# Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, 34 events in athletics were contested, 24 by men and 10 by women. There were a total number of 1016 participating athletes from 73 countries.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Armin Hary United Team of Germany | 10.2 (=OR) | Dave Sime United States | 10.2 (=OR) | Peter Radford Great Britain | 10.3 |
| 200 metres details | Livio Berruti Italy | 20.5 (=WR) | Lester Carney United States | 20.6 | Abdoulaye Seye France | 20.7 |
| 400 metres details | Otis Davis United States | 44.9 (WR) | Carl Kaufmann United Team of Germany | 44.9 (WR) | Malcolm Spence South Africa | 45.5 |
| 800 metres details | Peter Snell New Zealand | 1:46.3 (OR) | Roger Moens Belgium | 1:46.5 | George Kerr British West Indies | 1:47.1 |
| 1500 metres details | Herb Elliott Australia | 3:35.6 (WR) | Michel Jazy France | 3:38.4 | István Rózsavölgyi Hungary | 3:39.2 |
| 5000 metres details | Murray Halberg New Zealand | 13:43.4 | Hans Grodotzki United Team of Germany | 13:44.6 | Kazimierz Zimny Poland | 13:44.8 |
| 10,000 metres details | Pyotr Bolotnikov Soviet Union | 28:32.2 (OR) | Hans Grodotzki United Team of Germany | 28:37.0 | Dave Power Australia | 28:38.2 |
| 110 metres hurdles details | Lee Calhoun United States | 13.8 | Willie May United States | 13.8 | Hayes Jones United States | 14.0 |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Glenn Davis United States | 49.3 (OR) | Clifton Cushman United States | 49.6 | Dick Howard United States | 49.7 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details | Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Poland | 8:34.2 (OR) | Nikolay Sokolov Soviet Union | 8:36.4 | Semyon Rzhishchin Soviet Union | 8:42.2 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United Team of Germany (EUA) Bernd Cullmann Armin Hary Walter Mahlendorf Martin Lauer | 39.5 (=WR) | Soviet Union (URS) Gusman Kosanov Leonid Bartenyev Yuriy Konovalov Edvin Ozolin | 40.1 | Great Britain (GBR) Peter Radford David Jones David Segal Nick Whitehead | 40.2 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | United States (USA) Jack Yerman Earl Young Glenn Davis Otis Davis | 3:02.2 (WR) | United Team of Germany (EUA) Hans-Joachim Reske Manfred Kinder Johannes Kaiser Carl Kaufmann | 3:02.7 | British West Indies (BWI) Malcolm Spence Jim Wedderburn Keith Gardner George Kerr | 3:04.0 |
| Marathon details | Abebe Bikila Ethiopia | 2:15:16.2 (WB) | Rhadi Ben Abdesselam Morocco | 2:15:41.6 | Barry Magee New Zealand | 2:17:18.2 |
| 20 kilometres walk details | Volodymyr Holubnychy Soviet Union | 1:34:07.2 | Noel Freeman Australia | 1:34:16.4 | Stan Vickers Great Britain | 1:34.56.4 |
| 50 kilometres walk details | Don Thompson Great Britain | 4:25:30.0 (OR) | John Ljunggren Sweden | 4:25:47.0 | Abdon Pamich Italy | 4:27:55.4 |
| High jump details | Robert Shavlakadze Soviet Union | 2.16 m (OR) | Valeriy Brumel Soviet Union | 2.16 m (OR) | John Thomas United States | 2.14 m |
