The , officially known as the '''Games of the XVIII Olympiad''', were held in
1964 in
Tokyo ,
Japan . Tokyo, which won the rights to the games in
1958 over the bids from
Detroit ,
Buenos Aires and
Vienna , had been awarded with the organisation of the
1940 Summer Olympics , but this honour had been passed to
Helsinki because of
Japan 's invasion of
China . The 1940 Olympics were eventually cancelled 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 sport.
{Link without Title} .
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 .
- Yūji Koseki composed the theme song of the opening ceremony.
- Yoshinori Sakai , who lit the Olympic Flame , was born in Hiroshima on August 6 , 1945 , the day the Atomic Bomb was dropped.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Australia n 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 single scull 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.
- American Billy Mills , a little-known distance runner, shocked everyone when he won the gold in the men's 10,000 m. No American had won it before and no American has won it since.
- Bob Hayes won the 100m title in a time of 10.0 seconds, equalling the world record. He had run the distance in 9.9 seconds in the semifinal but this was not recognised as a world record as it was wind assisted.
- Joe Frazier , future Heavyweight Champion of the world, won a gold medal for the USA in heavyweight boxing.
- Unfortunately to Japan, several big international events took more attention during the Olympics, including the sudden removal of Nikita Khrushchev and the First Nuclear Test in China.
See Also: 1964 Summer Olympics medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games:
A total of 94 nations were represented at the 1964 Games. Sixteen nations made their first Olympic appearance in Tokyo:
Algeria ,
Cameroon ,
Chad ,
Congo ,
Côte D'Ivoire (as ''Ivory Coast''),
Dominican Republic ,
Libya ,
Madagascar ,
Malaysia ,
Mali ,
Mongolia ,
Nepal ,
Niger ,
Northern Rhodesia (now
Zambia ),
Senegal , and
Tanzania (as ''Tanganyika''). Athletes from Libya withdrew from competition after the Opening Ceremony, so a total of 93 nations actually competed. Athletes from
East Germany and
West Germany competed together as the
United Team Of Germany from 1956-1964.
- , now known as "National Stadium," was the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies, and for track and field events.
- , or Japan Martial Arts Hall, was built to house the Judo events, and is now one of Tokyo's best-known concert venues.
- , 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.
- in Setagaya hosted cycling events.
- and ''' Lake Sagami ''' hosted yachting, canoeing, and rowing events.
- , in Nagano Prefecture west of Tokyo, hosted equestrian events.
