Danish sailer Paul Elvstrøm wins his fourth straight gold medal in the Finn class, the first athlete to achieve this feat in an individual event. The only other two to have emulated his performance are Al Oerter and Carl Lewis.
Fencer Aladar Gerevich of Hungary won his sixth consecutive gold medal in the team sabre event (1932-1936, 1948-1960).
Wilma Rudolph, a former polio patient, wins three gold medals in the sprint events on the track.
Cassius Clay, later better known as Muhammad Ali, wins boxing's light-heavyweight gold medal.
South Africa appears in the Olympic arena for the last time under the apartheid regime. They would not be allowed to return until 1992, after the abandonment of apartheid and during the transition to a black-majority government.
Swedishcanoer Gert Fredriksson wins his sixth Olympic title.
Danishcyclist Knut Jensen collapsed during his race under the influence of amphetamines and later died in the hospital. It was the second time an athlete died in competition at the Olympics, after the death of Portuguese marathon runner Francisco Lazaro at the 1912 Summer Olympics.
