The 1968 Summer Olympics were the first Games held in Latin America, a Spanish-speaking country, and the Global South, marking a historic geographic shift for the modern Olympics.
Key Facts
- Dates
- 12–27 October 1968
- Olympiad
- XIX Olympiad
- First Latin American host
- First Olympics in Latin America and Global South
- Track innovation
- First Games to use all-weather smooth track
- Timekeeping
- First Olympics using exclusively electronic timekeeping
- Top medals nation
- United States won most gold and overall medals
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Mexico City was selected to host the XIX Olympiad, making it the first Latin American and Global South city to do so. Days before the Games opened, the Mexican government violently suppressed the 1968 Mexican Student Movement, casting a political shadow over the event.
The Games of the XIX Olympiad were held from 12 to 27 October 1968 in Mexico City, featuring the first use of an all-weather smooth track for athletics and the first exclusive use of electronic timekeeping, in a multi-sport competition drawing nations worldwide.
The 1968 Olympics left a lasting legacy as a geographic and technological milestone in Olympic history. The United States topped the medal table in gold and overall count, a feat it would not repeat until the 1984 Games. The concurrent political repression became inseparable from the Games in historical memory.
Result
at Mexico City, Mexico