Before the Eyes of the World: Mexico and the 1968 Olympic Games (review)

Nineteen sixty-eight has assumed an iconic status for contemporary historians, recently underscored by the slew of conferences and several new book titles coincident with the fortieth anniversary commemorations of that pivotal year. Kevin Witherspoon’s Before the Eyes of the World is a timely and welcome addition to the burgeoning historiography both of the “global sixties” and Mexico’s own 1968. Witherspoon does a commendable job at delivering a cogently organized, very readable narrative of the history of sporting events in Mexico, culminating in the 1968 Games. The book’s broader discussion of the politics of international Olympic sporting is both engaging and revealing. Looking back on that pivotal year, Witherspoon is able to conclude that 1968 was not only a turning point for the Mexican political system, but a “watershed in Olympic history” (p. 157).

Witherspoon’s organizing premise is that Mexico pursued the 1968 Olympic bid as an ideal opportunity to fashion an image of the nation “that was modern and cosmopolitan as well as steeped in culture and tradition” (p. 6). Organized chronologically, each chapter explores a facet of this idea, beginning with the earliest, post-revolutionary efforts to engage in the world of professional sporting events and culminating with the staging of the 1968 Games and its attendant controversies. The opening chapter, “How the Olympics Came to Mexico,” is an insightful overview of the trajectory that led to Mexico’s eventual victory in the country’s bid to host the 1968 Games. Although only three countries participated in the 1926 Central American Games held in Mexico, this became a benchmark for later events and, in particular, the successful staging of the 1955 Pan-American Games. The following year, Mexico ventured its first Olympic bid (awarded to Melbourne), and a second “more serious bid” (p. 23) was made for the 1960 Olympics (awarded to Rome). “These early efforts were merely exploratory, familiarizing sporting leaders with the process and preparing them for the ordeal of an all-out bid” (p. 23), Witherspoon concludes.

While others have written on the surprise triumph of Mexico at Baden-Baden, Germany in 1963, where the International Olympic Committee (IOC) met to decide who would sponsor the next Games, Witherspoon’s access to participants and his close reading of newspapers and other materials from the time provide new insights into Mexico’s victory over the presumed front-runners, the United States and France. In the end, “a masterful campaign and presentation . . . allowed the Mexicans to defeat rivals who had once appeared unbeatable” (p. 47). Witherspoon’s detailed discussion in Chapter 2 (“Image Preserved”) of pre-Olympic controversies, in particular the question of Mexico City’s “thin air,” is fascinating, as is his description of the transformation of Mexico City and the somewhat frantic, lastminute touches leading to the Opening Ceremonies. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the “revolt of the black athlete,” the student movement and subsequent government crackdown, and the staging of the Games in the wake of Tlatelolco. Although Witherspoon does not especially break new ground here, what makes these chapters useful and insightful is Witherspoon’s deft analytical synthesis across a wide historiography combined with his use of primary source material, all woven into a highly readable narrative. Indeed, his description of the sporting events themselves—which produced an “avalanche of falling records” (p. 125)—is often gripping and would make for excellent reading in the classroom. There are numerous photographs drawn from Witherspoon’s archival research, many of which have not been previously published, and these too make a welcome contribution.

Before the Eyes of the World will be welcomed by sports historians and will find its own place in the historiography of Mexico. Its shortcomings are to be found in the various generalizations regarding Mexico’s political system and social history scattered throughout the text, which will frustrate some readers. Still, as a cogent synthesis and...