The format was the same as in 1964, with the best six gymnasts in the individual all-around advancing to the apparatus final, with the final apparatus score made up of 50% of the all-around total and a final optional programme.
Nataliya Kuchinskaya (URS) had won this event at the 1966 World Championships, with Věra Čáslavská second. Kuchinskaya led after the all-around qualifying in Ciudad de México, but Čáslavská and Belarussian Larisa Petrik both scored 9.90 in the final round to share the gold medal, with Kuchinskaya placing third. Čáslavská performed her floor exercise routine to the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance, to the delight of the Mexican crowds.