Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Olympic games for wider area of: "MEXICO Country NORTH AMERICA" .
MEXICO CITY (Town) MEXICO
From 1963, when the Games were voted for Mexico City, there
was an increasing furore on the effects of its altitude (2,440m above sea level),
mainly for competitions that required endurance. Some medical experts even
forecasted possible deaths. This aspect was judged to be overly pessimistic,
but many incidents of extreme exhaustion were recorded. When runner Ron Clarke
showed heart problems in 1981, there was speculation that his condition had
been aggravated by his efforts in Mexico City. On the other hand there were
some that profited out of Mexico City's altitude. A good example is Bob Beamon's
(USA) outstanding long jump of 8.90m, a record that stood intact for 24 years!
Mexico's Olympics are also considered the most troubled ones, at
least up to then, a sad record that the Mexicans shared later with the Germans
who witnessed the Munich massacre.
A few weeks before the Games started, serious student riots erupted
at the University of Mexico. Riots that were ruthlessly suppressed with dozens
killed and hundreds injured. The students protested against the Games being
held in a country where thousands of people lived below poverty limits, with
verified deaths caused by famine. On the upper side of the American continent,
there was a move to get black athletes to boycott the U.S. Team as a protest
to the bad treatment blacks were receiving in America. When this gained a poor
support, those behind the boycott implied that some sort of demonstration would
take place at the Games.
Because of the high altitude the distance running events were dominated
by runners who lived and trained at similar conditions, such as the Kenyans
and Ethiopians. Favored as well were the jumpers. Beamon's jump was actually
beyond the limits of the measurements device in the pit, and a steel tape had
to be used. In the triple jump, the record was beaten by seven men and the world
mark improved on five occasions. American discus champion Al Oerter, despite
the fact that he was competing having a fractured neck, won a gold breaking
his own record twice!
A more loud expression of Black Power was the demonstration by
the black American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos in the 200m ceremony,
when they raised black-gloved fists (a Black Power symbol), during the playing
of the American anthem. For their action they were suspended and expelled from
the Olympic Village. Some old-timers noted that their action was no more, no
less, insulting than that of the numerous medallists who haδ adopted the Nazi
salute back in 1936...
Text by Dimitri N. Marcopoulos
Mexico City 1968
Links with various Organizations' WebPages:
The Olympic Movement
American Sport Art Museum and Archives , a division of the United States Sports Academy
International Sailing Federation
Mexico City 1968
Links with various Media's WebPages:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
British Broadcasting Corporation
1968 Mexico City Olympics: Various WebPages
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
