1968 Summer Olympics

The Games of the XIX Olympiad were held in Mexico City in 1968. Mexico City beat out Detroit, Buenos Aires and Lyon bids to host the Games in 1963. The Games were immediately preceded by the Tlatelolco massacre, in which hundreds of students were killed by Mexican security forces.

Highlights

• Because of the high altitude of Mexico City (2700 m), many endurance athletes have trouble coping with the thin air.
• For the first time, athletes from East and West Germany take part in separate teams, after having competed in a combined team up to 1964.
• US discus thrower Al Oerter, wins his fourth consecutive gold medal in the event to become only the second athlete to achieve this in an individual event.
• Bob Beamon jumps 8.90 m in the long jump, a 55 cm improvement of the World Record that would stand until 1991. US athletes Jim Hines and Lee Evans also set long standing world records in the 100m and 400m, respectively.
• In the triple jump, the previous world record was improved five times by three different athletes.
• Dick Fosbury wins the gold medal in the high jump using the radical Fosbury flop technique, which quickly became the dominant technique in the event.
• In the medal award ceremony, two African-American athletes Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) raise their black-gloved fists as a symbol of Black Power. They are banned from the Olympic Games for life.
• Czechoslovakian gymnast V?ra ?áslavská wins the hearts of the Mexican crowd and four gold medals.
• US 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 results in the first disqualification because of doping: Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall is disqualified for alcohol use.
• John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania became internationally famous after finishing the marathon in last place despite a dislocated knee.