Tag Archives: Mexico

Cycling – women’s 1 hour unpaced standing start

The official UCI one-hour distance record from a standing start is 46.065 km by Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel (Netherlands) on 1 October 2003 in the Olympic velodrome in Mexico City, Mexico. The UCI’s “best performance” distance over one hour is 48.159 km by Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (France) on 26 October 1996, also at the Olympic velodrome in Mexico City, Mexico. Did you know? Since 2000, the Union-Cyclist Internationale (UCI) have only accepted records set on a “standard, non-aero” bicycle. Results achieved using bicycles no longer approved by Continue reading →

First drug testing and disqualification of athletes at the Olympics

The Mexico City Olympics held in 1968 were the first to introduce drug testing for medallists, with urine taken and analyzed for narcotics and stimulants. Consequently, these Games saw the first ever drugs disqualification, with the Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall testing positive for excessive alcohol. He had allegedly drunk some beer prior to the pistol shooting to calm his nerves and was later stripped of the bronze medal he went on to win.

First person to run 100 m in less than 10 seconds (automatic timing)

During the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City, the African-American sprinter Jim Hines earned the title of ‘fastest man on the planet’ when he broke the long-standing 10-second barrier in the 100 m event. With a time of 9.95 sec, Hines stormed to Olympic gold and established a 100 m world record that remained unbeaten for 15 years. Astonishingly, he would go on to better his time at the very same Olympics, running the anchor leg of the 4 x 100 m relay event Continue reading →

First summer Olympic Games to be televised in colour

The summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1968 were the first summer Games to be televised live in colour. These were the first Games to feature extensive colour broadcasts of the sporting competitions themselves, although the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, had featured live colour television footage of the opening and closing ceremonies and a selection of the events: wrestling, volleyball, judo and gymnastics. These were mainly for the national Japanese TV audience, however, and were not broadcast to an international audience.

Hairiest family

Victor “Larry” Gomez, Gabriel “Danny” Ramos Gomez, Luisa Lilia De Lira Aceves and Jesus Manuel Fajardo Aceves (all Mexico) are four of a family of 19 that span five generations all suffering from the rare condition called Congenital Generalized Hypertrichosis, characterized by excessive facial and torso hair. The women are covered with a light-to-medium coat of hair while the men of the family have thick hair on approximately 98% of their body apart from their hands and feet. Larry and Danny currently perform in the Continue reading →

Largest astronomy lesson

The largest astronomy lesson involved 458 participants (all Mexico) at an event organised by Juarez Competitiva, at the Samalayuca Desert in Chihuahua, Mexico, on 14 October 2011. Students were taught various aspects of the October nocturnal sky, including the angular size of the Constellations, the planet Jupiter and the phases of the moon. Each participant was also given instruction on how to use a telescope (each participant had their own).