# 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.
These games were notable for a number of Olympic firsts and numerous world records. These included:
* Dick Fosbury introduced the Fosbury Flop to the high Jump by jumping over backwards, whereas the prevailing methods involved jumping forwards or sideways.
* The first African Gold Medallists in the 1500m and 3000m Steeplechase, as well as many other medals in middle and long distance events. Particularly symbolic of Africa's newfound dominance was the victory by Kenyan athlete Kip Keino in the 1500m final.
* Bob Beamon broke Ralph Boston's 1965 and Igor Ter-Ovanesyan's 1967 World Record in the Men's Long Jump by 55 cm (22 in). This record was not broken until 1991. It remains the second-best legal jump in history.
* The World Record was broken in the Men's Triple Jump five times by three athletes, including the final jump of the event. The top five finishers all beat the previous world record.
* The Black Power salute: Tommie Smith and John Carlos wore black gloves and bowed their heads on the medal podium after their medals in the 200m.
* Jim Hines became the first sprinter to officially break the 10-second barrier in the 100 metres.
This was the first Olympics to use an all-weather track surface now used in every major international athletics competition.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Games | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | 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

| Games | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | 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

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 15 | 6 | 7 | 28 |
| 2 | Kenya (KEN) | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | Soviet Union (URS) | 3 | 2 | 8 | 13 |
| 4 | Australia (AUS) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | East Germany (GDR) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Romania (ROU) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Hungary (HUN) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 8 | West Germany (FRG) | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 9 | Great Britain (GBR) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 10 | Ethiopia (ETH) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | France (FRA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Poland (POL) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Tunisia (TUN) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | Cuba (CUB) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Finland (FIN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Jamaica (JAM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Mexico (MEX) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 23 | Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | New Zealand (NZL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 23 | Taiwan (ROC) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (25 entries) | Totals (25 entries) | 36 | 36 | 36 | 108 |