ROME 1960
- 25 August – 11 September 1960
- 150 official medal events.
- 5,337 competitors from 83 countries.
- Finnish team: 119 athletes (117 participated in official events).
The Rome Games of 1960 were preceded by a severe political crisis in the Finnish domestic sports scene. Disagreements arose over the conditions under which athletes of the Workers’s Sports Federation (TUL) could take part in the Finnish Olympic team. In spite of President Kekkonen’s personal effort of conciliation, no agreement was reached. TUL athletes were left out of the Olympic team for the first and only time since 1948.
For the first time Finns could follow the Olympic Games live on television – only to witness the worst showing of Finnish Olympic sports since 1908. The overall medal haul dropped from fifteen in 1956 to five in 1960. The unbroken sequence of Finnish Olympic gold medals was saved only on the last day of competitions by the gymnast Eugen Ekman, who tied for first place in the horse vault with Boris Shakhlin of the USSR. Eeles Landström’s bronze in the pole vault saved Finland’s reputation in track and field athletics, but Finnish wrestlers were left with no medals for the first time in their Olympic history. One of the few bright spots was swimming, where the Finnish men’s team placed fifth in the 4 x 200-metre Freestyle relay.
Medal Standings
| G | S | B | Total | ||
| 1 | Soviet Union | 43 | 29 | 31 | 103 |
| 2 | USA | 34 | 21 | 16 | 71 |
| 3 | Italy | 13 | 10 | 13 | 36 |
| 4 | Germany | 12 | 19 | 11 | 42 |
| 5 | Australia | 8 | 8 | 6 | 22 |
| 6 | Turkey | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 7 | Hungary | 6 | 8 | 7 | 21 |
| 8 | Japan | 4 | 7 | 7 | 18 |
| 9 | Poland | 4 | 6 | 11 | 21 |
| 10 | Czechoslovakia | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 11 | Romania | 3 | 1 | 6 | 10 |
| 12 | Great Britain | 2 | 6 | 12 | 20 |
| 13 | Denmark | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 14 | New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Bulgaria | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 16 | Sweden | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 17 | Finland | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 18 | Austria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Yugoslavia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 20 | Pakistan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | Ethiopia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Greece | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Norway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 24 | Switzerland | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 25 | France | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 26 | Belgium | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 27 | Iran | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 28 | Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| South Africa | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 30 | United Arab Republic | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Argentina | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 32 | Morocco | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Taiwan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Ghana | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Singapore | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Canada | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Portugal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| India | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 39 | British West Indies | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Brazil | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 41 | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Iraq | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
