Did you know?
- It was the first time in the Olympic Games of 1968 that a special Olympic Village was built for the judges. The sports delegations were accommodated in the Miguel Hidalgo Olympic Village, which consisted of 29 apartment buildings. Three of them were destined to accommodate the female athletes and two the Press representatives. In the other Olympic Village, the Coapa Village, stayed the judges and the umpires, as well as the people or groups who participated in the cultural events.
- The technique of the American high jumper Dick Fosbury was considered revolutionary with regard to the way he jumped the bar. Fosbury cleared the bar on his back, a style that was not common until then. What is more, the American champion won the first place with a 2.24m jump. Since then his technique has been adopted and constitutes the classic technique for high jumpers.
- The Soviet Viktor Sanyeyev won the gold medal in the triple jump setting a new world and Olympic record (17.39). The Brazilian Nelson Prudencio came second and the Italian Giuseppe Gentile third. Formerly, the latter had broken the world record making his compatriots rejoice over the golden victory. But the jump of the Soviet champion in the final disillusioned the entire Italian delegation, which had taken the gold medal in this particular event for granted.
- Certain irregularities in the scoring were recorded in artistic gymnastics leading to strong protests by the spectators and the intervention of the Technical Committee. Many people maintain that this was the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that the sport risked being "stigmatized". In several cases and in order to defuse the tense situation, the judges altered their marks subsequently, again arousing the suspicions of the members of the gymnastic delegations.
- Not all Black American athletes supported the manifestations in favour of the Black Power during the 1968 Olympics. Those who wanted to express their opposition to the attitude of the supporters of the Black Power, stepped on the victory stand holding their country's flag. The first who did that, was the Olympic winner in heavyweight boxing, George Forman.

 

The Olympic Games in Antiquity:
From ancient Olympia to Athens of 1896