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 top amateur athlete in the United States. Spitz also set a number of world records during the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials held in Chicago's Portage Park in 1972. He was nicknamed "Mark the Shark" by his teammates. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich (West Germany), Spitz was back to maintain his bid for the six gold medals. He did even better, winning seven Olympic gold medals. Furthermore, Spitz set a new world record in each of the seven events – 100-meter freestyle (51.22), 200-meter freestyle (1:52.78), 100-meter butterfly (54.27), 200-meter butterfly (2:00.70), 4×100-meter freestyle relay (3:26.42), 4×200-meter freestyle relay