Una Antorcha de Esperanza: Mexico and the 1955 Pan-American Games

Abstract While most equate Mexican Olympism with the 1968 Olympic Games, few know the drama of the event that laid its groundwork. From the creation of the Ministry of Public Education in 1921, cultural and military leaders heavily invested in sports infrastructure to help regenerate its rural masses, but by the 1940s, post-war modernizers sought the hosting of large international athletic events to boost its prestige, foment national pride, and prove to the world it was ready to springboard into modernity. This paper recounts the triumphs, betrayals, corruption, and politics of Pan-American sport and the Olympic movement in Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s that culminated in the improbable success of the 1955 Mexico City Pan-American Games.