| 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games | |
|---|---|
 Official logo | |
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City |
Mexico City, Mexico |
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Venue |
National Auditorium |
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Team Gold Medalist |
USSR |
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All-Around Gold Medalist |
Věra Čáslavská (TCH) |
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Vault Gold Medalist |
Věra Čáslavská (TCH) |
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Uneven Bars Gold Medalist |
Věra Čáslavská (TCH) |
|
Balance Beam Gold Medalist |
Natalia Kuchinskaya (USSR) |
|
Floor Exercise Gold Medalist |
Věra Čáslavská (TCH) |
|
Preceded by |
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Succeeded by |
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The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico, in October 1968.
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 a developing country. They were also the third Games to be held in autumn, after the 1956 Games in Melbourne and the 1964 Games in Tokyo. The Mexican Student Movement of 1968 happened concurrently and the Olympic Games were correlated to the government's response.
Format of Competition[]
The scoring in all the events was basically the same, as for gymnastics events at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Each country was allowed to enter a team of eight gymnasts, but in contrast to the previous Olympics not more than six of them were allowed to participate in all exercises. Nations with incomplete teams, could enter one to three gymnasts for the individual competition. Six best gymnasts on the apparatus in the team competition (by sum of two scores - for compulsory and optional routine) qualified for that apparatus finals. The new feature of the competition was in women's events: each of them was judged by four judges. The highest and lowest marks were dropped and an average of two remaining marks constituted the score.
The scoring in the team competition was different from the one at the previous Olympics, its principle became the same: five best scores constituted the team's score for the routine; these scores constituted the overall team's totals.
Results[]
Notable Moments[]
- Czechoslovakia's Věra Čáslavská had publicly voiced her strong opposition to Soviet-style Communism and Soviet invasion. At the Olympics, she continued to subtly voice her views. After appearing to have won the gold medal on floor outright, the judging panel curiously upgraded the preliminary scores of Soviet Larisa Petrik, and declared a tie for the gold instead. All of this occurred on the heels of another very controversial judging decision that cost Čáslavská the gold on beam, instead awarding the title to Soviet rival Natalia Kuchinskaya. Clearly disheartened and angered by the politics that favored the USSR, she protested during both medal ceremonies by quietly turning her head down and away during the playing of the Soviet national anthem.
Medal Count[]
| Rank | Country | 
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Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  USSR
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3 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 2 | File:800px-Flag of the Czech Republic.png Czechoslovakia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 |  East Germany
|
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Olympic Games | |
|---|---|
Amsterdam 1928 • Berlin 1936 • London 1948 • Helsinki 1952 • Melbourne 1956 • Rome 1960 • Tokyo 1964 • Mexico City 1968 • Munich 1972 • Montreal 1976 • Moscow 1980 • Los Angeles 1984 • Seoul 1988 • Barcelona 1992 • Atlanta 1996 • Sydney 2000 • Athens 2004 • Beijing 2008 • London 2012 • Rio de Janeiro 2016 • Tokyo 2020 • Paris 2024 • Los Angeles 2028 • Brisbane 2032 |