This paper examines in detail the geo-political circumstances leading to the designation of Mexico City as venue for the 1968 Olympic Games, and the local actors who contributed to the endeavor's success. The research goes through the advantages and disadvantages of other candidate cities, analyzes the key role of two characters in the election of Mexico City (Marte R. Gómez and José de Jesús Clark Flores), and suggests a hypothesis on the election carried out by the International Olympic Committee in Baden Baden, West Germany, in October 1963. The whole analysis is framed by specific  Cold War environments at the time, the new geopolitics of Olympic Games after decolonization, and Mexico-U.S. relations.