POWER STRUGGLE Geostationary satellite communications brought the 1964 Games to the world, to the delight of the US
Another media milestone that came out of Tokyo 1964 was the sports documentary Tokyo Olympiad , directed by Kon Ichikawa, also responsible for the Oscar-nominated The Burmese Harp . The Japanese government initially went to cinematic legend Akira Kurosawa. But in order to take the directing job, Kurosawa also wanted control of the opening and closing ceremonies. Ichikawa was easier to work with. Tokyo Olympiad is widely considered one of the greatest sports films of all time. But the financiers were disappointed. They had wanted a straightforward recording of the events and competition, and mandated a recut. Ichikawa gave them a film which instead captured the atmosphere, its spectators, behind-the-scenes moments, and the psychological states of the athletes. Until Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away , Tokyo Olympiad was the highest- grossing Japanese film of all time. In 2019, the IOC made the full-length, digitally restored version available free on its website. Watch it here (be sure to turn on the appropriate subtitles): olympics. com/en/video/tokyo-1964-official-film ONE OF THE GREATEST SPORTS FILMS OF ALL TIME
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GO THE DISTANCE Watch the US broadcast of American runner Bob Schul’s 5000m win at Tokyo 1964, with live commentary
from the beginning – a Cold War flex to show the world the global reach of American satellite and communications tech. The satellite carried a 10 Mc bandwidth channel for television tests, with a 50 kc option for small station testing. Syncom 3 also carried the first communications through an orbiting satellite to a commercial airliner in flight. Apps for this summer’s Olympics featured every single sport. The live coverage from Tokyo 1964 totalled 5hrs 41mins in the US, 12hrs 27mins in Europe, and 14hrs 18mins in Canada. Still images were also transmitted to the US, Canada and 21 European countries. On 1 January 1965, Nasa handed over operation of the satellite to the US Department of Defense.
First Olympics to refuse participation by South Africa for its apartheid policy
In 1964, the top-three places in the final medal table were held by the US, the Soviet Union and Japan. In 2021, it was the US, China and Japan
Last Olympics to use a cinder track
The Olympic flame was lit by Yoshinori Sakai, born in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, the day the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city
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