Protest at the Pyramid: the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and the Politicization of the Olympic Games Kevin B
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2003 Protest at the Pyramid: The 1968 Mexico City Olympics and the Politicization of the Olympic Games Kevin B. Witherspoon Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES PROTEST AT THE PYRAMID: THE 1968 MEXICO CITY OLYMPICS AND THE POLITICIZATION OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES By Kevin B. Witherspoon A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2003 The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Kevin B. Witherspoon defended on Oct. 6, 2003. _________________________ James P. Jones Professor Directing Dissertation _____________________ Patrick O’Sullivan Outside Committee Member _________________________ Joe M. Richardson Committee Member _________________________ Valerie J. Conner Committee Member _________________________ Robinson Herrera Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project could not have been completed without the help of many individuals. Thanks, first, to Jim Jones, who oversaw this project, and whose interest and enthusiasm kept me to task. Also to the other members of the dissertation committee, V.J. Conner, Robinson Herrera, Patrick O’Sullivan, and Joe Richardson, for their time and patience, constructive criticism and suggestions for revision. Thanks as well to Bill Baker, a mentor and friend at the University of Maine, whose example as a sports historian I can only hope to imitate. Thanks to those who offered interviews, without which this project would have been a miserable failure: Juan Martinez, Manuel Billa, Pedro Aguilar Cabrera, Carlos Hernandez Schafler, Florenzio and Magda Acosta, Anatoly Isaenko, Ray Hegstrom, and Dr. Eduardo Hay. Thanks also to Architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, who kindly offered access to a sampling of his private papers. Thanks to those who made the trip to Mexico City possible, especially Ana Mary Ugalde, whose guidance and knowledge was indispensable. Thanks as well to Ellis Leagans, Carroll and Mitzi Golden, and Lorna Daniell. Thanks to the staffs of the various libraries and archives I mined in researching this project: the staff at the National Archives and Records Administration; at the Mexican Olympic Committee, especially Samantha Rangel B., secretary; and the microfilm staff at Strozier Library, Florida State University. Thanks also to F.S.U. for a University Fellowship, and to the F.S.U. History Department for a Dissertation Grant, in support of this project. Thanks to the “breakfast club,” whose assistance in translation of various documents was invaluable: Monica, Paul, Tam, Sara, and Vinnie. Thanks to all my family and friends, whose support never wavered, and whose nagging questions about the dissertation served as motivation to finish it! And there are not words enough to thank my wife, Jacky, who had the foresight to cancel our cable subscription while I completed the manuscript. When others doubted, she believed. I am forever in her debt. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...............................................................................................................v ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................vi INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I: THE QUEST FOR MODERNITY .................................................................9 CHAPTER II: BADEN-BADEN...........................................................................................31 CHAPTER III: THIN AIR AND OTHER CONTROVERSIES ...........................................46 CHAPTER IV: THE PROJECT ............................................................................................66 CHAPTER V: TLATELOLCO .............................................................................................82 CHAPTER VI: OCTOBER, 1968 .........................................................................................103 CHAPTER VII: AFTERMATH ............................................................................................129 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................145 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .................................................................................................153 iv LIST OF FIGURES 1. The Mexican Presidents, 1916-1994..................................................................................12 2. Summer Olympic Cities and Bids, 1896-2000 ..................................................................24 3. “Mexico ‘68”: Cartoons such as this one demonstrate ties between the student movement and the Olympics ........................................................................................102 4. “The Path of Death,” depicting some of the many issues on Diaz Ordaz’s mind on the eve of the Olympics ......................................................................................................105 5. “Sauza: The Olympic Toast” .............................................................................................107 6. Salvador Dali, “The Cosmic Athlete”................................................................................108 7. Future astronaut? A Mexican boy experiences the latest American technology...............111 8. The Sports Palace under construction................................................................................113 9. “Mexico ‘68”: This cartoon captures the mood of many Mexicans on the eve of the Olympics ......................................................................................................................115 10. “Rain. Don’t be alarmed, it’s only Olympic and world records that are falling.”...........117 11. 1968 Mexico City Olympics, medal count. .....................................................................136 v ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the importance of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. It explores briefly the history of the Olympic movement in Mexico, and the origins of the Mexican bid to host the Olympics. In winning the bid, the Mexican Olympic Committee not only staged a thorough and well-prepared presentation, but also shrewdly negotiated the waters between the Cold War superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. Even before the Opening Ceremonies, these Olympics were fraught with controversy, including the altitude issue, the debate over amateurism, and the question of whether to admit South Africa, which proved so divisive it inspired an international boycott movement. Each of these controversies detracted from the purely athletic interest in the Games, lending them a political feel from the beginning. These controversies were soon superceded by the “Revolt of the Black Athlete” in the United States, as black athletes threatened to boycott the Games, and a burgeoning student movement in Mexico. The latter ended in a brutal massacre initiated by Mexican police and authorities. The movement among black athletes peaked as Tommie Smith and John Carlos delivered the black power salute while on the medal stand, again drawing attention away from the athletic contests. The dissertation concludes with an analysis of the broader significance of the Olympics, from its economic impact to the meanings of the social movements attached to it. By the end of the fortnight, several hundred Mexican students lay dead, racial discord in the United States was again a topic of international discussion, and all aspirations hoping to separate sport and politics lay in ruins. vi INTRODUCTION Jean-Claude Killy stood in the starting box at the top of the slalom run, eyeing the crusty and rutted course through a lightly falling veil of snow. “Le Supreman,” the 24- year old, three-time defending world champion and heavy favorite to win three gold medals, had drawn the fourteenth starting position. The course was well worn, and if he intended to win he would have to run the fastest time under the worst conditions. He pushed out of the box and launched his run. He skied in signature Killy style, on the ragged edge of disaster, sliding across the hardened snow at every turn, seemingly out of control, but always able to pull himself through the turns. Snow clicking off his goggles, he could barely see the next flag. Ruts in the snow grabbed at his skis, threatening to pull him sideways. He fought through the conditions to cross the finish line in 1:59:85, winning by eight-one hundredths of a second.1 A French champion in a French Olympics, Killy became the signature athlete of the 1968 Winter Olympics, held that February in Grenoble. He was bold, and cocky, and a fantastic skier, worshiped as a hero by his countrymen. His performance in Grenoble was one of the greatest in Olympic history, as he swept three gold medals in the alpine skiing events, a feat yet to be duplicated. But Killy was not immune from criticism, and he celebrated his victories in a storm of controversy. The poor conditions had made the run difficult for even the greatest skiers in the world, and several had made costly errors during their runs. Karl Schranz of Austria suffered