Mexico City 1968 Summer Olympics

Mexico City, Mexico. Altitude records and the Black Power salute at the first Latin American Games

Overview

Held at 2,240 meters altitude, the Games produced astonishing marks, above all Bob Beamon leaping 8.90 meters in the long jump, 55 centimeters beyond the world record. American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised gloved fists on the podium, an iconic civil rights protest for which they were expelled from the village. Doping controls and gender verification appeared for the first time, and Enriqueta Basilio became the first woman to light the cauldron.