Athletics at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games:

The heavy favorite was the silver medalist from 1964, Irena Szewińska-Kirszenstein, who had won the 1966 European Championships, and had set the world record of 22.7 at a meet in Warszawa in 1965. She did not disappoint. In the final, the 1964/68 100 gold medalist Wyomia Tyus started in the lead, but faded in the straight. Szewińska-Kirszenstein pulled ahead and won by two metres in world record time. The first four finishers broke 23 seconds, the first time that had occurred. The eight-place finisher, Jutta Stöck, was the daughter of 1936 javelin gold medalist Gerd Stöck.