The Olympics that united a divided world

It seems right that we should return to talk about the Olympics of 1960, fifty years later, because the Rome Olympics was an extraordinary moment that showed the amazing pull of sport on social strata that seem totally unconcerned

Giulio Andreotti

It seems right that we should return to talk about the Olympics of 1960, fifty years later, because the Rome Olympics was an extraordinary moment that showed the amazing pull of sport on social strata that seem totally unconcerned.
According to the athletes who then participated, Rome 1960 has been rightly called “the last Olympics on a human scale”. But the most vivid memory I have is the involvement of those nine-tenths of the Italian population that are usually not interested in sport and the Olympic disciplines. I remember how in the streets and bars nothing else was talked about, and how even elderly women kept their ear to the radio to find out anxiously who had won the hundred meters, or the diving. In that context also political divisions were of no account: in the stadium the fiercest Marxist felt in tune with the Prime Minister and no crazy attempt at factious manipulation had any effect on the people’s enthusiasm.
My one concern was that we make a good showing, because I was not a ‘sports expert’ and in school a certain laziness meant I always dodged physical education classes. Apart from a personal friendship with Giulio Onesti, what prompted the Italian Olympic Committee to offer me the post of organizer of the 1960 Games were the good results of the cooperation of the military, which I proposed as Minister of Defense, to the Winter Olympics in Cortina in 1956. Perhaps my “Romanness” was also to the purpose.
The means available, direct and indirect, weren’t many, but we didn’t regret it. We can proudly say that no Olympics has cost less than those of Rome. The key was not to engage in unnecessary expense or waste money on temporary facilities, so the City administration was solicited for the inner ring expressway – since then justly called the Via Olimpica – and the lodgings in the Athletes’ Village, built like regular apartments in the area occupied by the slums of Villa Glori, were then handed over to state employees. On the question of expense, if Rome’s candidature for 2020 goes through, we are going to have to be cautious, because, looking at the latest editions, the costs of an Olympic Games are very different from those of that time, and people may not accept that the costs be a burden on the community.
I said an Olympic Village and not two as had been the case previously. We refused, in fact, to accept the separation of the contestants into East and West, counter to the most basic sporting spirit. No difficulty arose from that decision, which seemed an obvious one to me though others judged it courageous. We also worked, to a positive result, to have only one squad from Germany, something that didn’t happen again for many years. For their anthem a compromise was found in a few bars of a… non-political symphony.
The only diplomatic ‘difficulty’ we had was with Taiwan, because they wanted to parade and be classified as Republic of China creating embarrassment for us with Beijing (even if absent). They hoisted a sign in protest, and it all ended there. The death of a Scandinavian cyclist who died of a circulatory collapse while competing was a painful incident for which we had no responsibility, but that does not mean that we were not deeply saddened.
In the preparatory stage I had the opportunity to get to know the Japanese, who, since they were to host the Games in 1964, had sent a hundred observers to note, film and record every meeting, even the most marginal. I remember for example with what meticulous care they followed the picturesque and interminable negotiations in Naples between Giulio Onesti and the owner of the mussels bed in the stretch of water that had to be left for the sailing competitions (in which Constantine of Greece won his laurels).
The judgment on the organization of the Games and their complex surround was universally good. Even that part of the international press that is usually not too sympathetic to Italy gave a positive assessment, maybe – in all generosity – expressing wonderment at the good order, punctuality and enthusiasm that surrounded athletes, officials and foreign guests.
A small problem arose with the papal audience in St Peter’s Square because the Pope – who thought he was doing the right thing by being non-partisan – gave his speech in Latin, heard in not quite absolute silence by his youthful audience. But when he spent a few hours talking with the individual participants, a smile of satisfaction lit up all faces.
There’s no doubt that those who visit Rome, for whatever reason, want to have some contact with the Vatican side of the Tiber. The Pope was very sympathetic and, after the plenary one he also reserved an audience for the leaders of each delegation. And on the occasion he did not miss the opportunity to exchange impressions with public figures from countries that – at least then – were not very accustomed to passing through the Bronze Portal of the Vatican.
For me the experience of 1960 was full of emotions but also of great joy, personal and national.