred Metzger , aged 55 and 104 days.

    reporting

    In 1960 television rights for the Olympic Games were granted for the first time. After the US broadcaster ABC acquired the rights to the Winter Games in Squaw Valley for US $ 50,000, the Roman organizing committee also wanted to close for a similar price. After the intervention of the IOC, the rights were advertised. The US broadcaster CBS acquired the exclusive rights for 394,000 US dollars. The film footage from Rome was brought by plane to the United States, where it was broadcast the next day. In total, the CBS broadcast 16 hours and 14 minutes, which is less than what is broadcast per day in more recent times.

    The European broadcasters acquired broadcasting rights from CBS for US $ 274,000. The BBC broadcast 24 hours and 57 minutes, over 18 hours of which were direct. The DFF (GDR) broadcast a total of 4 hours and 41 minutes, the ARD (BRD) 3 hours and 51 minutes. In total, programs from the Olympic Games were broadcast in 38 countries. A total of 2194 journalists were accredited, 943 of them from the press from 64 countries and 153 from 60 countries by radio.

    literature

    • Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. Die Chronik II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 (main source for all chapters except the chapter medals and awards ).
    • Karl Lennartz , Walter Borgers, Andreas Höfer: Olympic victories. Medals, Diplomas, Honors. Sportverlag Berlin 2000 ISBN 3-328-00865-9 (main source for the chapter on medals and awards )
    • Eva Maria Gajek: Image politics in the Olympic competition. The games of Rome 1960 and Munich 1972, Göttingen 2013, Wallstein Verlag, ISBN 978-3-8353-1196-1
    • Rudolf Hagelstange : Roman Olympia. Kaleidoscope of a world festival. Piper Verlag Munich 1960 (contemporary description with literary claim)
    • Heribert Meisel , Carl Grampp: Olympia 1960. Südwest Verlag Munich 1960 (contemporary description with journalistic claim)
    • Rupert Kaiser: Olympia Almanach. AGON Sportverlag Kassel 2004 ISBN 3-89784-246-7 (standard work, mainly used here for reference)
    • Erich Kamper , Bill Mallon : Who's Who of the Olympic Games 1896–1992. Who's Who at the Olympics. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1992, ISBN 3-928562-47-9 (standard work, mainly used here for reference).
    • German Olympic team. German Olympic team Rome 1960 . Joint publication of the NOK for Germany and the NOK for East Germany, 146 pages.

    Web links

    Commons : 1960 Summer Olympics  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

    Individual evidence

    1. ^ Karl Lennartz : Olympic Games 1908 in London. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1998, ISBN 3-89784-112-6 (p. 35).
    2. ↑ Exchange rates in 1960: 675 Italian lire corresponded to one US dollar or four German marks. The exact total audience income (according to Kluge, p. 497) of 2,659,123,600 lire thus corresponded to 4,254,597.70 US dollars (or 17 million German marks).
    3. ↑ Kluge, p. 598, note 26.
    4. ↑ Kamper, Mallon, p. 344.
    5. ↑ Lennartz, Borgers, Höfer, p. 304.
    6. ↑ Hagelstange, pp. 36–38.
    7. ↑ Meisel, Grampp, p. 335.
    8. ^ Kaiser, p. 344.
    This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on October 28, 2007 .