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Home > Olympics > Summer Olympics > Rome 1960
Rome 1960
The Olympic Games, or Olympics, are an international multi-sport event taking place every four years which comprises of summer and winter games. Though the first ancient games were held in 776 B.C., the modern games started from 1896. The unity of the 5 continents is shown on the Olympic flag by five colorful intertwined rings of red, blue, green, yellow, and black, created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin to represent at least one color of the participating country’s national flag.
The 1960 Olympic Games were held at Rome and was a summer Olympic XVII. Rome 1960 consisted of 83 nations, 150 events and 5,338 athletes including 611 women and 4,727 men. The event started on 25th of August. The official opening of the games was done by the former President Giovanni Gronchi lighting the Olympic flame.
Paul Elvstrom of Denmark won the gold medal in the single-handed dinghy class yachting for the fourth consecutive time. Hungarian fencer Aladar Gerevich earned his sixth consecutive gold medal in the team sabre event. In canoeing, Sweden’s Gert Fredriksson won his sixth gold medal. Yugoslavia, which qualified for the final by winning a coin toss, won the football tournament after losing in the final three times in a row.
Sante Gaiardoni of Italy became the only cyclist in Olympic history to win both the time trial and the match sprint events. Cassius Marcellus Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, first gained international prominence by winning the light-heavyweight gold medal. Wilma Rudolph of USA became the first American woman to win three gold medals in athletics in one Olympiad for 100 meter, 200 meter and 4x100 meter relay.
In Rome 1960 Olympic Games, the USSR URS achieved 43 gold medals, 29 silver medals and 31 bronze medals to become the first leading nation that year. Finally, the event was concluded by a closing ceremony that was held on September 11, 1960.
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