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1968 Mexico City Summer Games
5531 Athletes, 113 Countries, 172 Events

The 1968 Games were the first to be held in Latin America. Yet deeming Mexico City as the host over Detroit, Lyon, and Buenos Aires was controversial due to the city's high altitude. The Games did go on and made true to much of the Olympic motto: 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' (Swifter, Higher, Stronger).

Swifter: The high altitude led to records being rewritten in all men's track and field events 400meters and shorter.

Higher: Mexico City lies approximately 1.4 miles above sea level.

Stronger: Events longer than 400meters required incredible endurance and lots of highaltitude training to complete, let alone win.

Of the Ivies present, the best known was probably swimmer Donald Schollander (Yale '68). Four years prior in Tokyo, Schollander won four gold medals and gained international acclaim as U.S. and World Athlete of the Year. Troubled by the high altitude, he was still able to add a silver medal (200meter freestyle) and gold medal (4x200meter freestyle relay) to his collection.

Announcing his retirement at the end of the 1968 Games, Schollander reportedly joked that he was 'finished with water' to the extent that he did not want to bathe or shower for two years.

While Schollander was ending his swimming career, Eleanor S. Daniel (Penn '73) was just beginning hers. She won a set of medals in Mexico City gold with the United States 4x100meter medley relay team, silver in the 100meter butterfly, and bronze in the 200meter butterfly. After returning from the Games, 'Ellie' Daniel enrolled at Penn where she trained with the men's team. She later earned another bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Games.

Though it did not win a medal, the Harvard varsity heavyweight eight crew in Mexico did not go unnoticed. They were known, well before Opening Ceremonies, to be supporters of the Olympic Project for Human Rights an organization for athletes to protest the treatment of AfricanAmericans in the United States. Coxswain Paul Hoffman (Harvard '68) was almost not allowed to compete in the Games by the USOC due to his involvement, a move that could have had disastrious results for the Harvard crew.

The controversy gained international attention during the protest at the medal ceremony for the men's 200meter race. Gold and bronze medal winners Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the platform barefooted and raised a clenched, blackgloved fist while bowing their heads during the national anthem.