These are the results of the women's balance beam competition, one of six events for female competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Kuchinskaya was controversially awarded gold over Čáslavská after initial scores were revised. A similar controversy occurred in the floor event, and both were in favor of Soviet athletes.

Competition format

Each nation entered a team of six gymnasts or up to three individual gymnasts. All entrants in the gymnastics competitions performed both a compulsory exercise and a voluntary exercise for each apparatus. The scores for all 8 exercises were summed to give an individual all-around score.

These exercise scores were also used for qualification for the new apparatus finals. The two exercises (compulsory and voluntary) for each apparatus were summed to give an apparatus score; the top 6 in each apparatus participated in the finals; others were ranked 7th through 101st. In the final, each gymnast performed an additional voluntary exercise; half of the score from the preliminary carried over.

Results

Rank Gymnast Nation Preliminary Final Compulsory Voluntary Total Prelim. Final Total Natalia Kuchinskaya 9.80 9.80 19.60 9.800 9.850 19.650 Věra Čáslavská 9.65 9.80 19.45 9.725 9.850 19.575 Larisa Petrik 9.50 9.50 19.00 9.500 9.750 19.250 4 Linda Metheny 9.60 9.55 19.15 9.575 9.650 19.225 Karin Janz 9.45 9.60 19.05 9.525 9.700 19.225 6 Erika Zuchold 9.45 9.55 19.00 9.500 9.650 19.150 7 Cathy Rigby 9.55 9.45 19.00 did not advance 8 Maritta Bauerschmidt 9.50 9.45 18.95 did not advance 9 Miyuki Matsuhisa 9.50 9.40 18.90 did not advance 10 Ágnes Bánfai 9.50 9.35 18.85 did not advance Lyubov Burda 9.50 9.35 18.85 did not advance Hana Lišková 9.45 9.40 18.85 did not advance Marianne Noack 9.45 9.40 18.85 did not advance Bohumila Řimnáčová 9.45 9.40 18.85 did not advance 15 Zinaida Voronina 9.40 9.40 18.80 did not advance 16 Kazue Hanyu 9.35 9.40 18.75 did not advance Evelyne Letourneur 9.50 9.25 18.75 did not advance 18 Anikó Ducza 9.50 9.20 18.70 did not advance Olga Karasyova 9.30 9.40 18.70 did not advance Jana Kubičková-Posnerová 9.30 9.40 18.70 did not advance Colleen Mulvihill 9.40 9.30 18.70 did not advance 22 Marianna Krajčírová 9.35 9.30 18.65 did not advance 23 Kayoko Hashiguchi 9.35 9.25 18.60 did not advance Mitsuko Kandori 9.35 9.25 18.60 did not advance Taniko Mitsukuri 9.35 9.25 18.60 did not advance Miroslava Skleničková 9.30 9.30 18.60 did not advance 27 Kathy Gleason 9.15 9.30 18.45 did not advance Joyce Tanac 9.25 9.20 18.45 did not advance 29 Katalin Makray 9.25 9.10 18.35 did not advance 30 Chieko Oda 9.25 9.05 18.30 did not advance Márta Tolnai 9.10 9.20 18.30 did not advance 32 Ilona Békési 9.20 9.05 18.25 did not advance 33 Wendy Cluff 9.20 9.00 18.20 did not advance Ute Starke 9.20 9.00 18.20 did not advance Neli Stoyanova 8.95 9.25 18.20 did not advance 36 Gondegmaa Tsagaandorj 8.85 9.25 18.10 did not advance 37 Mariya Karashka 8.80 9.25 18.05 did not advance 38 Wiesława Lech 9.05 8.95 18.00 did not advance 39 Jacqueline Brisepierre 9.20 8.75 17.95 did not advance 40 Sandra Hartley 8.95 8.90 17.85 did not