However, the race is perhaps best known for what happened during the medal ceremony – the Black Power salute of Smith and bronze medallist John Carlos.

Peter Norman's medal was the second for Australia in the men's 200 metres, after Stan Rowley's bronze 68 years earlier.

Three of the eight finalists from the 1964 Games returned: bronze medalist Edwin Roberts of Trinidad and Tobago, fourth-place finisher Harry Jerome of Canada, and fifth-place finisher (and 1960 gold medalist) Livio Berruti of Italy.

Tommie Smith was the 1967 and 1968 AAU champion; John Carlos was the 1967 Pan American Games and 1968 U.S. Olympic trials winners (with a time that would have been a world record, but was not ratified because his shoes had too many spikes).

The two were heavily favored, though had considered boycotting the Olympics to protest racial inequality in the United States.

The United States made its 15th appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 200 metres to date.