The 1968 Games of the XIX Olympiad were hosted by Mexico City. It marked the first time that the games were held in a Latin American country. Like the 1956 Melbourne games and the 1964 Tokyo games these games would be hosted in the autumn  instead of the usual summer. The games were held from 12 October to 27 October.

Mexico City beat out Detroit, Buenos Aires, and Lyon to host the games; these games had several firsts of note. The closing ceremonies were broadcast throughout the world in color for the first time. The games also introduced doping tests that saw the first athlete disqualification in Olympic competition. The athlete was Swedish Pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall, and his ‘performance enhancer’ was alcohol that he had consumed just prior to his event.

Several images and photos became iconic of these games. The protest staged by John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the medal ceremony resulted in both men being banned from further Olympic competition. Smith and Carlos made a stand for human rights, wearing black socks with no shoes and raising black gloved fists into the night. Australian runner Peter Norman was on the medal stand with Carlos and Smith, and he wore a civil rights badge in support. Norman was subsequently punished by the Australian track officials by being left off the team for the 1972 games.

The games in Mexico City are to date the highest elevation games contested. Mexico City is 7,350 feet (2,240 meters) above sea level, and the thin air and elevation contributed to many records falling in track and field.

The sport of high jumping was changed forever when Dick Fosbury made his leap with his back to the bar. The ‘Fosbury Flop’ has become the standard for all high jumpers since it was unveiled at these games.

Bob Beamon stood the long jump on its head when he leaped completely over the 28′ foot barrier. The world record was 27′ and had stood for for quite some time. Beamon broke the record by 22 inches (55 cm) and set the world and Olympic records at 29′ 2″ (8.90m). The world record stood for 23 years until broken by Mike Powell. Beamon still holds the Olympic record 44 years later.

The German teams who had been forced to compete together by the IOC were split apart and would remain that way through 1988. 112 countries would participate in these games, with the United States winning the most gold medals and the most overall medals 107 total 45g, 28s, 34b. The Soviet Union was second with 91 medals 29g, 32s, 30b. The previous host Japan was third with 25 medals 11g, 7s, 7b.