advance 41 Katalin Müller 9.45 8.35 17.80 did not advance Łucja Ochmańska 8.80 9.00 17.80 did not advance 43 Mireille Cayre 8.95 8.80 17.75 did not advance Françoise Nourry 9.15 8.60 17.75 did not advance Ludmilla Tourischeva 9.30 8.45 17.75 did not advance 46 Horta Van Hoye 8.70 9.00 17.70 did not advance Vesela Pasheva 8.75 8.95 17.70 did not advance 48 Tuiaa Iadamsurenglin 8.60 9.00 17.60 did not advance 49 Helga Braathen 8.35 9.20 17.55 did not advance Christiane Goethals 8.45 9.10 17.55 did not advance Barbara Zięba 8.45 9.10 17.55 did not advance 52 Nancy Aldama 8.70 8.80 17.50 did not advance Margaret Bell 8.55 8.95 17.50 did not advance Angelika Kern 8.50 9.00 17.50 did not advance 55 Marilynn Minaker 8.35 9.05 17.40 did not advance Wenche Sjong 8.45 8.95 17.40 did not advance 57 Marie Lundqvist 8.60 8.75 17.35 did not advance 58 Magdalena Schmidt 9.10 8.20 17.30 did not advance 59 Jill Kvamme 8.20 9.05 17.25 did not advance 60 Gabriella Pozzuolo 8.95 8.15 17.10 did not advance 61 Adriana Biagiotti 9.00 8.05 17.05 did not advance 62 Rayna Atanasova 8.60 8.40 17.00 did not advance Zulema Bregado 8.70 8.30 17.00 did not advance Jennifer Diachun 8.90 8.10 17.00 did not advance Rose-Marie Holm 8.85 8.15 17.00 did not advance Torunn Isberg 7.90 9.10 17.00 did not advance Dominique Lauvard 9.05 7.95 17.00 did not advance Theresa McDonnell 7.95 9.05 17.00 did not advance Else Trangbaek 8.25 8.75 17.00 did not advance 70 Suzette Blanco 8.25 8.55 16.80 did not advance Grażyna Witkowska 8.75 8.05 16.80 did not advance 72 Norikhoo Dorj 8.40 8.35 16.75 did not advance Valerie Norris 8.05 8.70 16.75 did not advance Mary Prestidge 8.25 8.50 16.75 did not advance 75 Solveig Egman-Andersson 8.30 8.40 16.70 did not advance Marie-Luise Stegemann 8.65 8.05 16.70 did not advance 77 Vanya Marinova 7.35 9.30 16.65 did not advance 78 Nereida Bauta 8.00 8.55 16.55 did not advance 79 Miriam Villacian 8.00 8.50 16.50 did not advance 80 Petra Jebram 8.80 7.65 16.45 did not advance Helga Matschkur 8.75 7.70 16.45 did not advance 82 Irmi Krauser 8.50 7.90 16.40 did not advance 83 Natalija Sljepica 8.55 7.70 16.25 did not advance 84 Halina Daniec 8.50 7.45 15.95 did not advance 85 Anna Stein 8.50 7.35 15.85 did not advance 86 Daniela Maccelli 8.70 7.10 15.80 did not advance 87 Unni Holmen 8.05 7.70 15.75 did not advance 88 Małgorzata Chojnacka 8.45 7.20 15.65 did not advance 89 Nicole Bourdiau 8.75 6.80 15.55 did not advance 90 Suzanne Cloutier 8.25 7.25 15.50 did not advance 91 Esbela da Fonseca 7.55 7.90 15.45 did not advance Elena Ramirez 7.75 7.70 15.45 did not advance 93 Ann-Mari Hvaal 7.40 7.50 14.90 did not advance 94 Yolanda Vega 8.20 6.65 14.85 did not advance 95 Julietta Saenz de Secilia 7.70 6.65 14.35 did not advance 96 Luisa Morales 7.05 6.85 13.90 did not advance Laura Rivera 7.85 6.05 13.90 did not advance 98 Yu Mai-Lee 7.10 6.65 13.75 did not advance 99 Rosalinda Puente 6.90 5.90 12.80 did not advance 100 Rosario Briones 6.30 6.40 12.70 did not advance Hong Tai-kwai 8.05 4.65 12.70 did not advance

References

Official Olympic Report www.gymnasticsresults.com www.gymn-forum.net