Tip 1: How the 1968 Olympics was held in Mexico City
Tip 1: How the 1968 Olympics was held in Mexico City
In 1968, the Summer Olympic Games for the first time inits history was held in Mexico, more precisely, in the capital of the state - Mexico City. Before that, only the USA accepted the Olympics on the American continent. These competitions went down in history not only because of sports, but also because of social and political events around the games.
In the Olympic Games in Mexico took partAthletes from 112 countries. The number of participants has increased significantly due to the proclamation of the independence of many African states. The United States took the first place in the unofficial medal standings. Traditionally strong was a team of American athletes. Both women and men won several medals in running and jumping for their national team. Swimmers of this country also performed deservingly. The Soviet Union became the second, behind only a few medals. Soviet athletes were in the lead in gymnastics, boxing and weightlifting. Also gold received men's and women's Soviet volleyball teams. The third place, to the surprise of sports experts, was taken by Japan. The economic development of this state after the Second World War had a positive impact on the popularization of sports. The Japanese showed their successes in the marathon race, as well as in volleyball - both women's and men's teams became silver medalists. The Olympic games in Mexico City have become known for their numerous protests. Mexican youth movements began street demonstrations demanding the overthrow of the government. They chose for this period the Olympics, in order to draw the maximum attention of the international community to the policy of the Mexican authorities. Some athletes participated in individual political actions. For example, two American black athletes directly at the award held a protest against discrimination against the Negro population of the United States. This was a violation of the order of the games, which ended in disqualification for them already at home. At the same time, the Czech gymnast Vera Chaslavska also at the award was against the Soviet Union, in particular, his invasion of Czechoslovakia. This turned out to be the end of her sports career.
Tip 2: The 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City
The decision to hold the XIX Summer Olympic Games inMexico, the International Olympic Committee adopted at its 60th session in Baden-Baden, in October 1963. The applicants were four. In addition to Mexico City, the title of the capital of the XIX Olympiad was claimed by Detroit, Lyon and Buenos Aires. The Mexican capital received 30 votes.
At the XIX Olympiad a lot was for the first time. For the first time the Games were held in Latin America. For the first time a high-altitude region was chosen. Long before the start of the competition, "sports scouts" from different countries, first of all trainers and doctors, wanted to see how unusual conditions will affect the health of the athletes and the results of the competitions. Mexico City is at an altitude of 2240m above sea level, and this could not but affect the balance of forces. Despite heated controversy, a record number of Olympians came to Mexico City. 5531 sportsmen took part in the competitions. 112 delegations sent their delegations. Some countries for the first time formed Olympic teams. Among the debutants were not only the African and Asian countries, but also neighboring with Mexico Nicaragua, El Salvador and Paraguay. The development of telecommunications by 1968 has already reached a serious level, and the competition was able to watch simultaneously residents of all continents. This also became a kind of record. The Olympics opened on October 12, 1968. Opening day was not chosen by chance. It was on this day, in 1492, that Christopher Columbus arrived in the Latin American continent. The Olympic flame was lit by a woman - Enriquette Basilio Sotelo. And this, too, was an innovation. A few days before the solemn ceremony in Mexico City there was a demonstration of student organizations, which wanted to influence the policy of the authorities. However, political events did not affect the results. At the XIX Summer Olympic Games a huge amount of the highest achievements was established. 78 Olympic records were registered, with 28 of them being higher than the world records. The most pleasant surprises were presented to athletes by athletes. They set 30 Olympic records, 14 of which were better than the highest world achievements. The result in the 400m run with barriers improved immediately for a second. Six pole vaults overcame the height of 17m. Excellent results were also shown by swimmers and weightlifters. The first set 23 Olympic records, the second - 18. Excellent results were achieved by the arrows and bicyclists. In total, 110 sets of medals in 22 kinds of sports were played in Mexico City. In the unofficial team competition, the US team won, winning 107 medals, of which 45 - the highest test. The Soviet team also performed successfully, in its piggy bank was 91 awards, including 29 gold. The third place with 25 awards was taken by Japanese athletes.
