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LEADING THE WAY FOR WOMEN She may not have tasted Olympic success on the track as a sprinter and hurdler, but Enriqueta Basilio’s contribution to the Olympic Games Mexico City 1968 was arguably more important than any podium finish. The 20-year-old from Mexicali made history by entering the Estadio Olímpico Universitario during the Opening Ceremony to the delight of 100,000 spectators, carrying the flame up the staircase to the top of the stadium and lighting the Olympic cauldron – the first-ever woman to do so. The Finn sailing event saw a certain Jacques Rogge of Belgium compete at the Olympic Games for the first time. After representing his country in Munich and Montreal, Rogge became the eighth IOC President, serving from 2001 to 2013. He became IOC Honorary President in 2013. The 1968 Olympic Games were unprecedented in many ways: they were the first Games to take place in Latin America and the first to be held in a Spanish-speaking country. What’s more, they also marked the first time that a synthetic all-weather material called tartan was used in track and field events. The surface proved a huge success, and continues to be used in modern-day athletics. MEMORABLE MOMENTS THE FLOP THAT BECAME A WORLDWIDE HIT Of the thousands of athletes who compete at each edition of the Olympic Games, only a few go on to win a gold medal. Even fewer do so while single- handedly revolutionising their sport. Yet that is exactly what the USA’s Dick Fosbury did in Mexico City. Whereas most high jump athletes deployed the “straddle” style prior to 1968, the 21-year-old Fosbury’s eponymous “flop” – a highly innovative back-first technique – saw him soar to gold with an Olympic record-breaking leap of 2.24m. His ingenuity changed the sport forever: to this day, the flop remains the go-to method in the high jump. MEMORABLE MOMENTS DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? 70 OLYMPIC REVIEW OLYMPIC FLASHBACK