Balance Beam, Women

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 program. This was the only women’s individual event in Mexico City that was not won by Věra Čáslavská, who eventually finished second. The gold went to Soviet Nataliya Kuchinskaya, who had won the event at the 1966 World Championships, along with two other apparatus gold medals. Bronze went to Kuchinskaya’s teammate Belarussian Larisa Petrik, who also won a gold medal on floor exercise in 1968, shared with Čáslavská. Fourth-place was a tie between East German Karin Janz and American Linda Metheny, whose fourth-place finish was the best in an individual gymnastics event at the Olympics by an American woman prior to the 1984 Olympics.