Rome, 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World

[bad hammy]

I'm kind of surprised that this new book by David Maraniss has not come up yet around here. I finished it this morning and it was an excellent read about the 1960 Oly Games in Rome. (Although the subtitle might be just a tad hyperbolic, and for our non-US friends, it is a bit, but not entirely, US-centric.)

It ties in shamateurism, Cold War politics (US/USSR, East/West Germany, Taiwan/China) and US race relations with much of the excellent athletic achievements that took place, including extensive coverage of Wilma Rudolph, Cassius Clay, Rafer Johnson and Abebe Bikila. Plus a tad less coverage on many other athletes and others (Avery Brundage, Cordner and Bert Nelson, etc.) Even had a chapter titled 'Track and Field News'.

Amazon listing for Rome, 1960

[Mennisco]

Thanks Hammy, I sure hope the reviewer didn't intend things to come across as sloppily as they do:

"Steroids and amphetamines started seeping into Olympian bloodstreams.........supercharged sprinter Wilma Rudolph........"

Careless to the point of being odious. But I bet the book is a great read!

[tandfman]

I ordered it from Amazon a few weeks ago, but haven't had time to read it. It's supposed to be good.

[bambam]

Re: Rome, 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World

I'm kind of surprised that this new book by David Mariness has not come up yet around here.

Bad Hammy - see the thread I started about 2 weeks ago

http://mb.trackandfieldnews.com/discuss ... hp?t=31739

[bad hammy]

Interesting - I did a couple of searches (including the author's rather unique last name) and came up with nada. I was out of town when that thread was around so I guess I missed it.

Good book, either way!

Edit: Ah, got to spell the author's name correctly!

[tandfman]

Interesting - I did a couple of searches (including the author's rather unique last name) and came up with nada. I was out of town when that thread was around so I guess I missed it.

I was pretty sure we had been there, done that, so I searched for it but couldn't find it (the name misspelling certainly didn't help).

[Jacksf]

I just happened to look through it this evening at the local bookstore.
I was reading about David Sime in one of the opening chapters.
Sime says that he had always beaten Morrow when he was healthy. (Of course Morrow won in 56 when Sime was injured, and missing that Olympics was reason for Sime to stay an amateur and try to win the 60 Olympics.)

I am wondering if this is true - and does anybody know their head-to-head record?
Also wondering about the placings in the 100m at the 60 Olympic Trials.

Meanwhile, I will pick up the book when I finally finish the 3 other books on my coffee table.

[Double R Bar]

1960 Olympic Trials; Men's 100 meters: 1. Norton, 2. Budd, and 3. Sime.
I think all three ran 10.4. I didn't attend those trials, but more than one person I know that did go says it was the greatest meet they had seen.

Rome, 1960 is an excellent book and I would definitely recommend it. I met the author last week on his book tour. His first words were, "If my book tour were a decathlon, I would be throwing the javelin now." I knew I would like him after that.

[Per Andersen]

I just happened to look through it this evening at the local bookstore.
I was reading about David Sime in one of the opening chapters.
Sime says that he had always beaten Morrow when he was healthy. (Of course Morrow won in 56 when Sime was injured, and missing that Olympics was reason for Sime to stay an amateur and try to win the 60 Olympics.)

I am wondering if this is true - and does anybody know their head-to-head record?
Also wondering about the placings in the 100m at the 60 Olympic Trials.

Meanwhile, I will pick up the book when I finally finish the 3 other books on my coffee table.

Paul Winder tied Sime for third at the Trials. Co-favorite Charlie Tidwell got injured in that race (dnf)

When Morrow was at the top in 1956 and 1957 Sime only beat him once and that was at the Drake relays in '56 when Sime caught a flyer. In 1958 Morrow was still ranked no1 in the 100.
Only in 1960, when Morrow was basically finished due to injuries, was Sime ranked ahead of him in the 100. He was never ranked ahead of Morrow in the 200. Sime always had problems with the 200 turn.

[rhymans]

