# Gymnastics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's vault

The men's vault competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. It was held on 5, 7, and 10 September at the Baths of Caracalla. There were 129 competitors from 28 nations, with nations in the team competition having up to 6 gymnasts and other nations entering up to 2 gymnasts. For the second straight Games, there was a tie for first place in the vault. Boris Shakhlin of the Soviet Union and Takashi Ono of Japan each received a gold medal. It was the third consecutive Games with a gold medal for the Soviets. Ono, who had taken bronze in 1952, became the second man to win multiple vault medals. Third place and the bronze medal went to Soviet Vladimir Portnoi.
The 1960 gymnastics competitions introduced apparatus finals, with the all-around competition serving as a qualifying round for the vault final.

## Background

This was the 10th appearance of the event, which is one of the five apparatus events held every time there were apparatus events at the Summer Olympics (no apparatus events were held in 1900, 1908, 1912, or 1920). Four of the top 10 gymnasts from 1956 returned: bronze medalist Yury Titov of the Soviet Union, fourth-place finisher Boris Shakhlin of the Soviet Union, sixth-place finisher (and 1952 silver medalist) Masao Takemoto of Japan, and seventh-place finisher Jack Beckner of the United States. Also returning was Takashi Ono of Japan, bronze medalist in 1952 and 16th place in 1956. The 1958 World Championship podium was (in order) Titov, Takemoto, and Ono.
Morocco and South Korea each made their debut in the men's vault; the short-lived United Arab Republic made its only appearance. The United States made its ninth appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the inaugural 1896 Games.

## Competition format

The gymnastics all-around events continued to use the aggregation format. Each nation entered a team of six gymnasts or up to two individual gymnasts. All entrants in the gymnastics competitions performed both a compulsory exercise and a voluntary exercise for each apparatus. The scores for all 12 exercises were summed to give an individual all-around score. The event used a "vaulting horse" aligned parallel to the gymnast's run (rather than the modern "vaulting table" in use since 2004).
These exercise scores were also used for qualification for the new apparatus finals. The two exercises (compulsory and voluntary) for each apparatus were summed to give an apparatus score; the top 6 in each apparatus participated in the finals; others were ranked 7th through 130th. For the apparatus finals, the all-around score for that apparatus was multiplied by one-half then added to the final round exercise score to give a final total.
Exercise scores ranged from 0 to 10, with the final total apparatus score from 0 to 20.

## Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Monday, 5 September 1960 | 8:00 17:00 | Preliminary: Compulsory |
| Wednesday, 7 September 1960 | 8:00 17:00 | Preliminary: Voluntary |
| Saturday, 10 September 1960 | 15:00 | Final |

