The world was becoming a more international place in 1960. People were twisting to band music from Philadelphia to Rome. Descending from Europe to America was beatle-mania, the car by Volkswagen, not the band.
While their nations competed for world, and space supremacy, the 1960 games proved to be a friendly affair between Soviet and American athletes, who had come to know each other through competitions in both countries.
A newly independent African continent celebrated it's first great Olympic champion, Ethiopian marathon winner Abebe Bikila.
Extensive live TV coverage was now available throughout 18 European countries. Only four years earlier live coverage was confined to the limits of the Olympic city.