1968 Summer Olympics torch relay 1968 Summer Olympics torch relay The 1968 Summer Olympics torch relay took part as part of the build-up to the 1968 Summer Olympics hosted in Mexico City, Mexico. The Olympic flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, and retraced the steps of Christopher Columbus, founder of the New World. This theme celebrated the link between Latin-American and Mediterranean civilisations. At the end of the relay the Olympic cauldron was for the first time lit by a female athlete. Mexican hurdler Enriqueta Basilio was chosen to complete the final leg of the 2,500 km running relay. The torch had covered a total
1968 Summer Olympics torch relay arrived just outside San Salvador at the original landing site of Columbus's first voyage. A celebration organised in conjunction with the Bahamas Olympic Association marked the first time that the Flame had been to the New World. At the end of the festivities the Flame was taken aboard the Mexican destroyer ARM "Durango". The ship arrived in Veracruz on 6 October with the torch being swam ashore by a relay of seventeen swimmers. From there the Mexican runners started their journey, and the Flame arrived at the Olympic Stadium Estadio Olímpico Universitario on 12 October. In total the relay spanned