1. 1968 Winter Olympics Grenoble, France

3. X Olympic Winter Games
the IOC first permitted East and West Germany to enter separately
the first time the IOC ever ordered drug and gender testing of competitors

5. Grenoble 1968 is the first Olympiad to adopt a mascot, although unofficially
Schuss, the mascot, is a styled skier
This Olympics was the first to use Bugler's Dream by Leo Arnaud as the theme for Olympic television coverage by ABC
It was also the first Olympics to be broadcast in color

6. Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy won three gold medals in all the alpine skiing events
In women's figure skating, Peggy Fleming won the only United States gold medal
Her victory marks the first gold medal won by an American after the 1961 Worlds tragedy, and heralds an American figure skating renaissance
The games have been credited with making the Winter Olympics more popular in the United States
This was due to ABC's extensive coverage of Fleming and Killy, who became overnight sensations among teenage girls

8. The East German women’s luge team, who had won gold, silver, and fourth, were all disqualified for heating their runners
Fabled Italian bobsleigh pilot Eugenio Monti drove both the two-man and four-man events to win gold

9. Participating Nations
A total of 37 nations sent athletes to compete at these Games
Morocco competed at the Winter Games for the first time
East Germany and West Germany sent independent teams to the Games for the first time

10. Medal Count
Norway won the most medals: 6 gold, 6 silver, and 2 bronze (14)
It was the first time a country other than the USSR (13) had done so since the USSR first entered the Winter Games in 1956
East and West Germany combined for 12 total medals

11. 1968 Summer Olympics Mexico City, Mexico

12. Games of the XIX Olympiad
These were the first Olympic Games to be staged in Latin America and the first to be staged in a Spanish-speaking country

13. Olympic Torch Relay
The 1968 torch relay recreated the route taken by Christopher Columbus to the New World
Journeying from Greece through Italy and Spain to San Salvador Island, Bahamas and then on to Mexico
Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo of Mexico became the first woman to light the Olympic cauldron with the Olympic flame.

14. The high elevation of Mexico City, at 7,350 ft above sea level, influenced many of the events, particularly in track and field
No Summer Olympic Games before or since have been held at high elevation
Although a performance reducer for endurance athletes, the thin air contributed to many record-setting jumps, leaps, vaults, and throws, as well as all of the men's track events of 400 meters and less

15. In addition to high elevation, this was the first Olympics to use a synthetic all-weather surface for track and field events
It was the first Olympic games in which the closing ceremony was transmitted in color to the world, as well as the events themselves
The introduction of doping tests resulted in the first disqualification because of doping
Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall was disqualified for alcohol use (he drank several beers just prior to competing)

16. Highlights
In the triple jump, the previous world record was improved five times by three different athletes
Viktor Saneev won the first of three successive gold medals in this event
Věra Čáslavská of Czechoslovakia won four gold medals in gymnastics
It was the first games at which there was a significant African presence in men's distance running
Africans won at least one medal in all running events from 800 meters to the marathon, and in so doing they set a trend for future games
Most of these runners came from high-altitude areas of countries like Kenya and Ethiopia, and they were well-prepared for the 2240 m elevation of Mexico City

17. American Highlights
Al Oerter of the U.S. won his fourth consecutive gold medal in the discus to become only the second athlete to achieve this feat in an individual event, and the first in track & field
Bob Beamon of the U.S. leapt 29’ 2 ¼” in the long jump, an incredible 22” improvement over the previous world record
It remains the Olympic record and stood as the world record for 23 years
American Mike Powell broke the world record (29’ 4 ¼”) in 1991

18. American Highlights
American athletes Jim Hines, Tommie Smith and Lee Evans also set long-standing world records in the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m, respectively
Dick Fosbury of the U.S. won the gold medal in the high jump using his unconventional Fosbury flop technique, which quickly became the dominant technique in the event

19. American Highlights
American (and future professional world's champion) George Foreman won the gold medal for boxing (Heavyweight Division)
He defeated Soviet Ionas Chepulis via a second round TKO
After the victory, Foreman waved a small American flag as he bowed to the crowd.

20. American Highlights
16 year old Debbie Meyer of the U.S. became the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals, in the 200, 400 and 800 m freestyle events
Meyer was the first of several American teenagers to win the 800m
American swimmer Charlie Hickcox won three gold medals (200m IM, 400m IM, 4x100m medley relay) and one silver medal (100m backstroke)

21. Black Power Salute
In the medal award ceremony for the men's 200 meter race, black American athletes Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) took a stand for civil rights by raising their black-gloved fists and wearing black socks in lieu of shoes
The Australian Peter Norman, who had run second, wore an American "civil rights" badge as support to them on the podium
As punishment, the IOC banned Smith and Carlos from the Olympic Games for life, and Norman was left off Australia's Olympic team in 1972.

23. Tlatelolco Massacre
Responding to growing social unrest and protests, the government of Mexico had increased economic and political suppression, against labor unions in particular, in the decade building up to the Olympics
A series of protest marches in the city in August gathered significant attendance with an estimated 500,000 taking part on August 27
President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz ordered the occupation of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in September, but protests continued
Using the prominence brought by the Olympics, students gathered in Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco to call for greater civil and democratic rights and showed disdain for the Olympics with slogans such as ¡No queremos olimpiadas, queremos revolución! ("We don't want Olympics, we want revolution!")
Ten days before the start of the Olympics, the government ordered the gathering in Plaza de las Tres Culturas to be broken up
Some 5000 soldiers and 200 tankettes surrounded the plaza
Dozens of protesters and civilians were killed and over 1000 were arrested
At the time, the event was portrayed in the national media as the military suppression of a violent student uprising, but later analysis indicates that the gathering was peaceful prior to the army's advance

25. Věra Čáslavská
In another incident, while standing on the medal podium after the balance beam event final where Natalia Kuchinskaya of the Soviet Union had controversially taken the Gold, Czechoslovakian gymnast Věra Čáslavská quietly turned her head down and away during the playing of the Soviet national anthem
The action was Čáslavská's silent protest against the recent Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and was repeated when she accepted her medal for her floor exercise routine when the judges changed the preliminary scores of the Soviet Larisa Petrik to tie with Čáslavská
While Čáslavská's countrymen supported her actions and her outspoken opposition to Communism, the new regime responded by banning her from both sporting events and international travel for many years and made her an outcast from society

27. Competing Nations
11 nations competed for the first time in a Summer Olympiad
East Germany and West Germany competed as separate entities for the first time at a Summer Olympiad, and would remain so through 1988
Barbados competed for the first time as an independent country
Singapore returned to the Games as an independent country

28. Boycotts & Controversy
North Korea withdrew its athletes immediately prior to the beginning of the Olympics when the IOC refused to refer to the country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
South Africa was provisionally invited to the Games, on the understanding that all segregation and discrimination in sport would be eliminated by the 1972 Games
However, African countries and black American athletes promised to boycott the Games if South Africa was present, and Eastern Bloc countries threatened to do likewise
In April 1968 the IOC conceded that "it would be most unwise for South Africa to participate".

29. Medal Counts
The United States collected the most gold medals (45) and won the overall medal count with 107
The Soviet Union finished in second with 91 total medals
East and West Germany combined collected 51 total medals