Rome’s 60th anniversary of Olympics

Rome held 1960 Olympic Games at Stadio Olimpico and at ancient sites around the city. The 1960 Olympic Games kicked off in Rome on this day, 25 August, 60 years ago, lasting until 11 September.

There were 83 nations involved in the games, with 5,338 participating athletes (4,727 men, 611 women) and 150 events in 17 sports (23 disciplines).

The opening and closing ceremonies took place in the newly-renovated Stadio Olimpico, which also hosted athletics and equestrian sports, while the football finals were held in the brand new (but now dilapidated) Stadio Flaminio.

However the city also made good use of its majestic sites, with gymnastics taking place at the Baths of Caracalla, wrestling at the Basilica of Maxentius, and rowing and canoeing held at Lake Albano in Castel Gandolfo.

Highlights of the Rome games included Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia winning the marathon barefoot to become the first black African Olympic champion; Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), winning boxing’s light-heavyweight gold medal, and Wilma Rudolph, a former polio patient, winning three gold medals in sprint events on the track to be acclaimed as “the fastest woman in the world”.

The Soviet Union dominated the games, winning a total of 103 medals, followed by the US which won 71 medals and the United Team of Germany (East and West) with 42.

1960 was the last time that South Africa participated in the Olympics under its apartheid regime, which saw it banned until 1992, while Singapore competed for the first time under its own flag after the British granted it self-government a year earlier.