As the world gears up for the Beijing Olympics this month, author David Maraniss is focused on the Rome Summer Olympics of 1960.

Other Olympics are remembered for political protest (Mexico City) or even terrorism (Munich) but Maraniss contends the Olympics in Rome that summer marked a decisive turning point.

"Rome in 1960 was less known but important in a broader way. The change that came through Rome was more systematic," Maraniss said during a Rocky Talk on July 31 at the Denver Newspaper Agency.

He said not only did the Olympic in 1960 have an "incredible cast of characters," such as Cassius Clay, four years before he became Muhammad Ali, Rafer Johnson probably the greatest decathlete, Wilma Rudolph who won all the sprints and was an inspiration to all women athletes who were out there but it had profound systematic change going on in a time of tension of the Cold War.

They were also the first Olympics to be televised and the first to have a doping scandal.

Maraniss was in Denver to discuss his new book, Rome 1960 - The Olympics that Changed the World. During his talk, he drew compelling portraits of the athletes competing in Rome. He weaved the book with sports, politics and history into a great piece.

The three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, who also won the Pulitzer for national reporting in 1993 for his newspaper coverage of then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton is the author of four critically acclaimed and best selling books.

Maraniss is an associate editor at The Washington Post and has also won several notable awards for achievements in journalism, including the George Polk Award, the Dirksen Prize for Congressional Reporting, the ASNE Laventhol Prize fro Deateline Writing, the Hancock Prize for Financial Writing, the Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the Ambassador Book Prize, the Eagleton Book Prize and Latino Book Prize.