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Games of the XVII Olympiad

Emblem of the 1960 Summer Olympics
Location	Rome, Italy
Nations	83
Athletes	5,347 (4,734 men, 613 women)
Events	150 in 17 sports (23 disciplines)
Opening	25 August 1960
Closing	11 September 1960
Opened by	Giovanni Gronchi President of Italy
Closed by	Avery Brundage President of the International Olympic Committee
Cauldron	Giancarlo Peris
Stadium	Stadio Olimpico
Summer← Melbourne 1956Tokyo 1964 → Winter← Squaw Valley 1960Innsbruck 1964 → 1960 Summer Paralympics

The 1960 Summer Olympics (Italian: Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad (Italian: Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 (Italian: Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awarded the administration of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906, the city had no choice but to decline and pass the honour to London. The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals at the 1960 Games.

The 1st Paralympic Games were held in Rome in conjunction with the 1960 Summer Olympics, marking the first time such events coincided.

Host city selection

On 15 June 1955, at the 50th IOC Session in Paris, 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 proceeding 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics respectively.

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. This was the first of five unsuccessful attempts by Toronto to secure the Summer Olympics, the most recent being a bid for the 2008 Games.

1960 Summer Olympics bidding results

City	Country	Round
		1	2	3
Rome	Italy	15	26	35
Lausanne	Switzerland	14	21	24
Detroit	United States	6	11	—
Budapest	Hungary	8	1	—
Brussels	Belgium	6	—	—
Mexico City	Mexico	6	—	—
Tokyo	Japan	4	—	—

Highlights

• Swedish sprint canoeist Gert Fredriksson won his sixth Olympic title.
• Fencer Aladár Gerevich of Hungary won his sixth consecutive gold medal in the team sabre event.
• The Japanese men's gymnastics team won the first of five successive golds (see 1976 Summer Olympics).
• The United States men's national basketball team—led by promising college players Walt Bellamy, Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West—captured its fifth straight Olympic gold medal.
• Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm won his fourth straight gold medal in the Finn class. Others to emulate his performance in an individual event are Al Oerter, Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps, Kaori Icho, Mijaín López and, if the Intercalated (Interspaced) Games of 1906 are included, Ray Ewry.
• German Armin Hary won the 100 metres in an Olympic record time of 10.2 seconds. American Dave Sime also ran 10.2 s in the final, but was credited with silver after a controversial video review.
• Wilma Rudolph, a former polio 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 emergency appendectomy six days before the Olympic Trials.

• Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the marathon barefooted to become the first African and Ethiopian Olympic champion.
• 18-year-old Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, won boxing's light-heavyweight gold medal. Ramon "Buddy" Carr was his coach.
• Herb Elliott of Australia won the men's 1500 meters in one of the most dominating performances in Olympic history.
• Rafer Johnson defeated his rival, fellow U.C.L.A. Bruin and friend C.K. Yang in one of the greatest Decathlon events in Olympic history.
• Lance Larson of the United States was controversially denied a 100 metres freestyle swimming gold, despite showing the best time.
• 16-years-old phenom Chris von Saltza won four medals in women's swimming, three of them gold.
• The future Constantine II, last King of Greece (abdicated and ended hybrid monarchy, 1973) won his country a gold in sailing: dragon class.
• The Pakistani Men's Field Hockey team broke a run of Indian team victories since 1928, defeating India in the final and winning Pakistan's first Olympic gold medal.
• Wrestlers Shelby Wilson, and Doug Blubaugh, who wrestled together growing up, won gold medals in their respective weight classes.

Lowlights

• Danish cyclist Knud Jensen collapsed during the 100km team race because of heat stroke and later died in the hospital. It was suspected that he had been under the influence of Roniacol, a blood circulation stimulant. The International Olympic Committee stated on its website that "drugs were implicated, although that was never proven." It was the second time (and as of 2024, the most recent) an athlete died in competition at the Olympics, after the death of Portuguese marathon runner Francisco Lázaro at the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Historical landmarks

• South Africa appeared in the Olympic arena for the last time under its apartheid regime. It would not be allowed to return until 1992, by when apartheid 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.

