Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics

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.[1][2]

Athletics
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
VenueEstadio Olímpico Universitario
No. of events36
Competitors1,031 from 93 nations
← 1964
1972 →

These games were notable for a number of Olympic firsts and numerous world records. These included:

This was the first Olympics to use an all-weather track surface now used in every major international athletics competition.

Medal summary

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Games Gold Silver Bronze
100 metres
details
Jim Hines
  United States
9.95 WR Lennox Miller
  Jamaica
10.04 Charles Greene
  United States
10.07
200 metres
details
Tommie Smith
  United States
19.83 WR Peter Norman
  Australia
20.06 NR John Carlos
  United States
20.10
400 metres
details
Lee Evans
  United States
43.86 WR Larry James
  United States
43.97 Ron Freeman
  United States
44.41
800 metres
details
Ralph Doubell
  Australia
1:44.40 WR Wilson Kiprugut
  Kenya
1:44.57 Tom Farrell
  United States
1:45.46
1500 metres
details
Kipchoge Keino
  Kenya
3:34.91 OR Jim Ryun
  United States
3:37.89 Bodo Tümmler
  West Germany
3:39.08
5000 metres
details
Mohammed Gammoudi
  Tunisia
14:05.01 Kipchoge Keino
  Kenya
14:05.16 Naftali Temu
  Kenya
14:06.41
10,000 metres
details
Naftali Temu
  Kenya
29:27.40 Mamo Wolde
  Ethiopia
29:27.75 Mohammed Gammoudi
  Tunisia
29:34.2
110 metres hurdles
details
Willie Davenport
  United States
13.33 OR Ervin Hall
  United States
13.42 Eddy Ottoz
  Italy
13.46
400 metres hurdles
details
David Hemery
  Great Britain
48.12 WR Gerhard Hennige
  West Germany
49.02 John Sherwood
  Great Britain
49.03
3000 metres steeplechase
details
Amos Biwott
  Kenya
8:51.02 Benjamin Kogo
  Kenya
8:51.56 George Young
  United States
8:51.86
4 × 100 metres relay
details
  United States (USA)
Charles Greene
Mel Pender
Ronnie Ray Smith
Jim Hines
38.24 WR   Cuba (CUB)
Hermes Ramírez
Juan Morales
Pablo Montes
Enrique Figuerola
38.40   France (FRA)
Gérard Fenouil
Jocelyn Delecour
Claude Piquemal
Roger Bambuck
38.43
4 × 400 metres relay
details
  United States (USA)
Vincent Matthews
Ron Freeman
Larry James
Lee Evans
2:56.16 WR   Kenya (KEN)
Daniel Rudisha
Munyoro Nyamau
Naftali Bon
Charles Asati
2:59.64   West Germany (FRG)
Helmar Müller
Manfred Kinder
Gerhard Hennige
Martin Jellinghaus
3:00.57
Marathon
details
Mamo Wolde
  Ethiopia
2:20:27 Kenji Kimihara
  Japan
2:23:31 Mike Ryan
  New Zealand
2:23:45
20 kilometres walk
details
Volodymyr Holubnychy
  Soviet Union
1:33:58 José Pedraza
  Mexico
1:34:00 Nikolay Smaga
  Soviet Union
1:34:03
50 kilometres walk
details
Christoph Höhne
  East Germany
4:20:14 Antal Kiss
  Hungary
4:30:17 Larry Young
  United States
4:31:55
High jump
details
Dick Fosbury
  United States
2.24 m OR Ed Caruthers
  United States
2.22 m Valentin Gavrilov
  Soviet Union
2.20 m
Pole vault
details
Bob Seagren
  United States
5.40 m OR Claus Schiprowski
  West Germany
5.40 m Wolfgang Nordwig
  East Germany
5.40 m
Long jump
details
Bob Beamon
  United States
8.90 m WR Klaus Beer
  East Germany
8.19 m Ralph Boston
  United States
8.16 m
Triple jump
details
Viktor Saneyev
  Soviet Union
17.39 m WR Nelson Prudêncio
  Brazil
17.27 m Giuseppe Gentile
  Italy
17.22 m
Shot put
details
Randy Matson
  United States
20.54 m OR George Woods
  United States
20.12 m Eduard Gushchin
  Soviet Union
20.09 m
Discus throw
details
Al Oerter
  United States
64.78 m OR Lothar Milde
  East Germany
63.08 m Ludvík Daněk
  Czechoslovakia
62.92 m
Hammer throw
details
Gyula Zsivótzky
  Hungary
73.36 m OR Romuald Klim
  Soviet Union
73.28 m Lázár Lovász
  Hungary
69.78 m
Javelin throw
details
Jānis Lūsis
  Soviet Union
90.10 m OR Jorma Kinnunen
  Finland
88.58 m Gergely Kulcsár
  Hungary
87.06 m
Decathlon
details
Bill Toomey
  United States
8193 OR Hans-Joachim Walde
  West Germany
8111 Kurt Bendlin
  West Germany
8064

