At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, 36 athletics events were contested, 24 for men and 12 for women. There were a total number of 1031 participating athletes from 93 countries.Sports Reference
These games were notable for a number of Olympic firsts and numerous world records. These included:
Dick Fosbury introduced the Fosbury Flop to the high Jump by jumping over backwards, whereas the prevailing methods involved jumping forwards or sideways. The first African Gold Medallists in the 1500 m and 3000 m Steeplechase, as well as many other medals in middle and long distance events. Particularly symbolic of Africa's newfound dominance was the victory by Kenyan athlete Kip Keino in the 1500 m final. Bob Beamon broke Ralph Boston's 1965 and Igor Ter-Ovanesyan's 1967 World Record in the Men's Long Jump by 55 cm (22 in). This record was not broken until 1991. It remains the second-best legal jump in history. The World Record was broken in the Men's Triple Jump five times by three athletes, including the final jump of the event. The top five finishers all beat the previous world record. The Black Power salute: Tommie Smith and John Carlos wore black gloves and bowed their heads on the medal podium after their medals in the 200 m. East German and West German athletes competed on separate teams. In the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Summer Games they competed as a unified German team. Jim Hines became the first sprinter to officially break the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres.Sports Reference Sports Reference
This was the first Olympics to use an all-weather track surface now used in every major international athletics competition.
Medal summary Men 100 metres 9.95 10.04 10.07 200 metres 19.83 20.06 20.10 400 metres 43.86 43.97 44.41 800 metres 1:44.40 1:44.57 1:45.46 1500 metres 3:34.91 3:37.89 3:39.08 5000 metres 14:05.01 14:05.16 14:06.41 10,000 metres 29:27.40 29:27.75 29:34.2 110 metres hurdles 13.33 13.42 13.46 400 metres hurdles 48.12 49.02 49.03 3000 metres steeplechase 8:51.02 8:51.56 8:51.86 4 × 100 metres relay Charles GreeneMel PenderRonnie Ray SmithJim Hines38.24 Hermes RamírezJuan MoralesPablo MontesEnrique Figuerola38.40 Gérard FenouilJocelyn DelecourClaude PiquemalRoger Bambuck38.43 4 × 400 metres relay Vincent MatthewsRon FreemanLarry JamesLee Evans2:56.16 Daniel RudishaMunyoro NyamauNaftali BonCharles Asati2:59.64 Helmar MüllerManfred KinderGerhard HennigeMartin Jellinghaus3:00.57 Marathon 2:20:27 2:23:31 2:23:45 20 kilometres walk 1:33:58 1:34:00 1:34:03 50 kilometres walk 4:20:14 4:30:17 4:31:55 High jump 2.24 m 2.22 m 2.20 m Pole vault 5.40 m 5.40 m 5.40 m Long jump 8.90 m 8.19 m 8.16 m Triple jump 17.39 m 17.27 m 17.22 m Shot put 20.54 m 20.12 m 20.09 m Discus throw 64.78 m 63.08 m 62.92 m Hammer throw 73.36 m 73.28 m 69.78 m Javelin throw 90.10 m 88.58 m 87.06 m Decathlon 8193 8111 8064
Women 100 metres 11.08 11.15 11.19 200 metres 22.58 22.74 22.88 400 metres 52.03 52.12 52.25 800 metres 2:00.92 2:02.58 2:02.63 80 metres hurdles 10.39 10.46 10.51 4 × 100 metres relay Margaret BailesBarbara FerrellMildrette NetterWyomia Tyus42.88 Violetta QuesadaMiguelina CobiánMarlene ElejardeFulgencia Romay43.36 Galina BukharinaLyudmila SamotyosovaVera PopkovaLyudmila Zharkova43.41 High jump 1.82 m 1.80 m 1.80 m Long jump 6.82 m 6.68 m 6.66 m Shot put 19.61 m 18.78 m 18.19 m Discus throw 58.28 m 57.76 m 54.90 m Javelin throw 60.36 m 59.92 m 58.04 m Pentathlon 5098 4966 4959
Medal table
References
International Olympic Committee results database