Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World Book

It was the Olympics of Cassius Clay, Wilma Rudolph, Rafer Johnson, and Abebe Bikila. It was the Olympics with the first drug scandal and it was the first Olympics to be telecast. Also, it was the first Olympics where an athlete was paid to wear a certain brand of shoes. All played out against the backdrop of the Eternal City and the Cold War.

Do not forbid what you cannot prevent.

1960 saw the beginning of the end of "amateurism" for Olympic athletes. It was already clear that the Soviets and their satellite nations were fully subsidizing their teams, while the West participants were realizing there was a new age to behold for post-Olympic marketing. In many ways, the Rome Olympics were an end of the old and the start of the new. There was still an elite old-boyism flair at play, but the Ethiopian victory in the marathon, run by Bikila in his bare feet, meant new competition from developing countries. Capitalism was rushing in from one side and Communism from the other side.

Prior to reading this book, I knew nothing about the 1960 Olympics and almost nothing about the stars. Muhammad Ali did not exist yet; Clay was just a kid from Louisville who loved attention and glory. Wilma Rudolph exemplified the predicament of most female Olympians in that she was expected to be successful yet still appear feminine. Italy was going through its economic revival and the remnants of WWII were finally disappearing. All in all, it's a fascinating history, especially when one considers how the Olympics are now financial cripplers focused more on opening ceremonies than on catching drug cheats. This book brings us back to a simpler time, enough that I have added the documentary to my watchlist. It's a good book, albeit so full of different names from different countries that I got a bit mixed-up (which I suspect is more my fault than the author's).

It was also a reminder of how much pain and toil each Olympian endures, only to be forgotten by the next event.

That is how most Olympic athletes finish, unknown and unseen, away from the glare of media hype and patriotic hope.

Book Season = Summer (sweltering)