Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's triple jump

Men's triple jump at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Venue	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Date	October 16–17
Competitors	34 from 24 nations
Winning distance	17.39 WR
Medalists
01 ! Viktor Saneyev  Soviet Union 02 ! Nelson Prudêncio  Brazil 03 ! Giuseppe Gentile  Italy
← 1964 1972 →

01 !		Viktor Saneyev	Soviet Union
02 !		Nelson Prudêncio	Brazil
03 !		Giuseppe Gentile	Italy

The Men's triple jump competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico took place on October 16–17. With the best athletes jumping at high altitude in the Olympics, the world record was set multiple times. Prior to the event, Józef Szmidt had held the world record for eight years and also held the Olympic record since the previous Olympics.

The world and Olympic record were smashed in the qualifying round by Giuseppe Gentile, with a 17.10 on his second attempt (after fouling the first). It would prove to be his best jump in the competition.

The following day in the final, Gentile improved upon his record in the first round, jumping 17.22. In the third round, Viktor Saneyev improved upon the record by one centimeter. In the fifth round Nelson Prudêncio took the lead and the record. On his last attempt, Saneyev hit the winner and new record of 17.39 m (57 ft 0 ¹⁄₂ in).

The record lasted for three years until it was improved upon by Pedro Pérez, also set at high altitude. One year later, Saneyev brought the record down to sea level with a 17.44 that lasted 3 years. In 1975 in this same stadium, João Carlos de Oliveira made a .45 m (1 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in) "beamonesque" improvement to the record that held for almost 10 years. The record was brought down to sea level by Willie Banks in 1985.

During the competition, five men exceeded the previous world record though Art Walker and Nikolay Dudkin's jumps were wind aided. Phil May and Szmidt jumped further than his Olympic record in sixth and seventh place respectively.