University Olympic Stadium (Estadio Olímpico Universitario)
This is where Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists to the sky in 1968 — one of sport's most charged political moments, in a stadium that held 83,700 people.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Mexico City offline.
Built in 1952 as Mexico's largest stadium, it was the main venue for the 1968 Summer Olympics — hosting track and field, equestrian events, and both the opening and closing ceremonies. It also introduced the Tartan all-weather running track to the Olympics, a surface that has been required at every Games since.
What to look for
- The running track — the first all-weather Tartan surface ever used at an Olympic Games, now standard worldwide
- The 200m finishing straight where Smith and Carlos gave the Black Power salute during the medal ceremony
- The original 1952 bowl, expanded to 83,700 seats for the Olympics without substantially altering the structure
The stadium sits inside the UNAM campus (Ciudad Universitaria) in southern Mexico City; it also hosted four matches of the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
University Olympic Stadium (Estadio Olímpico Universitario) is one of 29 sights worth the detour in Mexico City, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Mexico City pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Mexico City
- Mexico City Metropolitan CathedralTwo hundred and forty years of construction, built on top of the Aztec sacred precinct — every generation of New Spain left something inside.
- National Museum of AnthropologyThe stone that defined how the world pictures the Aztec calendar is here — and 3.7 million people came to see it last year.
- Autódromo Hermanos RodríguezA 4.3 km ribbon of asphalt where two brothers gave their names — and their lives — to Mexican motorsport.
- Aztec Sun StoneA 24-tonne disc of olivine basalt that spent centuries buried under Mexico City's main square — then mounted on a cathedral wall — before anyone called it art.
- Palacio de Bellas ArtesStarted in 1904, halted by revolution and a sinking city, finished in 1934 — thirty years of delay show in every detail.
- National Palace (Palacio Nacional)Every September 15, the president rings the exact bell Father Hidalgo rang to call for rebellion against Spain — from this balcony, over this square.