The 1960 Rome Games were held from August 25th to September 11th. There was a big jump in the total of athletes participating in the games from 3258 in Melbourne to 5348 in Rome. 610 women athletes were in Rome also a new record. 83 nations came to Rome, competing in 150 events in 17 sports.

Rome was awarded the games over Lausanne, Switzerland, Detroit, Budapest, Brussels, Mexico City and Tokyo.

For the Rome Games they used some famous sites Caracalla Baths was used for gymnastics, the Arch of Constantine for the finish of the Marathon race, Basilica of Maxentius for wrestling. the Pope watched the canoeing semi-finals from the window of his summer residence.

President Giovanni Gronchi of Italy opened the 1960 Rome Games on August 25th. The torch was lit by Giancarlo Peris before 65,000 at the Stadio Olimpico.

The 1960 Rome Games were an eventful one. Some of the highlights were Rafer Johnson and his friend and teammate at UCLA C.K. Yang battling it out for the Decathlon, Johnson of the USA and Yang for Taiwan. The USA basketball team was the greatest amateur team ever assembled with four future Basketball Hall of Famers- Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Walt Bellamy and Jerry Lucas on the team. They faced little challenge in the games. The Soviets dominated the gymnastics competition winning 15 of a possible 16 gold medals.

Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia was a surprise winner in the Marathon, running in his bare feet. Wilma Rudolph of the United States winning 3 gold medals in track. Herb Elliott of Australia dominating the 1500 meters. A brash young boxer from Louisville, Kentucky named Cassius Clay won the light-heavyweight gold.

Below Abebe Bikila

This would be the first Olympic Games to be televised in the United States. CBS paid $394,000 for the broadcast rights.

The 1960 Rome Games were one of the most successful games. A great read on the games a book by David Maraniss “Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed The World”

Below Wilma Rudolph