## Results

| Rank | Gymnast | Nation | Preliminary | Preliminary | Preliminary | Final | Final | Final |
| Rank | Gymnast | Nation | Compulsory | Voluntary | Total | 1⁄2 Prelim. | Final | Total |
| | Takashi Ono | Japan | 9.60 | 9.70 | 19.30 | 9.650 | 9.700 | 19.350 |
| | Boris Shakhlin | Soviet Union | 9.50 | 9.70 | 19.20 | 9.600 | 9.750 | 19.350 |
| | Vladimir Portnoy | Soviet Union | 9.60 | 9.65 | 19.25 | 9.625 | 9.600 | 19.225 |
| 4 | Yury Titov | Soviet Union | 9.50 | 9.50 | 19.00 | 9.500 | 9.700 | 19.200 |
| 5 | Yukio Endo | Japan | 9.55 | 9.50 | 19.05 | 9.525 | 9.650 | 19.175 |
| 6 | Shuji Tsurumi | Japan | 9.45 | 9.55 | 19.00 | 9.500 | 9.650 | 19.150 |
| 7 | Masao Takemoto | Japan | 9.35 | 9.65 | 19.00 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 8 | Takashi Mitsukuri | Japan | 9.40 | 9.55 | 18.95 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 9 | Nobuyuki Aihara | Japan | 9.35 | 9.50 | 18.85 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 9 | Franco Menichelli | Italy | 9.35 | 9.50 | 18.85 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 9 | Giovanni Carminucci | Italy | 9.20 | 9.65 | 18.85 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 12 | Nikolai Miligulo | Soviet Union | 9.30 | 9.50 | 18.80 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 13 | Miroslav Cerar | Yugoslavia | 9.35 | 9.40 | 18.75 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 14 | Albert Azaryan | Soviet Union | 9.30 | 9.40 | 18.70 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 15 | Angelo Vicardi | Italy | 9.30 | 9.35 | 18.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 16 | Valery Kerdemelidi | Soviet Union | 9.25 | 9.35 | 18.60 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 17 | Fred Orlofsky | United States | 9.20 | 9.35 | 18.55 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 17 | Nikola Prodanov | Bulgaria | 9.15 | 9.40 | 18.55 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 19 | William Thoresson | Sweden | 9.20 | 9.30 | 18.50 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 20 | Jaroslav Šťastný | Czechoslovakia | 9.05 | 9.40 | 18.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 20 | Josy Stoffel | Luxembourg | 9.25 | 9.20 | 18.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 20 | Ernst Fivian | Switzerland | 9.10 | 9.35 | 18.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 20 | Don Tonry | United States | 9.20 | 9.25 | 18.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 20 | Pavel Gajdoš | Czechoslovakia | 9.05 | 9.40 | 18.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 20 | Bo Wirhed | Sweden | 9.25 | 9.20 | 18.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 26 | Günter Lyhs | United Team of Germany | 9.00 | 9.40 | 18.40 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 26 | Josef Trmal | Czechoslovakia | 9.00 | 9.40 | 18.40 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 28 | Ferdinand Daniš | Czechoslovakia | 8.95 | 9.40 | 18.35 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 28 | Larry Banner | United States | 9.05 | 9.30 | 18.35 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 28 | Max Benker | Switzerland | 9.00 | 9.35 | 18.35 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 28 | Stoyan Stoyanov | Bulgaria | 9.05 | 9.30 | 18.35 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 28 | Sándor Békési | Hungary | 9.05 | 9.30 | 18.35 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 33 | Günter Nachtigall | United Team of Germany | 8.95 | 9.35 | 18.30 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 34 | Siegfried Fülle | United Team of Germany | 8.90 | 9.35 | 18.25 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 34 | Pasquale Carminucci | Italy | 8.90 | 9.35 | 18.25 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 34 | Lajos Varga | Hungary | 9.25 | 9.00 | 18.25 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 34 | Rajmund Csányi | Hungary | 9.10 | 9.15 | 18.25 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 34 | Alojz Petrovič | Yugoslavia | 9.00 | 9.25 | 18.25 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 39 | Jaroslav Bím | Czechoslovakia | 8.85 | 9.35 | 18.20 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 39 | Gianfranco Marzolla | Italy | 8.95 | 9.25 | 18.20 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 39 | Karlheinz Friedrich | United Team of Germany | 9.10 | 9.10 | 18.20 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 39 | Philipp Fürst | United Team of Germany | 8.95 | 9.25 | 18.20 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 43 | Olavi Leimuvirta | Finland | 8.90 | 9.25 | 18.15 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 43 | Fritz Feuz | Switzerland | 8.70 | 9.45 | 18.15 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 43 | Lyuben Khristov | Bulgaria | 8.80 | 9.35 | 18.15 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 46 | Otto Kestola | Finland | 8.90 | 9.20 | 18.10 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 46 | Jack Beckner | United States | 8.90 | 9.20 | 18.10 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 46 | Hans Schwarzentruber | Switzerland | 8.75 | 9.35 | 18.10 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 46 | Ivan Čaklec | Yugoslavia | 8.80 | 9.30 | 18.10 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 46 | Hermenegildo Martínez | Spain | 8.85 | 9.25 | 18.10 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 51 | Sakari Olkkonen | Finland | 8.75 | 9.30 | 18.05 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 52 | Orlando Polmonari | Italy | 8.75 | 9.25 | 18.00 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 52 | Rudolf Keszthelyi | Hungary | 8.85 | 9.15 | 18.00 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 52 | Bernard Fauqueux | France | 8.90 | 9.10 | 18.00 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 52 | Ernest Hawełek | Poland | 8.85 | 9.15 | 18.00 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 52 | Jerzy Jokiel | Poland | 8.95 | 9.05 | 18.00 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 52 | Georgi Khristov | Bulgaria | 9.00 | 9.00 | 18.00 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 58 | Velik Kapsazov | Bulgaria | 8.60 | 9.35 | 17.95 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 58 | Alfred Kucharczyk | Poland | 8.55 | 9.40 | 17.95 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 58 | Ismail Abdallah | United Arab Republic | 8.75 | 9.20 | 17.95 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 61 | Gar O'Quinn | United States | 8.75 | 9.15 | 17.90 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 61 | Milenko Lekić | Yugoslavia | 8.65 | 9.25 | 17.90 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 63 | Robert Caymaris | France | 8.85 | 9.00 | 17.85 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 63 | Abie Grossfeld | United States | 8.90 | 8.95 | 17.85 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 63 | Armand Huberty | Luxembourg | 8.75 | 9.10 | 