1964 Summer Olympics

{{Olympics infobox |

  Name                   = Games of the XVIII Olympiad |
  Logo                   = 1964 solympics logo.gif |

Host city = Tokyo, Japan |

  Nations participating  = 93 |

Athletes participating = 5,140
(4,457 men, 683 women)| Events = 163 in 19 sports | Opening ceremony = October 10, 1964 | Closing ceremony = 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 |The 1964 Summer Olympics, 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 in Asia[1].

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.

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 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.

Sports

{
* Athletics
* Basketball
* Boxing
* Canoeing
* Cycling
* Diving
* Equestrianism
* Fencing
* Football
* Gymnastics
* Hockey