This week in Olympic history: 7-13 October - 15-year-old Sharon Stouder wins first of four medals at Tokyo 1964
Olympics.com explores the week in Olympic sports history, highlighting Olympians' birthdays and notable sporting events from 7 to 13 October.
Diving
Welcome to This Week in Olympic Sports History, where Olympics.com remembers the most significant sports events of the past. This week, we'll cover 7-13 October.
On this day – 13 October 1964: Stouder takes silver on Olympic debut
Sharon Marie Stouder was an American teenager fresh on the international swimming scene, having excelled at youth level with multiple records.
Hailing from California, Stouder headed to Tokyo 1964 as the joint-third youngest member of Team USA, aged 15 years and 336 days old at the time of the Opening Ceremony.
Despite her age and relatively unknown status, Stouder left the Games with the joint-most medals of any American athlete.
She made her Olympic debut in the women’s 100m freestyle final on 13 October 1964, with a tough challenge against Australia's double defending Olympic champion Dawn Fraser.
Stouder and Fraser were neck-and-neck throughout the race, pulling away from the competition at the turn and going stroke for stroke for the Olympic title. Could the teenager pull off a monumental upset and dethrone Fraser?
In the end, it was the Australian who defended her Olympic title and set an Olympic record of 00:59.5, for what would be her fourth and final gold of her career.
Fifteen-year-old Stouder did win a valiant silver, only 0.4 seconds off and becoming just the second woman – after Fraser – to swim the women’s 100m freestyle in under a minute.
Her remarkable debut race caught the attention of the global crowds, and two days later, Stouder won her first Olympic gold with the USA women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, setting a world record in the process.
Sharon Strouder (right) and the USA women's 4 x 100m freestyle relay team, who won gold at Tokyo 1964.
In fact, Stouder would go on to win three gold medals in four days at Tokyo 1964, breaking the world record alongside every newly won Olympic title.
Of the eight Olympic women’s swimming events, Stouder medalled in half of them, each one she participated in.
Stouder’s swims at Tokyo remains one of the most impressive debuts for a swimmer on the Olympic stage – let alone for a 15-year-old from Altadena.
Quote of the Week | Dara Torres, twelve-time Olympic swimming medallist
"The water doesn't know your age."
Notable Olympic birthdays: 7-13 October
- Maxim Trankov (Russia, Figure skating, two-time Olympic champion) born 7 October 1983
- Matthew Biondi (USA, Swimming, eight-time Olympic champion) born 8 October 1965
- Takanashi Sara (Japan, Ski jumping, Olympic bronze medallist) born 8 October 1996
- Anne-Caroline Chausson (France, BMX cycling, Olympic champion) born 8 October 1977
- Henrik Zetterberg (Sweden, Ice hockey, Olympic champion) born 9 October 1980
- Nicolas Massu (Chile, Tennis, two-time Olympic champion) born 10 October 1979
- Mariana Pajon (Colombia, BMX Cycling, two-time Olympic champion) born 10 October 1991
- Kato Sawao (Japan, Artistic gymnastics, eight-time Olympic champion) born 11 October 1946
- Julianne McNamara (USA, Artistic gymnastics, Olympic champion) born 11 October 1965
- Michelle Carter (USA, Athletics, Olympic champion) born 12 October 1985
Make sure to check back on Olympics.com next week for more sports and Olympic history.