Mexico at the 2008 Summer Olympics Mexico at the 2008 Summer Olympics Mexico competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The country sent 85 competitors (43 men and 42 women) and participated in 23 sports. Mexico's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony was diver Paola Espinosa. Mexican athletes won two gold medals at the games for the first time since the 1984 Olympics. Mexico sent archers, two men and two women, to the Olympics for the eighth time, and had yet to win an Olympic medal in the sport. Two men received qualifying places in archery, after Luis Velez earned a qualifying spot during the 2007
Marathons at the Olympics are 2:06:32 hours for men, set by Samuel Wanjiru in 2008, and 2:23:07 hours for women, set by Tiki Gelana in 2012. The men's marathon world record has been improved several times at the Olympics: in 1908, 1920, and then at successive Olympics by Abebe Bikila in 1960 and 1964. Abebe Bikila and Waldemar Cierpinski are the only athletes to have won two Olympic gold medals in the marathon. No athlete has won more than two medals of any colour. Ethiopia has won the most gold medals in the event, with six, while the United States has the greatest medal