Host City: Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico (October 12, 1968 to October 27, 1968)
Opening Ceremony: October 12, 1968 (opened by President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz)
Lighter of the Olympic Flame: Enriqueta Basilio
Taker of the Olympic Oath: Pablo Garrido (athlete)
Closing Ceremony: October 27, 1968
Events: 172 in 20 sports

Participants: 5,558 (4,775 men and 783 women) from 112 countries
Youngest Participant:  Liana Vicens (11 years, 327 days)
Oldest Participant:  Roberto Soundy (68 years, 229 days)
Most Medals (Athlete):  Mikhail Voronin (7 medals)
Most Medals (Country): United States (107 medals)

The 1968 Summer Olympics (Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12th to the 27th.

These were the first Olympic Games to be staged in Latin America and the first to be staged in a Spanish-speaking country. They were the first Games to use an all-weather (smooth) track for track and field events instead of the traditional cinder track.

Overview by Sprorts-Reference.com

Host city selection

Olympic torch relay

Highlights

• In the medal award ceremony for the men's 200 meter race, black American athletes Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) took a stand for civil rights by raising their black-gloved fists and wearing black socks in lieu of shoes. The Australian Peter Norman, who had run second, wore an American "civil rights" badge as support to them on the podium. In response, the IOC banned Smith and Carlos from the Olympic Games for life, and Norman's omission from Australia's Olympic team in 1972 was allegedly as punishment.
• George Foreman won the gold medal in heavyweight boxing division by defeating Soviet Ionas Chepulis via a second-round TKO. After the victory, Foreman waved a small American flag as he bowed to the crowd.
• The high elevation of Mexico City, at 2,240 m (7,350 ft) above sea level, influenced many of the events, particularly in track and field. No other Summer Olympic Games before or since have been held at high elevation.
• In addition to high elevation, this was the first Olympics to use a synthetic all-weather surface for track and field events; the "Tartan" surface was originally developed by 3M for horse racing, but did not catch on. The tracks at previous Olympics were conventional cinder.
• For the first time, East and West Germany competed as separate teams, after being forced by the IOC to compete as a combined German team in 1956, 1960, and 1964.
• Al Oerter won his fourth consecutive gold medal in the discus to become only the second athlete to achieve this feat in an individual event, and the first in track & field (athletics).
• Bob Beamon leapt 8.90 m (29.2 ft) in the long jump, an incredible 55 cm (22 in) improvement over the previous world record. It remained the Olympic record and stood as the world record for 23 years, until broken by American Mike Powell in 1991. Jim Hines, Tommie Smith and Lee Evans also set long-standing world records in the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m, respectively.
  
• In the triple jump, the previous world record was improved five times by three different athletes. Winner Viktor Saneev also won in 1972 and 1976, and won silver in 1980.
• Dick Fosbury won the gold medal in the high jump using his unconventional Fosbury flop technique, which quickly became the dominant technique in the event.
• Věra Čáslavská of Czechoslovakia won four gold medals in gymnastics and protested the Soviet invasion of her country.
• Debbie Meyer became the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals, in the 200, 400 and 800 m freestyle events. The 800 m was a new long-distance event for women. Meyer was only 16 years old, a student at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California. Meyer was the first of several American teenagers to win the 800 m.
  
• American swimmer Charlie Hickcox won three gold medals (200m IM, 400m IM, 4 × 100 m medley relay) and one silver medal (100m backstroke).
  
• The introduction of doping tests resulted in the first disqualification because of doping: Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall was disqualified for alcohol use (he drank several beers just prior to competing).^{[citation needed]}
• John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania became internationally famous after finishing the marathon, in the last place, despite a dislocated knee.
• This was the first of three Olympic participation by Jacques Rogge. He competed in yachting and would later become the president of the IOC.
• Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo of Mexico became the first woman to light the Olympic cauldron with the Olympic flame.
  
• It was the first games at which there was a significant African presence in men's distance running. Africans won at least one medal in all running events from 800 meters to the marathon, and in so doing they set a trend for future games. Most of these runners came from high-altitude areas of countries like Kenya and Ethiopia, and they were well-prepared for the 2240 m elevation of Mexico City.
  
