Sport became more commercial in the 1960's. It also became more involved with politicial issues, especially the question of equal rights for black people.
When the 1960's began, there were still sports where the ideal of amateurism was upheld - the principle that people should not earn money for their sport. The Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, for example, was only open to amateur players but as more and more of the top tennis stars became professionals and consequently could not play at Wimbledon, the International Lawn Tennis Association was forced to abolish the distinction between amateurs and professionals, opening Wimbledon to all in 1968.
In sports that had long been big business, such as major league baseball and soccer, the star players began to take larger cuts of the profits. In 1960, top British soccer players earned little more than an average working man. By the end of the decade, stars such as Manchester United's George Best had become wealthy high earners. American football set out to increase its profits by starting the Super Bowl in 1967.
The question of black rights was bound to have an impact on sport because so many top performers were black. South Africa's racist policies led to a movement for the country to be banned from world sport. The climax came when the South Africans themselves refused to compete against non-whites.
In the USA, sports personalities such as boxer Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali, possibly the greatest boxer of all time) and athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos became involved in the strugle for black rights.
For the English, the greatest sports event of the decade was the England Football team winning the World Cup at Wembley on 30th July 1966 after extra time.
Americans dominated golf. Arnold Palmer was the leading golfer at the start of the decade, but in 1962, a young, fellow-American, Jack Nicklaus won his first major tournament. By the end of the decade, Nicklaus was on his way to becoming the most successful golfer of all time.
At the Rome Olympics in 1960, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila astonished the crowds by winning the marathon barefoot. He won again at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 - becoming the first person to gain two consecutive marathon golds.
The Mexico Olympics in October 1968 produced some outstanding records, partly because the games were held at high altitude, aiding performances. US athlete Bob Beamon broke the world Long Jump Record by 55cm, setting a record that lasted until 1991. Another US athlete Dick Fosbury, won the high jump gold with a revolutionary style of jump, known as the 'Fosbury Flop'.
Australians ruled in tennis, with Rod Laver, the leadeing male player and Margaret Court, the leading female star. However, Court's dominance was challenged in the later 1960's by the young American Billie Jean King (shown left).
Growing up in the 60's - Main page