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"We were a
“TEAM” and a very close-knit group and became “family” like
no other TEAM in Olympic history." Payton Jordan,
1968 Olympic Track and Field Coach.
The 1968 squad
was arguably one on the most talented teams in Olympic
history and the year was also noted for the backdrop of
activity that had nothing to do with measuring tapes or
stopwatches.
In 1968 the
United States was entrenched in the civil rights movement
and anti-Vietnam war protests, and earlier that year Martin
Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. The
entire 1968 Olympic team i.e. all sports, had been
threatened with a boycott by all United States black
athletes. The idea was abandoned and aside from the records
that were set, the most memorable photograph of the games
was the black gloved fist salute by Tommie Smith and John
Carlos on the victory stand for the 200 meter medal
ceremony.
In the 200 meter
dash, John Carlos seemed to have victory locked up when
Tommie Smith passed him in a burst of speed and Carlos,
shocked, slowed and was edged into third place.
A few of the
many other highlights were the sweep of the 400 meter dash
by the United States runners, and a trivia note was that all
three runners in the individual 400, Lee Evans, Larry James,
and Ron Freeman, and Vince Matthews, the leadoff runner in
the 4x400 meter relay, were all born in the same year.
The men's 4x400
and the men's and women's 4x100 meter relay teams set world
records, Bob Beamon shattered the long jump record by almost
two feet by jumping over 29 feet, Wyomia Tyus became
the first woman to win back to back Olympic 100 meter
titles and set a world record in the process, Jim Hines set a world record in the 100 meter dash,
and Al Oerter won an unprecedented (for any event) fourth
consecutive discus gold medal, and broke his own Olympic
record.
Other Olympic
records were set by Dick Fosbury in the high jump while also
introducing the world to the flopping style of high jumping,
Bob Seagren in the pole vault, Bill Toomey in the decathlon, and Madeline Manning in
the 800 meters.
1968 home page
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other special notations |
