By night, the heat was oppressive. By day, it was impossible. Gulping salt tablets, the world's best athletes did their best to ignore the temperature and set out for glory in the 1960 Olympic Games. Grinding along in 100° heat, Denmark's Knud Enemark Jensen suddenly tumbled from his bicycle in the 100-kilometer race and died hours later of sunstroke. The death, the first in modern Olympic competition, shocked every athlete in Rome.
In the opening days of the Olympics, the competition was as hot as the weather. The top events:
¶ In the men's...
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