1968 Summer Olympics
The first Olympic Games in Latin America, held in Mexico City in 1968.
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad and branded as Mexico 1968, were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968 in Mexico City, Mexico. They were the first Olympic Games staged in Latin America, the first in a Spanish-speaking country, and the first in the Global South.
- Host city
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Year
- 1968
- Venue
- Estadio Olímpico Universitario
- Host nation participation
- Yes – Mexico
- Tournament format
- Group stage followed by knockout rounds
- Gold medal
- Soviet Union (USSR)
Lore & Background
The 1968 Mexican Student Movement was crushed days prior to the Games, correlating the Olympics with government repression. The high elevation of Mexico City (2,240 m above sea level) influenced many events, particularly track and field. These were the first Games to use an all-weather synthetic track and exclusively electronic timekeeping equipment.
In Their Own Story
The floodlights hummed to life over the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, and the air at 2,240 metres tasted of dust and diesel and the particular sweetness of a crowd that had been singing since noon. A young full-back wiped sweat from his brow, his boots still caked with the red clay of the training ground two blocks away. Around him, the national anthem swelled—*Himno Nacional*—and the stands, packed with men in work shirts and women in Sunday dresses, swayed as one. He could feel the altitude in his lungs, a gentle burn that the opposing team, arriving from a flat, humid capital, would not feel at all. The referee's whistle cut the song short. The ball was dropped. And for ninety minutes, Mexico City held its breath, and the whole world watched Mexico play.
Reader's Guide
The Games featured venues including Estadio Olímpico Universitario (athletics and ceremonies), Estadio Azteca (football final), and others such as Arena México, Club de Yates de Acapulco, and the Satellite Circuit. The Olympic Village was later converted into residential complexes.
Did You Know?
- The United States won the most gold and overall medals for the last time until the 1984 Summer Games.
- Bob Beamon leapt 8.90 m in the long jump, a 55 cm improvement over the previous world record; it stood as the world record for 23 years and remains the Olympic record.
- Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo of Mexico became the first woman to light the Olympic cauldron.
- The introduction of doping tests resulted in the first disqualification: Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall for alcohol use.
- East and West Germany competed as separate teams for the first time.
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