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.
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.
David William Sime was an American sprinter, multi-sport athlete at Duke University, and a pioneering ophthalmologist. He won a silver medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1960 Olympic Games, and held several sprint records during the late 1950s.
David Maraniss is an American award-winning journalist and author, currently serving as an associate editor for The Washington Post.
At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, 15 swimming events were contested, eight for men and seven for women. There was a total of 380 participants from 45 countries competing. For the first time, the 4 × 100 metres medley relay was contested. The United States topped the medal standings with a total of 15 medals, while Australia finished a close second with 13 medals. 16-years-old phenom Chris von Saltza won four medals, three of them gold.
Knud Enemark Jensen was a Danish cyclist who died while participating in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. During his career, he was involved in an early doping scandal.
John Thomas Devitt, AM was an Australian sprint freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He won in controversial circumstances, being awarded the gold medal despite the timekeepers recording a slower time than the American silver medallist Lance Larson. He also claimed a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay.
Igor Aramovich Ter-Ovanesyan is a Soviet and Ukrainian former long jumper and coach, of Armenian descent. Competing for the Soviet Union, he was a five-time European and two-time Olympic medalist in this event. In 1985, he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour.
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.
They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967 is a 2004 book written by David Maraniss. The book centers around the Battle of Ong Thanh and a protest at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Aurèle Vandendriessche was a Belgian marathon runner, who won silver medals at the 1962 and 1966 European Championships. He competed at the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Summer Olympics with the best result of seventh place in 1964. Twice winner of the Boston Marathon, he recorded his best time there, 2:17:44 in 1965, while finishing fourth.
Lance Melvin Larson was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder in four events.
The women's 100 metre backstroke was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1936 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which was established in 1924. The competition was held from Tuesday to Thursday, 11 to 13 August 1936.
The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between August 26 and 27. There were 51 competitors from 34 nations. Nations were limited to two swimmers each, down from three in previous Games. The event was won by John Devitt of Australia over Lance Larson of the United States in a controversial, disputed finish that resulted in a push for electronic timing. It was Australia's second consecutive victory in the event, third-most all-time behind the United States' 7 gold medals and Hungary's 3. Devitt, silver medalist four years earlier, was the fifth man to win multiple medals in the event. Manuel dos Santos earned Brazil's first medal in the men's 100 metre freestyle with his bronze.
Bertie Messitt was an Irish long-distance runner. He was educated in Saint Cronan's Boys' National School in Bray. A bus conductor, he won his fourth Irish cross country title in 1961. By the time he had ended his competitive career in 1966, he had recorded 16 Irish records, nine in 1958 alone: 13:44 for three miles, 14:14.8 for 5,000m, 49:33 for 10 miles. He finished 13th in the European Marathon Championships in Belgrade in 1962. His best marathon time, 2:25.39, was set in 1963. He won the Irish marathon championship in 1960, running 2:28:40, qualifying him for the Irish team in the marathon at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Siegfried Willem "Wim" Esajas was a Surinamese middle-distance runner who qualified for the athletics at the men's 800 m event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy and was supposed to be the first Surinamese Olympian. Esajas missed the event, and it was alleged that he overslept it, whereas he was simply given a wrong starting time by Fred Glans, the head of Suriname's Olympic delegation.
Jørgen Jørgensen was a Danish former cyclist. He competed in the 100 km cycling team time trial at the 1960 Summer Olympics as a member of the four-man Danish team alongside Knud Enemark Jensen, Niels Baunsøe, and Vagn Bangsborg. The event was held on 26 August 1960 at the Viale Cristoforo Colombo in Rome, and the temperatures during the race reached 42 °C (108 °F). He dropped out of the race during the first lap due to heat stroke.
Joseph Patrick Faust is an American track and field athlete known for the high jump. He extended his personal jumping flight interests into mathematics and aviation.
Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story is a 2015 non-fiction book discussing the history of the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan, that was published by Simon & Schuster, focusing on the period between late 1962 to early 1964. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss, a Detroit native, it delves into socio-political topics such as the Civil Rights Movement, labor union organization, and the rise of the soul music label Motown. Significant emphasis is also placed on biographical details of prominent Midwestern figures; for example, the author describes Henry Ford II "impeccably dressed yet with a touch of the peasant, with his manicured nails and beer gut and carefree proclivities, his frat-boy party demeanor and head full of secrets."
