01: Gymnastic Team of Yugoslavia
02: Swimmer António Bessone Basto (right) with Gen. Correia Leal, chief of the Portuguese delegation, in a relaxing moment
03: Fun in Tokyo. From left: Elmar Martin (physiotherapist), Rein Tölp (800 meters semifinalist) and Rein Aun (decathlon silver medallist)
04: Basketball player Jaak Lipso after silver medal winning
05: Athletes Manuel Oliveira (steeplechase, left) and Armando Aldegalega (marathon, right) with coach Mário Moniz Pereira, in front of an apartment of the Portuguese delegation at the Olympic Vilage
06: Hurting shoes. Gymnasts Jaroslava Sedláčková a Marianna Krajčírová from Czechoslovakia
07: Relaxation by dancing
08: In the front of the Olympic Village
09: Věra Čáslavská in the official clothing
10: Buses were transporting athletes to the sport venues
11: The organizers are disinfecting the Olympic village from insects
12: The Olympic kitchen
13: The buildings where women were accommodated. They were separated from the men by a fence
14: German delegation in the official clothing
15: Triple Olympic winner from Tokyo Jukio Endo (in the middle)
16: Dining hall
17: Dutch golden medalist judo Anton Geesink is being massaged by Max van Gelder
18: Bicycle usage Ada Kok, Erica Terpstra, Aad Oudt, Dick Langerhorst
19: Erica Terpstra helps Gretta Kok to use chopsticks
20: Doing laundry. Cees Koch, Frans Luitjes and Eef Kamerbeek
21: Yugoslavian Olympic house
22: Yugoslavian Olympic Team
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01: Gymnastic Team of Yugoslavia
02: Swimmer António Bessone Basto (right) with Gen. Correia Leal, chief of the Portuguese delegation, in a relaxing moment
03: Fun in Tokyo. From left: Elmar Martin (physiotherapist), Rein Tölp (800 meters semifinalist) and Rein Aun (decathlon silver medallist)
04: Basketball player Jaak Lipso after silver medal winning
05: Athletes Manuel Oliveira (steeplechase, left) and Armando Aldegalega (marathon, right) with coach Mário Moniz Pereira, in front of an apartment of the Portuguese delegation at the Olympic Vilage
06: Hurting shoes. Gymnasts Jaroslava Sedláčková a Marianna Krajčírová from Czechoslovakia
07: Relaxation by dancing
08: In the front of the Olympic Village
09: Věra Čáslavská in the official clothing
10: Buses were transporting athletes to the sport venues
11: The organizers are disinfecting the Olympic village from insects
12: The Olympic kitchen
13: The buildings where women were accommodated. They were separated from the men by a fence
14: German delegation in the official clothing
15: Triple Olympic winner from Tokyo Jukio Endo (in the middle)
16: Dining hall
17: Dutch golden medalist judo Anton Geesink is being massaged by Max van Gelder
18: Bicycle usage Ada Kok, Erica Terpstra, Aad Oudt, Dick Langerhorst
19: Erica Terpstra helps Gretta Kok to use chopsticks
20: Doing laundry. Cees Koch, Frans Luitjes and Eef Kamerbeek
21: Yugoslavian Olympic house
22: Yugoslavian Olympic Team
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Shadow

The Olympic Village, which covered an area of 81 hectares, accommodated 7,000 athletes. The village consisted of 12 four-storey houses for women and 250 two-storey homes for men. The women’s and men’s accommodation areas were separated by a fence. In the village, the athletes had access to standard municipal services: a theatre, canteens, cinema, a hospital, bank, post office, and department stores. The complex originally served as accommodation for the American occupation troops.

The Japanese chose bicycles as a means of transport around the Olympic Village. A thousand bicycles were provided for the Olympians. In this pervasive complex, everyone rode them: to eat, shop, to the sports fields, to the cinema, to a club – just everywhere. Many of the bicycles, initially used by the relatively light Japanese, could not withstand the load of 100kg+ wrestlers or basketball players, and their frequent use led to breakdowns.

Every night, therefore, cars with mechanics drove through the village collecting, inspecting, repairing and adjusting all the bikes. By morning time the bikes all over the village were ready for further use again. The athletes were transported to the individual sports fields by buses that ran according to particular schedules.

Photos in this collection provided by the Czech Olympic Committee, Estonian Sport and Olympic Museum, Slovenian Olympic Committee, Portuguese Olympic Academy and NOC*NSF (Dutch Olympic Committee)

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