Athletics at the 1960 Roma Summer Games:

Within the past year, three Americans had set world records – two-time defending champion Parry O'Brien, 1956 silver medalist Bill Nieder, and Dallas Long. Nieder had the most recent one, with 20.06 (65-9¾) set in mid-August after the Olympic Trials. In Roma they were the class of the field as all surpassed 19 metres and nobody else got beyond 18. O'Brien led after rounds one and two, getting to 19.11 (62-8½) in the second round. He continued to lead until round five, when Nieder popped his big one, 19.68 (64-6¾), which would win the gold medal. Long was in third all along but improved in the final round to 19.01 (62-4½).