Tip 3: Where the Summer Olympics of 1968 were held
Traditional voting for seat selectionThe XIX Olympic Games were held in autumn 1963 in Baden-Baden, Germany. This was at the 60th session of the International Olympic Committee, and the voting list contained four items. Only one of them was assigned to the European city, while the rest were represented by overseas applicants.
The Summer Olympics of 1968 could be held inFrance, the USA or Argentina, but the cities representing these countries could not compete with the Mexican capital. In the first round of voting, Mexico City was given two more votes than for all other cities combined, and the choice of the capital of the XIX summer games was over. As a result, for the first and only time in the history of the Olympics, this sports festival of planetary scale was held in Latin America. Mexico City is a city that was founded in 1521 and has since been named after the Aztec god of war. The number of residents in the Mexican capital exceeds 8.5 million, and taking into account the suburbs, this number can be increased to 21 million. To carry out the Olympic tournaments in Mexico City, 88 projects were implemented to improve urban and transport infrastructure, an "Olympic Village" was created and more than a dozen new sports facilities were built. The total number of sports facilities on which the competition took place was 25. The opening and closing ceremonies took place at the 60,000-square-meter stadium that had been built earlier for the Pan-American Games. The Summer Olympics in 1968 is located on a mountain plateau, at an elevation of over 2,200 meters above sea level , and this had a certain effect on the results of the competition. The rarefied air of the highlands promoted higher results in sports that require relatively short-term efforts from athletes. For example, it was at these games that he set his phenomenal long jump record for an American Bob Beamon, flying 8 meters and 90 centimeters. He improved the previous world achievement by more than half a meter. This record was beaten only after 23 years. And in competitions on triple jump the Olympians updated the previous record five times. At the same time, in sports that require first of all endurance, athletes experienced additional difficulties due to lack of oxygen. The XIX Summer Olympics began in the autumn, October 12, 1968, and ended on October 27. 172 sets of medals were played on it, and the number of participants exceeded 5.5 thousand.
Tip 4: How the Olympics of 1968 in Grenoble passed
In 1968, the Winter Olympics took place inThe French city of Grenoble. To host the Games, Sapporo, Lake Plesid, Oslo, Lahti and Calgary claimed. Charles de Gaulle, the President of France, had a great influence on the vote of IOC members.
The Winter Games of 1968 were the firstCompetitions, which were introduced doping control. For the events in Grenoble, viewers from all over the world watched for the first time through television in color. Also, a new ice cover technology was applied here that positively influenced the results of the athletes. On February 6, at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Grenoble, the honorary guest was Charles de Gaulle, who delivered a welcome speech. Closing took place on February 18 at Ladigier Stadium. 35 sets of medals were played in 10 sports between 1158 athletes, among them 211 women. The men's relay race in biathlon was included in the competition program, in which Soviet biathletes Alexey Tikhonov, Nikolay Puzanov, Viktor Mamatov and Vladimir Gundartsev became winners. Debutants of the Olympics in 1968 were teams from Morocco and the GDR. Unfortunately, for the luge team from the GDR, the first speeches were overshadowed by the scandal: the Germans showed better results, but were disqualified for the mismatch of their sports equipment with technological requirements. The problems were not only among German athletes. Winter in France turned out to be warm - the refrigeration units simply could not cope with providing the tracks for bobsled and toboggans. As a result, the program of these disciplines was reduced. Jean-Claude Killy, the host of the Olympics, won the most medals. On his account gold in slalom, giant slalom and downhill. A scandal was associated with his name. His rival Karl Shrantz had the opportunity to pass the track a second time, but in the end was completely removed from the competition. Among the countries the champion in the team event was Norway with 6 gold, the same amount of silver and two bronze. Athletes from the USSR at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble became the second with 5 gold and silver and 3 bronze medals. The winning series of 3 Olympics won in a row was interrupted. The hosts of the Games became the third with 4 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze awards.
