1968 Summer Olympics
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The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were held in Mexico City in 1968. Mexico City beat out bids from Detroit, Buenos Aires and Lyon to host the Games in 1963. The Games were preceded by the Tlatelolco massacre, in which hundreds of students were killed by Mexican security forces ten days before the opening day.
Highlights
- The high altitude of Mexico City (2240 m) made it difficult for many endurance athletes to adapt to the oxygen-deprived air. The high altitude was also credited with contributing to many record setting jumps and leaps in the long jump, high jump and pole vault events.
- For the first time, athletes from East and West Germany were members of separate teams, after having competed in a combined team in 1964.
- US discus thrower Al Oerter, won his fourth consecutive gold medal in the event to become only the second athlete to achieve this feat in an individual event.
- Bob Beamon jumped 8.90 m in the long jump, a 55 cm improvement of the world record that would stand until 1991; it is still the Olympic record. United States athletes Jim Hines and Lee Evans also set long world records in the 100m and 400m, respectively, that would last for many years to come.
- In the triple jump, the previous world record was improved five times by three different athletes.
- Dick Fosbury won the gold medal in the high jump using the radical Fosbury flop technique, which quickly became the dominant technique in the event.
- In the 200 m medal award ceremony, two African-American athletes Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) raised their black-gloved fists as a symbol of Black Power. As punishment, the International Olympic Committee banned them from the Olympic Games for life.
- Czechoslovakian gymnast Věra Čáslavská won four gold medals.
- United States swimmer Debbie Meyer became the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals, in the 200, 400 and 800 m freestyle events.
- The introduction of doping tests resulted in the first disqualification because of doping: Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall was disqualified for alcohol use.
- John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania became internationally famous after finishing the marathon in last place despite a dislocated knee.
- This was the first of three Olympic participations by Jacques Rogge. He competed in yachting and would later become the 8th President of the International Olympic Committee.
- Norma Enriqueta Basilio (a Mexican athlete) became the first woman to light the Olympic cauldron with the Olympic flame.
Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
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- Basque pelota
- Tennis
Medal count
participants
(Host nation in bold.)
| 1968 Summer Olympics medal count |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 |
United States | 45 | 28 | 34 | 107 |
| 2 |
USSR | 29 | 32 | 30 | 91 |
| 3 |
Japan | 11 | 7 | 7 | 25 |
| 4 |
Hungary | 10 | 10 | 12 | 32 |
| 5 |
East Germany | 9 | 9 | 7 | 25 |
| 6 |
France | 7 | 3 | 5 | 15 |
| 7 |
Czechoslovakia | 7 | 2 | 4 | 13 |
| 8 |
West Germany | 5 | 11 | 10 | 26 |
| 9 |
Australia | 5 | 7 | 5 | 17 |
| 10 |
Great Britain | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
See also
External links
| Olympic Games | Summer Olympic Games>Summer Games 1896, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, (1916), 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024 | |
| Winter Olympic Games>Winter Games 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 | ||
| Athens 2004 — Torino 2006 — Beijing 2008 — Vancouver 2010 — London 2012 |
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