The Olympic Games are an international sports festival that
began in ancient Greece. The original Greek games were staged
every fourth year for several hundred years.

The revival of the Olympic Games took place in 1896, and since then they have
been staged every fourth year, except during World War I and II.

Each of these 8 different envelopes features the Italian postal tribute to their
hosting the XVII Olympiad* in 1960, neatly postmarked, plus a drawn picture
of the sport and a photo with a winner ( and the country he/she represents ).
Countries may include USA, Canada, Germany, Russia etc.

The 8 sports in each collection are : Equestrian, fencing, shooting, gymnastics,
athletics, swimming, weightlifting and wrestling ( each envelope shows a
different picture of the same basic sport ).

*The Olympics in Rome, in 1960, marked a gold-medal for the
U.S. basketball team ( the finest in Olympic annals ); the team included
such All-Americans and future professionals as Oscar Robertson, Jerry West,
Jerry Lucas, Walt Bellamy, Terry Dischinger, Bob Boozer, Darrall Imhoff,
and Adrian Smith, and their closest margin of victory was 24 points.
Rome also marked the first gold medals for New Zealand's Peter Snell,
in the 800-m run, and Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, who
won the marathon running barefoot.