1968 Summer Olympics

Games of the XIX Olympiad

Emblem of the 1968 Summer Olympics
Location	Mexico City, Mexico
Nations	112
Athletes	5,516 (4,735 men, 781 women)
Events	172 in 18 sports (24 disciplines)
Opening	12 October 1968
Closing	27 October 1968
Opened by	Gustavo Díaz Ordaz President of Mexico[1]
Closed by	Avery Brundage President of the International Olympic Committee
Cauldron	Enriqueta Basilio[1]
Stadium	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Summer ← Tokyo 1964 Munich 1972 → Winter ← Grenoble 1968 Sapporo 1972 → 1968 Summer Paralympics

The 1968 Summer Olympics (Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad (Spanish: Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (Spanish: México 1968), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968 in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Olympic Games to be staged in Latin America, the first to be staged in a Spanish-speaking country, and the first to be staged in the Global South. Consequently, these games also marked the first time that there would be a gap of two Olympic Games not to be held in Europe. They were also the first Games to use an all-weather (smooth) track for track and field events instead of the traditional cinder track, as well as the first example of the Olympics exclusively using electronic timekeeping equipment.^[2]

The 1968 Games were the third to be held in the last quarter of the year, after the 1956 Games in Melbourne and the 1964 Games in Tokyo. The 1968 Mexican Student Movement was crushed days prior, hence the Games were correlated to the government's repression.

The United States won the most gold and overall medals for the last time until the 1984 Summer Games.