This is the record of Morrow-Sime meetings

4/28/56 Sime 9.4y, Morrow 9.5 [Sime gets a rolling start]
6/16/56 Morrow 10.4, Sime 10.6 [NCAA win into headwind]
6/16/56 Morrow 20.6, Sime - Dnf
(Morrow world ranked #1 and Sime #2 in both sprints)
4/5/58 Sime 9.6, 3. Morrow 9.7 [Woodhouse 2nd 9.7]
(Morrow, world ranked #1 in '57 in both sprints, repeats as #1 in 100 after winning in Modesto and at AAU, ranked #2 in '58 in 200. Sime ranked #5 in the 100 and #4 in 200 in '57, #7 in 100 in '58, unranked in 200)
3/21/59 Morrow 9.4y, Sime 9.4y
(Morrow ranked #6 in 100, #9 in 200. Sime unranked. For the second year ina row both men affected by injuries)
4/9/60 Morrow 10.2, 3. Sime 10.3 [2.Styron 10.2]
4/30/60 2. Sime , 3. Morrow (Norton 10.5)
4/30/60 2.Sime 20.8, 4. Morrow 21.4 [Norton 20.6, Collymore 21.1]
6/25/60 4. Morrow 21.1, 6. Sime 21.2 [AAU - Norton 20.8, Carney 21.0, Collymore 21.1, 5.Woods 21.1]
8/12/60 1. Sime 10.1, 3. Morrow 10.2 [2.Stone Johnson 10.2]
(Sime ranked #4 in 100 - behind Hary, Norton and Tidwell, Morrow unranked)

Record 5-5 (though Morrow was unplaced in a heat of the 200 in Houston 6/10/60 - and Sime placed 2nd in final in 20.9 - not known if the 2 ran in the same heat)

In championship meets in direct meetings, Morrow led 3-0

[rhymans]

The book is a very interesting mixture. There are quite touching stories about Joe Faust and Wilma Rudolph, and a fascinating storyline concerning Igor Ter-Ovanesyan and Dave Sime, and for the first 200 pages very little to criticize..

Then, some poorly researched items come to light. He refers to Glenn Davis sweeping 4 competitions at a meet in Stockholm (p.219) - but it was Oslo.
Ralph Boston's '60 win is described as a "final jump" win. But Boston's OR of 26'7 3/4" came in round 3. Roberson, Ter-Ovanesyan and Steinbach all jumped their best in round 6
Rudolph's 100 win is described as being aided by a wind o4 4.75 mph - but it was 2.75 m/s (= 6.15mph)
Berruti is described as "tall, pale" - certainly he was pale, but a shade under 5'11" is not tall for a 200 man. On the next page it states "the 200 had always been Sime's best event" - which is clearly nonsense. The 220 was his best event in '56 - but only on a straight course.
Coach of the USSR hurdlers (p.249) is Yuri Litoveev - he means Lituyev. The editor of the "Observer" is Chris Basher - Brasher perhaps would be more accurate.

His description of the 110 hurdles suggests it was started on the curve (!) - "Lauer..was in fouth place as they reached the homestretch".

Don't misunderstand me, the book IS enjoyable, but he should have used an expert for proof reading.

[Jacksf]

I just happened to look through it this evening at the local bookstore.
I was reading about David Sime in one of the opening chapters.
Sime says that he had always beaten Morrow when he was healthy. (Of course Morrow won in 56 when Sime was injured, and missing that Olympics was reason for Sime to stay an amateur and try to win the 60 Olympics.)

I am wondering if this is true - and does anybody know their head-to-head record?
Also wondering about the placings in the 100m at the 60 Olympic Trials.

Meanwhile, I will pick up the book when I finally finish the 3 other books on my coffee table.

Paul Winder tied Sime for third at the Trials. Co-favorite Charlie Tidwell got injured in that race (dnf)

When Morrow was at the top in 1956 and 1957 Sime only beat him once and that was at the Drake relays in '56 when Sime caught a flyer. In 1958 Morrow was still ranked no1 in the 100.
Only in 1960, when Morrow was basically finished due to injuries, was Sime ranked ahead of him in the 100. He was never ranked ahead of Morrow in the 200. Sime always had problems with the 200 turn.

Interesting to find out that Sime tied for 3rd at the Trials.
That means he was very lucky to make it to the Olympics at all. They could have gone with Winder instead.

I found this online:
"In the 100 meters, Oakland's great Ray Norton, 22, came from behind with his long, driving stride to finish in 10.4 sec. and barely beat out Villanova's Frank Budd. A tie for third made team mem bers of Paul Winder of Morgan State (Md.) and Duke's Dave Sime, the hard-luck star sprinter who pulled a muscle in 1956 and did not make the Olympic squad. "

[Jacksf]

I am a little surprised that T&FN ranked Sime 3rd in the US in 1960 considering he finished 2nd at the Olympics and beat the other Americans.

[Jacksf]

Rhymans,

Thanks for all the great info about Sime and Morrow.

I found this photo online of Sime beating Morrow at the 56 Drake Relays:
http://ddr.lib.drake.edu/cdm4/item_view ... 407&REC=13

The photo reminds you of how different the tracks were back then. So a time of 9.4 on a muddy track is pretty impressive!

By the way, this website has some great old photos from the Drake Relays.

[Jacksf]

Great account of Sime vs. Morrow at the 56 Drake Relays from Sports Illustrated, here:
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ ... /index.htm

It was the first time Morrow had lost a 100 since he was a junior in high school.