Non-medal winners

• Finnish Vilho Ylönen, a field shooter, shot a bullseye to a wrong target, and in doing so he dropped from second place to fourth.
• Peter Camejo, a 2004 American vice-presidential candidate for the Green Party, competed in yachting for Venezuela.
• The future Queen Sofía of Spain represented her native Greece in sailing events.

Broadcasting

• CBS paid US$394,000 (equivalent to $3.11 million in 2023) for the exclusive right to broadcast the Games in the United States. This was the first Summer Olympic games to be telecast in North America. In addition to CBS in the United States, the Olympics were telecast for the first time in Canada (on CBC Television) and in Mexico (through the networks of Telesistema 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 at Idlewild Airport in New 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.

Venues

• Olympic Stadium (Stadio Olimpico) – opening/closing ceremonies, athletics, equestrian events
• Flaminio Stadium (Stadio Flaminio) – football finals
• Swimming Stadium – swimming, diving, water polo, modern pentathlon (swimming)
• Sports Palace (Palazzo dello sport) – basketball, boxing
• Olympic Velodrome – cycling (track), field hockey
• Small Sports Palace (Palazzetto dello Sport) – basketball, weightlifting
• Marble Stadium (Stadio dei Marmi) – field hockey preliminaries
• Baths of Caracalla – gymnastics
• Basilica of Maxentius – wrestling
• Palazzo dei Congressi – fencing
• Umberto I Shooting Range – modern pentathlon (shooting), shooting (pistol/ rifle)
• Roses Swimming Pool (Piscina delle Rose) – water polo
• Lake Albano, Castelgandolfo – rowing, canoeing
• Piazza di Siena, Villa Borghese gardens – equestrian (dressage, eventing – jumping, jumping – individual)
• Pratoni del Vivaro, Rocca di Papa – equestrian (eventing)
• Gulf 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
• Saint Paul's Stadium, Naples – football/soccer preliminaries
• Campo Tre Fontane – field hockey preliminaries
• Acqua Santa Golf Club Course – modern pentathlon (running)
• Arch of Constantine – athletics (marathon finish)
• Cesano Infantry School Range – shooting (300 m free rifle)
• Lazio Pigeon Shooting Stand – shooting (trap shotgun)
• Passo Corese – modern pentathlon (riding)
• Grande Raccordo Anulare – athletics (marathon)
• Via Appian Antica – athletics (marathon)
• Via Cassia – cycling (individual road race)
• Via Flaminia – cycling (individual road race)
• Via Cristoforo Colombo – athletics (marathon), cycling (road team time trial)
• Via di Grottarossa – cycling (individual road race)

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

Games

Participating National Olympic Committees

A total of 83 nations participated at the Rome Games. Athletes from Morocco, San Marino, Sudan, and Tunisia competed at the Olympic Games for the first time. Athletes from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago would represent the new (British) West Indies Federation, competing as "Antilles", but this nation would only exist for this single Olympiad. Athletes from Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia competed under the Rhodesia name while representing the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Athletes from East Germany and West Germany would compete as the United Team of Germany from 1956 to 1964. Athletes from the People's Republic of China last competed at the 1952 Summer Games but had since withdrawn from the Olympic movement due to a dispute with the Republic of China over the right to represent China. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants that each country contributed.