| Pole vault details | Don Bragg United States | 4.70 m (OR) | Ron Morris United States | 4.60 m | Eeles Landström Finland | 4.55 m |
| Long jump details | Ralph Boston United States | 8.12 m (OR) | Bo Roberson United States | 8.11 m | Igor Ter-Ovanesyan Soviet Union | 8.04 m |
| Triple jump details | Józef Szmidt Poland | 16.81 m (OR) | Vladimir Goryaev Soviet Union | 16.63 m | Vitold Kreyer Soviet Union | 16.43 m |
| Shot put details | Bill Nieder United States | 19.68 m (OR) | Parry O'Brien United States | 19.11 m | Dallas Long United States | 19.01 m |
| Discus throw details | Al Oerter United States | 59.18 m (OR) | Rink Babka United States | 58.02 m | Dick Cochran United States | 57.16 m |
| Hammer throw details | Vasily Rudenkov Soviet Union | 67.10 m (OR) | Gyula Zsivótzky Hungary | 65.79 m | Tadeusz Rut Poland | 65.64 m |
| Javelin throw details | Viktor Tsybulenko Soviet Union | 84.64 m | Walter Krüger United Team of Germany | 79.36 m | Gergely Kulcsár Hungary | 78.57 m |
| Decathlon details | Rafer Johnson United States | 8392 (OR) | Yang Chuan-kwang Formosa | 8334 | Vasili Kuznetsov Soviet Union | 7809 |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Wilma Rudolph United States | 11.0 | Dorothy Hyman Great Britain | 11.3 | Giuseppina Leone Italy | 11.3 |
| 200 metres details | Wilma Rudolph United States | 24.0 | Jutta Heine United Team of Germany | 24.4 | Dorothy Hyman Great Britain | 24.7 |
| 800 metres details | Lyudmila Shevtsova Soviet Union | 2:04.3 (=WR) | Brenda Jones Australia | 2:04.4 | Ursula Donath United Team of Germany | 2:05.6 |
| 80 metres hurdles details | Irina Press Soviet Union | 10.8 | Carole Quinton Great Britain | 10.9 | Gisela Birkemeyer United Team of Germany | 11.0 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States (USA) Martha Hudson Lucinda Williams Barbara Jones Wilma Rudolph | 44.5 | United Team of Germany (EUA) Martha Langbein Anni Biechl Brunhilde Hendrix Jutta Heine | 44.8 | Poland (POL) Teresa Wieczorek Barbara Janiszewska Celina Jesionowska Halina Richter | 45.0 |
| High jump details | Iolanda Balaș Romania | 1.85 m (OR) | Jarosława Jóźwiakowska Poland | 1.71 m | none awarded as there was a tie for silver | |
| High jump details | Iolanda Balaș Romania | 1.85 m (OR) | Dorothy Shirley Great Britain | 1.71 m | none awarded as there was a tie for silver | |
| Long jump details | Vera Krepkina Soviet Union | 6.37 m (OR) | Elżbieta Krzesińska Poland | 6.27 m | Hildrun Claus United Team of Germany | 6.21 m |
| Shot put details | Tamara Press Soviet Union | 17.32 m (OR) | Johanna Lüttge United Team of Germany | 16.61 m | Earlene Brown United States | 16.42 m |
| Discus throw details | Nina Ponomaryova Soviet Union | 55.10 m (OR) | Tamara Press Soviet Union | 52.59 m | Lia Manoliu Romania | 52.36 m |
| Javelin throw details | Elvīra Ozoliņa Soviet Union | 55.98 m (OR) | Dana Zátopková Czechoslovakia | 53.78 m | Birutė Kalėdienė Soviet Union | 53.45 m |

