 Giancarlo Peris with the Olympic torch at the 1960 Summer Olympics opening ceremony | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Italian |
| Born | 4 November 1941 Civitavecchia, Kingdom of Italy |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Italy |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Cross country running |
Giancarlo Peris (born 4 November 1941), an Italian track athlete of Greek descent, was the final bearer of the Olympic torch for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. [1]
Peris was born in Civitavecchia, a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea 70 kilometers northwest of Rome. The Italian National Olympic Committee decided that the last torchbearer of the Olympic Games would be the winner of a junior Cross country running race. Peris won and was chosen to be the last torchbearer. [1] Peris was also a promising track athlete and few months before the opening of the Olympic games he competed for his country's national junior/youth team against Poland.
He later became a teacher of history and Italian at the technical high-school "G. Baccelli" of Civitavecchia. He also coached at a small athletics club.[ citation needed ]
Wilma Glodean Rudolph was an American sprinter who overcame childhood polio and went on to become a world-record-holding Olympic champion and international sports icon in track and field following her successes in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. Rudolph competed in the 200-meter dash and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne, Australia. She also won three gold medals, in the 100- and 200-meter individual events and the 4 x 100-meter relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. Rudolph was acclaimed the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s and became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games.
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad and commonly known as Rome 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 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated.
Rafer Lewis Johnson was an American decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold at the 1955 Pan American Games. Johnson was the U.S. team's flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the Olympic cauldron at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
Civitavecchia is a city and major sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea 60 kilometres west-northwest of Rome. Its legal status is a comune (municipality) of Rome, Lazio.
The 1960 Summer Olympics medal table is a list of National Olympic Committees ranked by the number of medals won during the 1960 Summer Olympics, held in Rome, Italy from August 25 to September 11, 1960.
James Tully Beatty is a former American track and field athlete and North Carolina politician. He is best remembered as the first person to break the four-minute mile barrier on an indoor track, when he ran 3:58.9 on February 10, 1962, at the Los Angeles Invitational in the Los Angeles Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. He competed in the men's 5000 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Ethiopia competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. Ten competitors, all men, took part in eight events in two sports. Abebe Bikila won the country's first ever Olympic medal by winning the men's marathon.
James Calvin Spivey is a former American middle-distance runner and Olympian. Spivey took up competitive running in Illinois where he became one of the best high school runners from his state. He was the 1982 NCAA DI men's 1500-meter champion with Indiana University. Spivey enjoyed a long Olympic career, in which he participated in the Olympic Summer Games in 1984, 1992, and 1996.
Italy was the host nation for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. It was the first time that the nation had hosted the Summer Games, and the second time overall. It also hosted the 1960 Summer Paralympics in Rome – the inaugural Paralympic Games.
Pakistan competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. 44 competitors, all men, took part in 35 events in 7 sports. Here, they won their first Olympic Games gold medal by defeating India in the final of the men's hockey competition. The country also landed their first individual Olympic Games medal, a bronze, through welterweight wrestler Mohammad Bashir in the freestyle contests. Making this Pakistan's most successful Olympics to date.
George L. Young was an American track athlete and college coach. He won a bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 3000 meter steeplechase and held several American records in events ranging from the two mile to the 5000 meter race. He broke two world records, in the indoor two and three mile events.
Suriname participated in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, before becoming independent of the Netherlands. The games were held from 25 August to 11 September 1960. The nation sent a delegation of three people: two officials, attaché Lia Del Neri and secretary-general Freddy Glans, and one athlete, runner Wim Esajas, who was set to compete in the men's 800 metres. The national football and basketball teams failed to qualify. Esajas did not participate; he arrived late and missed his heat after being given wrong information by Glans.
Giancarlo Primo was an Italian professional basketball player and coach. He was a coach of the FIBA European Selection team in 1974, 1975, and 1976. In 2001, he was awarded the FIBA Order of Merit. In 2007, he was enshrined into the FIBA Hall of Fame, and in 2008, he was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame.
Somalia first participated at the Olympic Games at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, West Germany; the Somali Olympic Committee being recognised by the International Olympic Committee shortly prior. The nation has sent athletes to compete in most Summer Olympic Games since then, boycotting in 1976 due to the inclusion of New Zealand, and in 1980 when it joined with the American-led boycott. It also did not compete in 1992 due to the ongoing effects of a famine. Somalia entered their largest contingent of athletes at the 1984 Summer Olympics, a total of seven.
Luigi Ulivelli was an athlete from Italy, who mainly competed in the long jump.
Eraldo Pizzo is an Italian water polo player who competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics, in the 1964 Summer Olympics, in the 1968 Summer Olympics, and in the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Southern Rhodesia first participated as Rhodesia in the Olympic Games in 1928, when it sent two boxers to Amsterdam, both of whom were eliminated in their second bout. The colony did not appear at the Games under a Rhodesian banner until 1960, when it sent a fourteen-athlete delegation as part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. In Rome, two sailors, Alan David Butler and Christopher Bevan, finished fourth, which was Rhodesia's best result until it became Zimbabwe in 1980. Southern Rhodesia sent 29 competitors, including a field hockey team, to the 1964 Summer Games, which was its last Olympic appearance under the Rhodesian banner.
Valerie Jerome is an African-Canadian retired Track and Field sprinter, educator, and political activist. She competed in the women's 100 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics. She finished third in the 1959 Pan American Games 4 × 100 metres relay. Jerome also finished seventh in the 1959 Pan American Games long jump. Jerome is the only Canadian athlete to compete in five track and field events in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, or Pan-American Games. She is the sister of Harry Jerome and the granddaughter of John "Army" Howard.
Beverly Dawn Edith Weigel, with her first name commonly misspelled as Beverley and since her marriage known as Beverly Robertson, is a New Zealand athlete. Mainly active as a long jumper, but also as a sprinter, she represented her country at the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, and the 1960 Summer Olympics.