•  Suriname also made its first Olympic appearance, but its lone athlete (Wim Esajas) withdrew from competition due to a scheduling error.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

IOC Letter Code	Country	Athletes
AFG	Afghanistan	12
ANT	British West Indies	13
ARG	Argentina	92
AUS	Australia	189
AUT	Austria	103
BAH	Bahamas	17
BEL	Belgium	108
BER	Bermuda	9
BRA	Brazil	71
GUY	Guyana	5
BUL	Bulgaria	98
BIR	Burma	10
CAN	Canada	85
CEY	Ceylon	5
CIL	Chile	9
COL	Colombia	16
CUB	Cuba	12
CSV	Czechoslovakia	116
DAN	Denmark	100
ETI	Ethiopia	10
FIG	Fiji	2
FIN	Finland	117
RCF	Formosa	27
FRA	France	238
EUA	United Team of Germany	294
GHA	Ghana	13
GRB	Great Britain	253
GRE	Greece	48
HAI	Haiti	1
HOK	Hong Kong	4
UNG	Hungary	180
ISL	Iceland	9
IND	India	45
INS	Indonesia	22
IRN	Iran	23
IRK	Iraq	21
IRL	Ireland	49
ISR	Israel	23
ITA	Italy	280
GIA	Japan	162
KEN	Kenya	27
COR	South Korea	35
LIB	Lebanon	19
LBR	Liberia	4
LIE	Liechtenstein	5
LUX	Luxembourg	52
MAL	Malaya	9
MAT	Malta	10
MEX	Mexico	69
MON	Monaco	11
MAR	Morocco	47
PBA	Netherlands	110
ATO	Netherlands Antilles	5
NZL	New Zealand	37
NGR	Nigeria	12
NOR	Norway	40
PAK	Pakistan	44
PAN	Panama	6
PER	Peru	31
PHI	Philippines	40
POL	Poland	185
POR	Portugal	65
PUR	Puerto Rico	27
RHO	Rhodesia	14
ROM	Romania	98
SMA	San Marino	9
SIN	Singapore	5
SAF	South Africa	55
URS	Soviet Union	283
SPA	Spain	144
SUD	Sudan	10
SVE	Sweden	134
SVI	Switzerland	149
THA	Thailand	20
TUN	Tunisia	42
TUR	Turkey	49
UGA	Uganda	10
RAU	United Arab Republic	74
SUA	United States	292
URU	Uruguay	34
VEN	Venezuela	36
VIE	Vietnam	3
JUG	Yugoslavia	116
Total	5,347

Sports

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.

• 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)

August / September	25 Thu	26 Fri	27 Sat	28 Sun	29 Mon	30 Tue	31 Wed	1 Thu	2 Fri	3 Sat	4 Sun	5 Mon	6 Tue	7 Wed	8 Thu	9 Fri	10 Sat	11 Sun	Events
Ceremonies	OC																	CC	—
Athletics							2	4	7	3		3	4	4	6		1		34
Basketball		●	●		●			●	●	●				●	●	●	1		1
Boxing	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●		10							10
Canoeing		●	●		7														7
Cycling		2	1		2	1													6
Diving		●	1		1	1	●	●	1										4
Equestrian												●	1	1	●	●	2	1	5
Fencing					●	1	●	1	1	1		●	1	●	1	1	1		8
Field hockey		●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	●	●	1
Football		●			●			●				●	●			●	1		1
Gymnastics												●	●	2	2	4	6		14
Modern pentathlon	●	●	●		●	●	2												2
Rowing						●	●	●	●	7									7
Sailing					●	●	●	●				●	●	5					5
Shooting										●		1	1	●	1	2	1		6
Swimming		●	2		1	2	2	3	2	3									15
Water polo	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	1									1
Weightlifting														2	2	2	1		7
Wrestling		●	●		●	●	8	●	●	●		●	8						16
Daily medal events		2	4	0	11	5	14	8	11	15	0	14	15	14	12	10	14	1	150
Cumulative total		2	6	6	17	22	36	44	55	70	70	84	99	113	125	135	149	150
August / September	25 Thu	26 Fri	27 Sat	28 Sun	29 Mon	30 Tue	31 Wed	1 Thu	2 Fri	3 Sat	4 Sun	5 Mon	6 Tue	7 Wed	8 Thu	9 Fri	10 Sat	11 Sun	Total events

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1960 Games:

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	43	29	31	103
2	United States	34	21	16	71
3	Italy*	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
Totals (10 entries)		134	112	105	351

