1964 - Tokyo

The first Games to be held in Asia had a poignant opening ceremony involving Yoshinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima the day the city was destroyed by an atomic bomb in WW2.

1964 - Tokyo The first Games to be held in Asia had a poignant opening ceremony involving final torchbearer Yoshinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima the day the city was destroyed by an atomic bomb in World War Two. It was an historic decision to take the Games to Asia, but the Japanese showcased their organisational skills and they were rewarded with three awards by the IOC for the manner in which they staged the event. It was the first time the Olympics were televised internationally, with Japan keen to show they had developed from an old wartime enemy to a champion of peace and also a leader in technology. It was a Games of beginnings and ends, as a fibreglass pole was used for the pole vault competition for the first time, while a cinder track and hand timings were used in athletics for the last Olympics. South Africa are banned from taking part for the first time because of the apartheid system they use in sports. Judo made its first appearance in the Olympics, while volleyball also made its debut - with the women's event being the first appearance of a team sport for females. American Al Oerter won the discus despite a cervical disc injury that forced him to wear a neck harness and torn rib cartilage incurred a week before the competition. Ukrainian Larysa Latynina's six medals in gymnastics brought her career medal total to an incredible 18, one of only four athletes in any sport to win nine gold medals. American swimmer Don Schollander won four gold medals while Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila became the first repeat winner of the marathon - less than six weeks after having his appendix removed. Britain's Mary Rand claimed gold in the long jump and silver in the pentathlon. There were also golds for Lynn Davies (long jump), Ann Packer (800m) and Ken Matthews (20,000m walk).Olympic stars: The most successful female Olympian ever - Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina took her record Olympic medal tally to 18 in Tokyo, which is still more than any athlete in any sport, for now! She also holds the most individual medals with 14 and is the only woman to have claimed nine Olympic golds. Latynina claimed just two golds in Tokyo, compared with four eight years earlier in Melbourne, and three in Rome in 1960, but it was the culmination of her dominant spell in the sport - as she also helped the Soviet Union become a real powerhouse in the gym. Featherweight freestyle wrestler Osamu Watanabe handled the pressure of being a big favourite to win gold in front of his home crowd by producing a brilliant performance in Tokyo. Watanabe gave up no points to his opponents on his run to gold, and he also retired after the Games as the only unbeaten Olympic champion with a record of 189-0. Bob Hayes clocked 10 seconds exactly when running away with the men's 100m gold and a share of the world record, even when running in borrowed spikes! He then followed up by leading the American 4x100m team to another gold and record time. It was to be Hayes' best and last moment as a sprinter, as he turned his attentions to American Football after that, and he again proved to be a hit as he won a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys.