Due to the high altitude in Mexico-City, sprinters and jumpers made long-lasting records


Long-Lasting Mexico City Track and Field World Records
Event 1968 World Record Length of Record Record Broken By
4 x 400 m Team USA 2:56.16 24 years 1992 Team USA 2:55.74
Long Jump Bob Beamon 8.90m 23 years 1991 Mike Powell 8.95m
400 m Lee Evans 43.86sec 19 years 1987 Butch Reynolds 43.29sec
100 m Jim Hines 9.95sec 15 years 1983 Calvin Smith 9.93sec
200 m Tommy Smith 19.83sec 11 years 1979 Pietro Menea 19.72sec



Due to Mexico CityÕs high altitude long distance runners were desperate for oxygen. All winners came from the high altitudes countries in Africa.

1968 Long-Distance Winners
Event Athlete Time Slower Than World Record By:
3,000 m steeplechase Amos Biwott (Kenya) 8:51.0 27 seconds
5,000 m Mohammed Gammoudi (Tunisia) 14:05.0 50 seconds
10,000 m Naftali Tempu (Kenya) 29:27.4 1:48 minutes
Marathon Mamo Wolde (Ethiopia) 2:20:11.2 10:50 minutes
Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo became the first women to light the Olympic flame at the Summer Olympic Games.


Women's Olympic "Firsts"
Lighting of the Olympic Flame Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo (Mexico) 1968
Gold Medal Charlotte Cooper (Great Britain) 1900
Swimming Gold Medal Fanny Durack (Australia) 1912
Track and Field Gold Medal Halina Konopacka (Poland), discus 1928
Giving the Olympic Oath Heidi Schuller (West Germany) 1972