• Kipchoge Keino of Kenya, competing in spite of unexpected bouts of severe abdominal pain later diagnosed as a gall bladder infection, finished the 10,000 meters in spite of collapsing from pain with two laps to go, won silver in the 5000, and won gold in the 1500 meters.
• It was the first Olympic games in which the closing ceremony was transmitted in color to the world, as well as the events themselves.

Venues

• Agustín Melgar Olympic Velodrome – Cycling (track)
• Arena México – Boxing
• Avándaro Golf Club – Equestrian (eventing)
• Campo Marte – Equestrian (dressage, jumping individual)
• Campo Militar 1 – Modern pentathlon (riding, running)
• Club de Yates de Acapulco – Sailing
• Estadio Azteca – Football (final)
• Estadio Cuauhtémoc – Football preliminaries
• Estadio Nou Camp – Football preliminaries
• Estadio Olímpico Universitario – Athletics (also 20 km and 50 km walk), Ceremonies (opening/ closing), Equestrian (jumping team)
• Fernando Montes de Oca Fencing Hall – Fencing, Modern pentathlon (fencing)
• Francisco Márquez Olympic Pool – Diving, Modern pentathlon (swimming), Swimming, Water polo
• Arena Insurgentes – Wrestling
• Insurgentes Theatre – Weightlifting
• Jalisco Stadium – Football preliminaries
• Juan de la Barrera Olympic Gymnasium – Volleyball
• Juan Escutia Sports Palace – Basketball, Volleyball
• Municipal Stadium – Field hockey
• National Auditorium – Gymnastics
• Arena Revolución – Volleyball
• Satellite Circuit – Cycling (individual road race, road team time trial)
• University City Swimming Pool – Water polo
• Vicente Suárez Shooting Range – Modern pentathlon (shooting), Shooting
• Virgilio Uribe Rowing and Canoeing Course – Canoeing, Rowing
• Zócalo – Athletics (marathon start)

Sports

The 1968 Summer Olympic program featured 172 events in the following 18 sports:

Demonstration sports

• Basque pelota
• Tennis

The organizers declined to hold a judo tournament at the Olympics, even though it had been a full-medal sport four years earlier. This was the last time judo was not included in the Olympic games.

Participating National Olympic Committees

Participating National Olympic Committees

Boycotting countries

Calendar

All dates are in Central Time Zone (UTC-6)

October		12th Sat	13th Sun	14th Mon	15th Tue	16th Wed	17th Thu	18th Fri	19th Sat	20th Sun	21st Mon	22nd Tue	23rd Wed	24th Thu	25th Fri	26th Sat	27th Sun	Events
Ceremonies		OC															CC	N/A
Athletics			1	4	4	7	6	5	2	7								36
Basketball			●	●	●	●		●	●	●		●	1					1
Boxing			●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●		11		11
Canoeing												●	●	●	7			7
Cycling					1		1	1	1	●	2		1					7
Diving							●	1	●	1		●	1	●	●	1		4
Equestrian								●	●	●	2		1	1	1		1	6
Fencing					●	1	1	●	1	1	1	1	●	1	1			8
Field hockey			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	1		1
Football			●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●		●		1		1
Gymnastics											●	●	2	2	4	6		14
Modern pentathlon			●	●	●	●	2											2
Rowing			●		●		●	●	7									7
Sailing				●	●	●	●		●	●	5							5
Shooting								2	1		1	1		2				7
Swimming							2	●	4	3	3	3	4	4	3	3		28
Volleyball			●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●		●	●	●	2		2
Water polo				●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1		1
Weightlifting			1	1	1	1	1	1	1									7
Wrestling							●	●	●	8			●	●	●	8		16
Daily medal events			2	5	6	9	13	10	17	20	14	5	12	8	16	34	1	172
Cumulative total			2	7	13	22	35	45	62	82	96	101	113	121	137	171	172
October		12th Sat	13th Sun	14th Mon	15th Tue	16th Wed	17th Thu	18th Fri	19th Sat	20th Sun	21st Mon	22nd Tue	23rd Wed	24th Thu	25th Fri	26th Sat	27th Sun	Total events

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1968 Games. Host Mexico won 9 medals in total.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	45	28	34	107
2	Soviet Union	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
Totals (10 nations)		133	114	117	364