17.85 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 63 | Marsel Markulin | Yugoslavia | 8.70 | 9.15 | 17.85 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 63 | Ahmed Goneim | United Arab Republic | 8.85 | 9.00 | 17.85 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 68 | Raimo Heinonen | Finland | 8.60 | 9.20 | 17.80 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 69 | André Brüllmann | Switzerland | 8.60 | 9.15 | 17.75 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 69 | Géza Bejek | Hungary | 8.70 | 9.05 | 17.75 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 69 | Leif Koorn | Sweden | 8.45 | 9.30 | 17.75 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 69 | Willi Kafel | Austria | 8.80 | 8.95 | 17.75 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 73 | Nik Stuart | Great Britain | 8.70 | 9.00 | 17.70 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 73 | Józef Rajnisz | Poland | 8.75 | 8.95 | 17.70 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 73 | Kurt Wigartz | Sweden | 8.45 | 9.25 | 17.70 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 73 | Hans Sauter | Austria | 8.60 | 9.10 | 17.70 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 73 | Jean Jaillard | France | 8.70 | 9.00 | 17.70 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 73 | Richard Montpetit | Canada | 8.95 | 8.75 | 17.70 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 73 | Enrique Montserrat | Spain | 8.75 | 8.95 | 17.70 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 73 | Luis Valbuena | Spain | 8.85 | 8.85 | 17.70 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 81 | Kauko Heikkinen | Finland | 8.70 | 8.95 | 17.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 81 | Erwin Koppe | United Team of Germany | 8.45 | 9.20 | 17.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 81 | Stig Lindewall | Sweden | 8.70 | 8.95 | 17.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 81 | Edy Thomi | Switzerland | 8.50 | 9.15 | 17.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 81 | János Mester | Hungary | 8.60 | 9.05 | 17.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 81 | Kim Sang-guk | South Korea | 8.65 | 9.00 | 17.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 87 | Marcel Coppin | Luxembourg | 8.75 | 8.85 | 17.60 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 87 | René Marteaux | Belgium | 8.50 | 9.10 | 17.60 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 89 | Eugen Ekman | Finland | 8.55 | 9.00 | 17.55 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 89 | Åge Storhaug | Norway | 8.40 | 9.15 | 17.55 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 89 | Ladislav Pazdera | Czechoslovakia | 8.35 | 9.20 | 17.55 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 89 | Selim El-Sayed | United Arab Republic | 8.70 | 8.85 | 17.55 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 93 | Andrzej Konopka | Poland | 8.80 | 8.65 | 17.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 93 | Johann König | Austria | 8.55 | 8.90 | 17.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 95 | Emilio Lecuona | Spain | 8.35 | 9.05 | 17.40 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 95 | Abdel Vares Sharraf | United Arab Republic | 8.40 | 9.00 | 17.40 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 95 | Léopold Desmet | Belgium | 8.50 | 8.90 | 17.40 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 98 | Jack Pancott | Great Britain | 8.20 | 9.15 | 17.35 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 98 | Ken Buffin | Great Britain | 8.30 | 9.05 | 17.35 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 100 | Dragan Gagić | Yugoslavia | 7.95 | 9.25 | 17.20 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 101 | Mohamed Lazhari | France | 8.10 | 9.05 | 17.15 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 102 | Gerhard Huber | Austria | 8.40 | 8.70 | 17.10 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 102 | Hubert Erang | Luxembourg | 8.40 | 8.70 | 17.10 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 104 | John Mulhall | Great Britain | 8.45 | 8.60 | 17.05 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 105 | Peter Starling | Great Britain | 7.85 | 9.15 | 17.00 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 106 | Todor Bachvarov | Bulgaria | 7.85 | 9.05 | 16.90 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 106 | Hermann Klien | Austria | 8.40 | 8.50 | 16.90 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 108 | Ahmed Dakkeli | United Arab Republic | 7.75 | 9.10 | 16.85 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 109 | Miloud M'Sellek | Morocco | 8.30 | 8.50 | 16.80 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 110 | Michel Mathiot | France | 7.65 | 9.10 | 16.75 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 111 | Michel Kiesgen | Luxembourg | 7.80 | 8.85 | 16.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 112 | Aleksander Rokosa | Poland | 7.65 | 8.90 | 16.55 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 113 | Anton Hertl | Austria | 7.55 | 8.95 | 16.50 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 114 | Jaime Belenguer | Spain | 7.65 | 8.80 | 16.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 115 | Ramón García | Spain | 7.50 | 8.90 | 16.40 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 116 | Benjamin de Roo | Australia | 7.40 | 8.95 | 16.35 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 117 | Ahmed Issam Allam | United Arab Republic | 7.00 | 9.30 | 16.30 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 117 | Juan Caviglia | Argentina | 7.40 | 8.90 | 16.30 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 119 | François Eisenbarth | Luxembourg | 7.75 | 8.45 | 16.20 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 120 | Ahmed Fellat | Morocco | 8.30 | 7.35 | 15.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 121 | Armando Valles | Mexico | 7.15 | 8.40 | 15.55 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 122 | Daniel Touche | France | 6.00 | 9.10 | 15.10 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 123 | Dick Gradley | Great Britain | 8.30 | 6.75 | 15.05 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 123 | Jean Cronstedt | Sweden | 6.10 | 8.95 | 15.05 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 125 | Graham Bond | Australia | 6.00 | 8.65 | 14.65 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 126 | Mohamed Sekkat | Morocco | 6.50 | 7.95 | 14.45 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 127 | Abdesselem Regragui | Morocco | 6.00 | 6.75 | 12.75 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 128 | Darif Tanjaoui | Morocco | 6.00 | 5.50 | 11.50 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| 129 | Hermenegildo Candeias | Portugal | 0.00 | 8.75 | 8.75 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| — | Kacem Klifa | Morocco | DNS | DNS | DNS | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |