1964 Summer Olympics
The officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964, were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki due to Japan's invasion of China, before ultimately being cancelled due to World War II. The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were the first Olympic Games held in the city and, as of 2021, the only ones to have spectators, as the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were conducted without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tokyo was chosen as the host city during the 55th IOC Session in West Germany on 26 May 1959.
The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia, and marked the first time South Africa was excluded for using its apartheid system in sports. Until 1960, South Africa had fielded segregated teams, conforming to the country's racial classifications; for the 1964 Games the International Olympic Committee demanded a multi-racial delegation to be sent, and after South Africa refused, they were excluded from participating. The country was, however, allowed to compete at the 1964 Summer Paralympics, also held in Tokyo, its Paralympic Games debut.
The 1964 Games were also the first to be telecast internationally without the need for tapes to be flown overseas, as they had been for the 1960 Olympics four years earlier. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, and from there to Europe using Relay 1. These were also the first Olympic Games to have color telecasts, albeit partially. Certain events such as the sumo wrestling and judo matches, sports popular in Japan, were tried out using Toshiba's new colour transmission system, but only for the domestic market. The entire 1964 Olympic Games was chronicled in the ground-breaking 1965 sports documentary film Tokyo Olympiad, directed by Kon Ichikawa.
The games were scheduled for mid-October to avoid the city's midsummer heat and humidity and the September typhoon season. The previous Olympics in Rome in 1960 started in late August and experienced hot weather. The following games in 1968 in Mexico City also began in October. The 1964 Olympics were also the last to use a traditional cinder track for the track events. Since 1968, a smooth, synthetic, all-weather track has been used. The United States topped the gold medal table at these Games, while the Soviet Union won the most medals overall.
In 2021, due to delay over the COVID-19 pandemic, Tokyo hosted the 2020 Summer Olympics, making it the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympic Games twice. Japan also hosted the Winter Olympics twice with the Sapporo 1972 and Nagano 1998 games.
Host city selection
Tokyo won the rights to the Games on 26 May 1959 at the 55th IOC Session in Munich, West Germany, over bids from Detroit, Brussels and Vienna.Toronto was an early bidder again in 1964 after the failed attempt for 1960 and failed to make the final round.
| City | Country | Round 1 | |||||||||
| Tokyo |  Japan|1947Highlights
; Demonstration sports Conventionally, countries are ranked by the number of gold medals they receive, followed then by the number of silver medals and, finally, bronze. Participating National Olympic CommitteesNinety-four nations participated in the 1964 Games. Sixteen nations made their first Olympic appearance in Tokyo: Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Northern Rhodesia, Senegal, and Tanzania. Malaysia previously competed as Malaya.Cambodia returned to compete in Olympics after being absent in the 1960 Summer Olympics, but competed in all events despite having only competed in equestrian event in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Northern Rhodesia achieved full independence as Zambia on the same day as the closing ceremony. Athletes from Southern Rhodesia competed under the banner of Rhodesia; this was the last of three appearances at the Summer Olympics by a Rhodesian representation. Zimbabwe would later make its first appearance at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Athletes from East Germany and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany, as they had done previously in 1956 and 1960. The nations would enter separate teams beginning with the 1968 Winter Olympics. Indonesia was banned from the 1964 Olympics, due to its refusal to allow Israeli and Taiwanese athletes visas at the 1962 Asian Games. Indonesia was originally banned on the meeting which took place in Lausanne on 7 February 1963. The decision was changed on 26 June 1964 citing the changed position of the Government of Indonesia towards the Tokyo games.
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Afghanistan|1964 Summer|8