Women

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Games Gold Silver Bronze
100 metres
details
Wyomia Tyus
  United States
11.08 WR Barbara Ferrell
  United States
11.15 Irena Szewińska
  Poland
11.19
200 metres
details
Irena Szewińska
  Poland
22.58 WR Raelene Boyle
  Australia
22.74 Jenny Lamy
  Australia
22.88
400 metres
details
Colette Besson
  France
52.03 Lillian Board
  Great Britain
52.12 Natalya Pechonkina
  Soviet Union
52.25
800 metres
details
Madeline Manning
  United States
2:00.92 OR Ileana Silai
  Romania
2:02.58 Mia Gommers
  Netherlands
2:02.63
80 metres hurdles
details
Maureen Caird
  Australia
10.39 OR Pam Kilborn
  Australia
10.46 Chi Cheng
  Taiwan
10.51
4 × 100 metres relay
details
  United States (USA)
Margaret Bailes
Barbara Ferrell
Mildrette Netter
Wyomia Tyus
42.88 WR   Cuba (CUB)
Violetta Quesada
Miguelina Cobián
Marlene Elejarde
Fulgencia Romay
43.36   Soviet Union (URS)
Galina Bukharina
Lyudmila Samotyosova
Vera Popkova
Lyudmila Zharkova
43.41
High jump
details
Miloslava Rezková
  Czechoslovakia
1.82 m Antonina Okorokova
  Soviet Union
1.80 m Valentina Kozyr
  Soviet Union
1.80 m
Long jump
details
Viorica Viscopoleanu
  Romania
6.82 m WR Sheila Sherwood
  Great Britain
6.68 m Tatyana Talysheva
  Soviet Union
6.66 m
Shot put
details
Margitta Gummel
  East Germany
19.61 m WR Marita Lange
  East Germany
18.78 m Nadezhda Chizhova
  Soviet Union
18.19 m
Discus throw
details
Lia Manoliu
  Romania
58.28 m OR Liesel Westermann
  West Germany
57.76 m Jolán Kleiber-Kontsek
  Hungary
54.90 m
Javelin throw
details
Angéla Németh
  Hungary
60.36 m Mihaela Peneș
  Romania
59.92 m Eva Janko
  Austria
58.04 m
Pentathlon
details
Ingrid Becker
  West Germany
5098 Liese Prokop
  Austria
4966 Annamária Tóth
  Hungary
4959

Medal table

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  United States (USA)156728
2  Kenya (KEN)3418
3  Soviet Union (URS)32813
4  Australia (AUS)2316
  East Germany (GDR)2316
6  Romania (ROU)2204
7  Hungary (HUN)2147
8  West Germany (FRG)1438
9  Great Britain (GBR)1214
10  Ethiopia (ETH)1102
11  Czechoslovakia (TCH)1012
  France (FRA)1012
  Poland (POL)1012
  Tunisia (TUN)1012
15  Cuba (CUB)0202
16  Austria (AUT)0112
17  Brazil (BRA)0101
  Finland (FIN)0101
  Jamaica (JAM)0101
  Japan (JPN)0101
  Mexico (MEX)0101
22  Italy (ITA)0022
23  Netherlands (NED)0011
  New Zealand (NZL)0011
  Taiwan (ROC)0011
Totals (25 entries)363636108

References

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  1. ^ Sports Reference
  2. ^ IOC. "Mexico City 1968 Athletics - Olympic Results by Discipline". Olympics.com. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  3. ^ Sports Reference Sports Reference