MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES - 1964 Tokyo Olympiad
 
                       

The Games of the XVIII Olympiad held in Tokyo were opened by emperor Hirohito and the Olympic flame was brought into the stadium by Yoshinoro Sakai, a 19 years old student, born in Hiroshima on 6th August 1945, the day the first atomic bomb fell. Hungarian water polo player Dezso Gyarmati won his fifth medal in a row and his team mate, Imre Polyak, a Greco-Roman wrestle earned a gold medal after finishing second in the same division at the previous three Olympics. Larysa Latynina, a gymnast from Ukraine, won two medals bringing her career medal to 18. Russian rower Vyacheslav Ivanov won the single sculls for the third time and swimmer Dawn Fraser, from Australia, won the 100m freestyle for the third time. Al Oerter, from the

United States, earned the third Olympic title in the discus throw, despite a cervical disc problem. Finally, the legendary Abebe Bikila, from Ethiopia, became the first repeat winner of the Marathon competition, two months after having removed his appendix.Two new events were established: judo and volleyball which became very popular.

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Opening date:
10th October 1964
Closing date:
24th October 1964
Nations: 93
Sports: 19
Events: 163
Athletes: 5 151
Men: 4 473
Women: 678

Candidate cities: Detroit, Vienna and Brussels.