1. These were the first Olympic Games televised in
color and transmitted live via satellite to North
America and Europe. This too, was the first
time used the "slow motion" and computers to
record the exact times in competitions.
2. • Yoshinori Sakai, who lit the Olympic Flame, was born in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the day
an atomic bomb was dropped on that city.
• The women's pentathlon (shot put, high jump, hurdling, sprint and long jump) was introduced to the
athletics events.
• Abebe Bikila became the first person to win the Olympic marathon twice.
• 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 100 m title in a time of 10.0 seconds, equaling the world record. He had run the
distance in 9.9 seconds in the semifinal but this was not recognized as a world record as it was wind
assisted. He went on to win a Super Bowl ring as a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys and was
elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• This was the last Summer Olympics to use a cinder running track for athletic events, and the first to
use fiberglass poles for pole vaulting.
• Unfortunately for Japan, several big international events also took attention during the
Olympics, including the sudden removal of Nikita Khrushchev and the first nuclear test in China.
• The nation of Malaysia, which had formed the previous year by a union of Malaya, British North
Borneo and Singapore, competed for the first time in the Games.
• The US men's swimming team won all but three gold medals (7 out of 10).