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 12 | 8 | 6 | 26 |
| 2 | Soviet Union (URS) | 11 | 5 | 5 | 21 |
| 3 | United Team of Germany (EUA) | 2 | 8 | 3 | 13 |
| 4 | Poland (POL) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | New Zealand (NZL) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Great Britain (GBR) | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | Australia (AUS) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | Romania (ROU) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 12 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Formosa (ROC) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Morocco (MAR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | British West Indies (BWI) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 19 | Finland (FIN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | South Africa (RSA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (20 entries) | Totals (20 entries) | 34 | 35 | 33 | 102 |

## Participating nations

* Afghanistan (6)
* Argentina (4)
* Australia (28)
* Austria (10)
* Bahamas (3)
* Belgium (12)
* Brazil (5)
* British West Indies (8)
* Bulgaria (9)
* Burma (1)
* Canada (16)
* Ceylon (1)
* Chile (4)
* Cuba (3)
* Czechoslovakia (28)
* Denmark (9)
* Egypt (2)
* Ethiopia (6)
* Fiji (2)
* Finland (26)
* Formosa (6)
* France (36)
* United Team of Germany (91)
* Ghana (7)
* Great Britain (62)
* Greece (19)
* Guyana (4)
* Hungary (27)
* Iceland (7)
* India (12)
* Indonesia (1)
* Iran (1)
* Iraq (11)
* Ireland (9)
* Israel (8)
* Italy (47)
* Japan (20)
* Kenya (5)
* South Korea (6)
* Lebanon (1)
* Liberia (4)
* Liechtenstein (2)
* Luxembourg (6)
* Malaya (3)
* Mexico (5)
* Morocco (8)
* Netherlands (11)
* New Zealand (14)
* Nigeria (8)
* Norway (11)
* Pakistan (12)
* Panama (4)
* Philippines (7)
* Poland (52)
* Portugal (5)
* Puerto Rico (8)
* Rhodesia (3)
* Romania (9)
* Somalia (1)
* South Africa (7)
* Soviet Union (83)
* Spain (13)
* Sudan (2)
* Suriname (1)
* Sweden (28)
* Switzerland (22)
* Thailand (8)
* Tunisia (11)
* Turkey (14)
* Uganda (4)
* United States (81)
* Uruguay (1)
* Venezuela (8)
* Yugoslavia (22)

## Records broken

During the 1960 Summer Olympic Games, 28 new Olympic records and 4 new world records were set in the athletics events.

### Men's Olympic and world records

| Event | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Result | OR | WR |
| 100 metres | August 31 | Final | Armin Hary | United Team of Germany | 10.2 s | OR | |
| 200 metres | September 3 | Semi-Final | Livio Berruti | Italy | 20.5 s | OR | |
| 400 metres | September 6 | Final | Otis Davis | United States | 44.9 s | OR | WR |
| 800 metres | September 2 | Final | Peter Snell | New Zealand | 1:46.3 | OR | |
| 1500 metres | September 6 | Final | Herb Elliott | Australia | 3:35.6 | OR | WR |
| 10,000 metres | September 8 | Final | Pyotr Bolotnikov | Soviet Union | 28:32.2 | OR | |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | September 8 | Final | Jack Yerman Earl Young Glenn Davis Otis Davis | United States | 3:02.2 | OR | WR |
| 400 metres hurdles | September 2 | Final | Glenn Davis | United States | 49.3 s | OR | |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | September 3 | Final | Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak | Poland | 8:34.2 | OR | |
| Marathon | September 10 | Final | Abebe Bikila | Ethiopia | 2:15:16.2 | OR | |
| 50 km walk | September 7 | Final | Don Thompson | Great Britain | 4:25:30.0 | OR | |
| High jump | September 3 | Final | Robert Shavlakadze Valeriy Brumel | Soviet Union | 2.16 m | OR | |
| Long jump | September 2 | Final | Ralph Boston | United States | 8.12 m | OR | |
| Triple jump | September 6 | Final | Józef Szmidt | Poland | 16.81 m | OR | |
| Pole vault | September 7 | Final | Don Bragg | United States | 4.70 m | OR | |
| Shot put | August 31 | Final | Bill Nieder | United States | 19.68 m | OR | |
| Hammer throw | September 3 | Final | Vasily Rudenkov | Soviet Union | 67.10 m | OR | |
| Decathlon | September 6 | Final | Rafer Johnson | United States | 8,392 points | OR | |

### Women's Olympic and world records

| Event | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Result | OR | WR |
| 100 metres | September 2 | Semi-Final | Wilma Rudolph | United States | 11.3 s | OR | |
| 200 metres | September 3 | First Round | Wilma Rudolph | United States | 23.2 s | OR | |
| 800 metres | September 7 | Final | Lyudmila Shevtsova | Soviet Union | 2:04.03 | OR | |
| 80 metres hurdles | August 31 | Semi-Final | Irina Press | Soviet Union | 10.6 s | OR | |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | September 7 | First Round | Martha Hudson Lucinda Williams Barbara Jones Wilma Rudolph | United States | 44.4 s | OR | WR |
| High jump | September 8 | Final | Iolanda Balaş | Romania | 1.85 m | OR | |
| Long jump | August 31 | Final | Vera Krepkina | Soviet Union | 6.37 m | OR | |
| Discus throw | September 5 | Final | Nina Romashkova | Soviet Union | 55.10 m | OR | |
| Shot put | September 2 | Final | Tamara Press | Soviet Union | 17.32 m | OR | |
| Javelin throw | September 1 | Final | Elvīra Ozoliņa | Soviet Union | 55.98 m | OR | |