1964 Summer Olympics

From Freepedia

The Games of the XVIII Olympiad were held in 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Detroit, Vienna and Brussels also made a bid for these Games. Tokyo had already been awarded with the organisation of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honour had been passed to Helsinki because of Japan's involvement in China. The 1940 Olympics were eventually cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II. This marked the first time the Olympics were held in Asia.

The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite. It was the first television programme to cross the Pacific ocean.

Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Nations participating	93
Athletes participating	5,140 (4,457 men, 683 women)
Events	163 in 19 sports
Opening ceremonies	October 10, 1964
Closing ceremonies	October 24, 1964
Officially opened by	HIM Emperor Hirohito
Athlete's Oath	Takashi Ono
Judge's Oath:	-
Olympic Torch	Yoshinori Sakai
Stadium	National Olympic Stadium

1 Highlights
2 Medals awarded
3 Medal count
4 Nations
5 Venues
6 See also
7 External links

Highlights

Yoshinori Sakai, who lit the Olympic Flame, was born in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the day the atomic bomb exploded there.
Judo and volleyball, both popular sports in Japan, were introduced to the Olympics. Japan won three of the titles in judo, but Dutchman Anton Geesink won the Open category. The Japanese women's volleyball team won the gold medal, with the final being broadcasted live.
Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina won two gold medals (both for the third time in a row in Team Competition and Floor Exercise events), a silver medal and two bronze medals. She ended her Olympic career and holds the record for most Olympic medals at 18 (9 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze) since then.
Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser won the 100 m freestyle event for the third time in a row, a feat matched by Vyacheslav Ivanov in rowing's skiff event.
Don Schollander (USA) won four gold medals in swimming.
Abebe Bikila became the first person to win the Olympic marathon twice.
New Zealand's Peter Snell won a gold medal in both the 800 m and 1500 m.
The women's pentathlon was introduced.

Medals awarded

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Medal count

Top medal-collecting nations:
(for the full table, see 1964 Summer Olympics medal count)

(Host nation in bold.)

1964 Summer Olympics medal count					Image:Olympic-rings.png
Pos	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Image:Us flag large.png United States of America	36	26	28	90
2	Image:Flag of the Soviet Union.png USSR	30	31	35	96
3	Image:Japan flag large.png Japan	16	5	8	29
4	Image:Unified German Olympic Flag.png United Team of Germany	10	22	18	50
5	Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy	10	10	7	27
6	Image:Hungary flag large.png Hungary	10	7	5	22
7	Image:Poland flag large.png Poland	7	6	10	23
8	Image:Australia flag large.png Australia	6	2	10	18
9	Image:Czech republic flag large.png Czechoslovakia	5	6	3	14
10	Image:Uk flag large.png Great Britain	4	12	2	18

Nations

Articles about Tokyo Summer Olympics by nation:

Venues

Image:Nipponbudoukan01.jpg Image:Yoyogi Gymnasium.jpg

Olympic Stadium, now known as "National Stadium," was the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies, and for track and field events.
Nippon Budokan, or Japan Martial Arts Hall, was built to house the judo events, and is now one of Tokyo's best-known concert venues.
Yoyogi National Gymnasium, adjacent to (and originally part of) the Meiji Shrine, houses swimming and gymnastics venues designed by architect Kenzo Tange. The Olympic Village, a redeveloped United States Army barracks originally called "Washington Heights," is located on the north side of Yoyogi Park.
Komazawa Olympic Park in Setagaya hosted cycling events.
Enoshima and Lake Sagami hosted yachting, canoeing, and rowing events.
Karuizawa, in Nagano Prefecture west of Tokyo, hosted equestrian events.