Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon The men's decathlon competition featured as part of the athletics programme at the 1968 Summer Olympics and was held at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City on 18 and 19 October. American Bill Toomey won the gold medal with an Olympic record score of 8193 points. Two West German athletes, Hans-Joachim Walde and Kurt Bendlin, took the silver and bronze medals, respectively. A total of 33 competitors from 20 nations entered the decathlon with 19 athletes managing to finish all events at the competition. The ten-event track and field competition
Mark Spitz 4:10.60 and emerged on the world swimming stage. Spitz swam in his first international competition at the 1965 Maccabiah Games. At age 15 in Tel Aviv, he won four gold medals and was named the most outstanding athlete. He returned to Israel in 1969 following the Mexico Olympics to again compete in the Maccabiah Games. This time, he won six gold medals. He was again named outstanding athlete of the Games. In 1985, Spitz lit a torch to open the Maccabiah Games. In 2005, he was a member of the U.S. delegation at the 17th Maccabiah Games. He spoke at