, President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964 and first chairman of the Organization Committee of the 1968 Summer Olympics • In the medal award ceremony for the
men's 200 metres 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 "human rights" badge as a gesture of 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
Jonas Čepulis 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
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
athletics. •
Bob Beamon leapt in the
long jump, an incredible improvement over the previous world record. It stood as the world record for 23 years, until broken by American
Mike Powell in 1991; yet it has stood as the current Olympic record for years. •
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, with
Katie Ledecky being her notable successor. • American swimmer
Charlie Hickcox won three gold medals (200 m IM, 400 m IM, 4 × 100 m medley relay) and one silver medal (100 m 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). •
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. ==Controversies==