Summer Olympiad (1964)

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, celebrated in Tokyo, Japan were the first to be held in Asia. The 1940 Olympics were eventually canceled because of the outbreak of World War II. The 1964 summer games marked the first time the Olympics were held by a non-Western nation. This was the first Olympics in which South Africa was barred from taking part due to its refusal to racially desegregate its sports. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite. It was the first television program to cross the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese expressed their successful reconstruction after World War II by choosing as the final torchbearer Yoshinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima the day that that city was destroyed by an atomic bomb. Judo and volleyball were introduced to the Olympic programme. American swimmer Don Schollander won four gold medals. Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia became the first repeat winner of the marathon - less than six weeks after having his appendix removed. Russian rower Vyacheslav Ivanov won the single sculls for the third time and Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser won the 100m freestyle for the third time. Al Oerter of the United States did the same in the discus throw despite a cervical disc injury that forced him to wear a neck harness and torn rib cartilage incurred a week before the competition. Hungarian water polo player Dezso Gyarmati won his fifth medal in a row. Another Hungarian, Greco-Roman wrestler Imre Polyak, finally won a gold medal after finishing second in the same division at the previous three Olympics. By winning two medals of each kind, Larysa Latynina of the Ukraine brought her career medal total to an incredible 18. She is also one of only four athletes in any sport to win nine gold medals.

Opening date: 10 October 1964

Closing date: 24 October 1964

Ceremonies

Official opening of the Games by: The Emperor Hirohito

Lighting the Olympic Flame by: Yoshinori Sakaï, a student born on 6 August 1945, the day the atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima

Olympic Oath by: Takashi Ono (gymnastics)

Official Oath by: The first officials' oath was sworn at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

Participations

93 NOCs (Nations)
5,151 athletes (678 women, 4,473 men)
163 events

Country of the host city: Japan (JPN)

Candidate cities: Detroit (USA), Vienna (AUT) and Brussels (BEL)

Sports

• Aquatics
• Athletics
• Basketball
• Boxing
• Canoe / Kayak
• Cycling
• Equestrian
• Fencing
• Football
• Gymnastics
• Hockey
• Judo
• Modern Pentathlon
• Rowing
• Sailing
• Shooting
• Volleyball
• Weightlifting
• Wrestling

Demonstration sports

• Baseball
• Budo

Venues

• 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.

Highlights

• Dawn Fraser (AUS-swimming) won her third successive gold medal in the 100m freestyle. She was the first woman swimmer to win eight medals (four gold and four silver) in three Olympics.

• Yuji Koseki composed the theme song of the opening ceremony.

• Reigning world champion Osamu Watanabe capped off his career with a gold medal for Japan in freestyle wrestling, surrendering no points and retiring from competition as the only undefeated Olympic champion to date at 189-0.

• Abebe Bikila became the first person to win the Olympic marathon twice.

Facts

• The carrier of the flame, Yoshinori Sakai, was chosen because he was born on 6 August 1945, the day the atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima, in homage to the victims and as a call for peace in the world.

• The first Fair Play prize awarded by the International Olympic Committee, but given by the Japanese National Olympic Committee, was presented to two Swedes, Lars Gunnar Kall and Stig Lennart Kall, who gave up their chances of winning the regatta to come to the aid of two other competitors whose boat had sunk.

• Japan wanted to show the world its talent for organization. It success earned it three awards from the International Olympic Committee- the Olympic Cup, the Bonacossa Trophy and the "Diploma of Merit".

• A cinder running track was used for the last time in the athletics events.

• It was the first time the Olympic Games were given to an Asian country.

• The first appearance of a team sport for women- volleyball

• Two new sports- judo (men) and volleyball (men and women) were  appeared in Summer Olympic Games.

• It was the first time when a fiberglass pole was used in the pole vaulting competition.