The 1968 Olympics
The 1968 Olympics- the 19th Olympiad was said to have been the highest and most controversial games ever to be held. Held in Mexico City, Mexico, it was the first Olympiad to be held in Latin America. Because of the elevation in Mexico City of 7,349 feet above sea level, the thin air helped many old records to be broken. The year 1968 itself was a different year. The Vietnam War was under way and social leader Martin Luther King Jr. had just been assassinated. To add to that, ten days prior to the scheduled opening of the Games, students at Mexico City University protested and army troops were called in. Thirty students were killed as the protest turned to riot. Back in the United States, the Civil Rights movement was occurring. The United States took home 45 Gold Medals in 1968, with the United Socialists Soviet Republic following them with 29. Japan trailed with 11 Gold Medals, and Hungary followed with 10. East Germany had 9, and France and Czechoslovakia tied with 7 Gold Medals. West Germany, Australia, and Poland all tied with 5 total Gold Medals, and Romania went home with 4. In the track and field events, almost every record was broken because of the air. Athletes like Jim Hines helped the USA Olympic Te
The American team had the High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Shot Put, and Decathlon records all set, and the USSR set the Triple Jump and Javelin marks. The spontaneous demonstration of international good will during the emotion-charged closing ceremony left hardly a dry eye in the stadium". Tommie Smith and John Carlos ran 1st and 3rd place in the 200 meter race and during the awards ceremony gave the Black Power Salute. As for the Field Events, many Olympic records and 2 world records were set. Hines set the world record for the 100 meter dash at 9. He was not the favorite; world record holder Jay Silvester was. Three hundred and twelve participants from sixty-seven nations competed. 95 seconds and kept that a world record for 15 years and an Olympic record for 20 years. Olympic Committee and were ordered to leave. Al was also suffering from a neck injury, and it was raining. Racism was not forgotten even in the Olympics. He told them: "Here competitors from different countries, of every color, creed, and political affiliation, regardless of social or financial status, with strange customs and habits, not even speaking the same language, but each possessing the high ideals of youth, contested passionately, on an equal footing with amazingly little friction for the greatest honor in sport, at the same time sharing a friendly camaraderie, with everything provided for their comfort, in the Olympic Village. American Wyomia Tyus became the first sprinter, male or female, to successfully defend her title in two Olympics.
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Acceptance Essays
