the 1968 summer olympics, officially known as the games of the xix olympiad, were held in mexico city in 1968. mexico city beat out bids from detroit, buenos aires and lyon to host the games in 1963. the games were preceded by the tlatelolco massacre, in which hundreds of students were killed by security forces ten days before the opening day. it is the only games ever held in latin america, and it was the second ever outside of western europe, australia, or the usa.