"Sport, Politics, and the Olympics"

The 1968 Olympics are known to be Games of the XIX Olympiad. These were held in Mexico City, Mexico with about 112 nations participating in this event. Some highlights of this events were: The South Africa controversy, in which apparently South Africa was invited to the games, but since there were threats from both African American athletes and South American Athletes to boycott each other the IOC decided not to have them participate. Another event was the Tlatelolco massacre, in which students gathered in Plaza de las Tres Culturas and the government ordered to break it up, and ended up killing dozens of protesters and over 1,000 were arrested. One of the most important events was the Black Power salute in which sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos saluted, while the national anthem was playing, raising a black glove as symbol of the civil rights movement. Because of this both of these athletes were banned from participating in the Olympics, including a Australian sprinter, Peter Norman who wore the civil right badges supporting the American sprinters. These events all seem to be political and end up having political repercussions on the athletes/students who take a stand for a change. Once again the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and the events that revolved around it make the statement "sport is pure and devoid of political interference" false.