See also

• 1960 Summer Paralympics
• 1960 Winter Olympics
• Olympic Games held in Italy
  • 1956 Winter Olympics – Cortina D'Ampezzo
  • 1960 Summer Olympics – Rome
  • 2006 Winter Olympics – Turin
  • 2026 Winter Olympics – Milan and Cortina D'Ampezzo

• List of IOC country codes
• Universiades celebrated in Italy
  • 1959 Summer Universiade – Turin
  • 1966 Winter Universiade – Sestriere
  • 1970 Summer Universiade – Turin
  • 1975 Winter Universiade – Livigno
  • 1975 Summer Universiade – Rome
  • 1985 Winter Universiade – Belluno
  • 1997 Summer Universiade – Sicily
  • 2003 Winter Universiade – Tarvisio
  • 2007 Winter Universiade – Turin
  • 2013 Winter Universiade – Trentino
  • 2019 Summer Universiade – Naples
  • 2025 Winter Universiade – Turin
• Deaflympics celebrated in Italy
  • 1957 Summer Deaflympics – Milan
  • 2001 Summer Deaflympics – Rome
  • 2019 Winter Deaflympics – Province of Sondrio

References

1. ^ "Factsheet - Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad" (PDF) (Press release). International Olympic Committee. 9 October 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
2. "IOC VOTE HISTORY". Archived from the original on 25 May 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
3. Bradburn, Jamie (6 August 2024). "Outbid: How Toronto lost the Olympics again and again — and again". TVO Today. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
4. Edwards, Peter (24 July 2015). "Toronto has made 5 attempts to host the Olympics. Could the sixth be the winner?". thestar.com.
5. "Past Olympic host city election results". GamesBids. Archived from the original on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
6. Coplan, Joseph (19 July 2000). "Profiling Jeff Farrell, 1968 ISHOF Honor Swimmer". USMS. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
7. Zaborney, Mark (11 March 2016). "Ramon 'Buddy' Carr (1926-2016): TPD officer coached gold-medalist boxer". Toledo Blade.
8. Henderson, Jon (26 June 2012). "Great Olympic Moments: UCLA friends Rafer Johnson and Yang Chuan-kwang make decathlon history in 1960". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
9. Wallechinsky, David. The complete book of the Winter Olympics : 2014 edition. ISBN 978-1-937530-70-9. OCLC 870338894.
10. 1967: Creation of the IOC Medical Commission
11. Maraniss, David (2008). Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World (1st ed.). New York City, NY: Simon & Schuster. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4165-3407-5.
12. "OLYMPICS AND TELEVISION - The Museum of Broadcast Communications". Museum.tv. Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
13. Xiao, Li. "China and the Olympic Movement". China Internet Information Center. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
14. Official Olympic Reports. Archived from the original on 22 June 2006.
15. Byron, Lee; Cox, Amanda; Ericson, Matthew (4 August 2008). "A Map of Olympic Medals". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

External links

• "Rome 1960". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.
• Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World, David Maraniss, New York, NY, U.S.: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
• The program of the 1960 Rome Olympics
• LIFE 12 Sep 1960

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v t e Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics (Rome)

Acqua Santa Golf Club Course Arch of Constantine Basilica of Maxentius Baths of Caracalla Campo Tre Fontane Cesano Infantry School Range Florence Communal Stadium Grosseto Communal Stadium Gulf of Naples L'Aquila Communal Stadium Lake Albano Lazio Pigeon Shooting Stand Livorno Ardenza Stadium Naples Saint Paul's Stadium Olympic Velodrome Palazzo dei Congressi Palazzo dello Sport Palazzetto dello sport Passo Corese Pescara Adriatic Stadium Piazza di Siena Piscina delle Rose Pratoni del Vivaro Raccordo Anulare Stadio dei Marmi Stadio Flaminio Stadio Olimpico Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto Umberto I Shooting Range Via Appia Antica Via Cassia Via Flaminia Via Cristoforo Colombo Via di Grottarossa

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