1959 Pan American Games
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The 1959 Pan American Games, officially known as the III Pan American Games and commonly known as Chicago 1959, were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959.
Host city selection
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On April 15, 1957, Cleveland asked PASO to be relieved of its assignment as the host city as the city believed it was not properly prepared to host the Games. Subsequently, both Guatemala City and Rio de Janeiro informed PASO that they would not be able to host the Games either. Two cities came forward as candidates to host the games, Chicago and São Paulo. On August 3, 1957, Chicago was selected to host the Games over São Paulo by a vote of 13 to 6.[1][4]
Organization
Once Chicago took over as host city following Cleveland's withdrawal, there were 18 months left to organize the games. The games were held on-schedule nonetheless. The games were the first Pan American Games to be held during the Northern Hemisphere's summer. The previous two editions were held in March.[4]
In the months following the awarding of the Games to Chicago, PASO leadership became seriously concerned that Chicago's preparations for the event were insufficient. Particularly, they felt that the event's director, Colonel Jack Reilly, was treating the Games as an ordinary Chicago event rather than an international competition on par with the Olympics. In the summer of 1958, then-current IOC president and PASO honorary president Avery Brundage, himself an American, privately said that the Chicago organizers "haven't the faintest idea of the magnitude of the task they have assumed" and predicted that the Games would be "the most dismal fiasco in the history of international sport". Publicly, he warned that "unless greater effort is put forth to prepare for the 1959 Pan American Games, both the city and the nation may be disgraced in the eyes of the world". PASO considered cancelling the Games entirely before Chicago's organizing committee was reorganized and Reilly was replaced.[5]
The Games
The Games opened on August 27, 1959, in sunny 90 °F (32 °C) heat before 40,000 people at Soldier Field. The opening ceremony was preceded by a monthlong torch relay from Mexico City to Chicago. The torch itself was symbolic: instead of a burning flame, the "Atomic Torch" consisted of a blue lightbulb surrounded by a chromium-plated model of an atom. The torch was designed by staff at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago.[6][7] President Dwight D. Eisenhower was expected to attend the opening ceremony, but he canceled his appearance in favor of a diplomatic trip to Europe. Eisenhower's brother Milton attended the ceremony in his place.[8][9]
The event was marred by numerous organizational failures and poor-quality facilities. For some sports, such as shooting, no practice facilities were provided at all.[10] Manuel Gonzalez Guerra, who would become president of the Cuban Olympic Committee during the Castro era, referred to the 1959 Games as "the worst ever,"[9] and his comments were in line with the negative perceptions of many other Latin Americans who traveled to Chicago for the Games.[5]
Male athletes were housed in dormitories at the University of Chicago, the Ferry Hall School, and North Central College, while female athletes stayed at the Shoreland Hotel.[9] On September 7, hours before the closing ceremony, Brazilian rower Ronaldo Duncan Arantes was found dead with bullet wounds at North Central College. Arantes' brother Rômulo, a fellow athlete at the Games, reported that Ronaldo had brought money to Chicago with him to purchase firearms.[11] No one was ever charged in Arantes' death.[5]
Medal table
Sports and Venues
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- Template:GamesSport at Soldier Field[12]
- Template:GamesSport at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park[13]
- Template:GamesSport at Alumni Gymnasium (men's) and Oak Park High School (women's)[14][15]
- Template:GamesSport at Northwest Armoury
- Template:GamesSport at Gately Stadium temporary venue (Track Cycling)[16]
- Template:GamesSport at Portage Park
- Template:GamesSport (Open jumping)
- Template:GamesSport
- Template:GamesSport (soccer) at Hanson Stadium[17] and Soldier Field[18]
- Template:GamesSport at Navy Pier[14]
- Template:GamesSport at Waukegan Shooting Range (shooting), Great Lakes Naval Training Center (fencing), Independence Grove (equestrian show-jumping and cross-country running), and Portage Park (swimming)[13]
- Template:GamesSport in the Cal-Sag Channel[13][14]
- Template:GamesSport in Lake Michigan
- Template:GamesSport
- Template:GamesSport at Portage Park[19]
- Template:GamesSport at Lincoln Park Tennis Club[13]
- Template:GamesSport at Proviso High School[14]
- Template:GamesSport
- Template:GamesSport at Chicago Vocational High School[15]
- Template:GamesSport at Reavis High School[14]
References
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- ↑ a b c MacAloon, John. "Historical Erasure and Cold War Inter-American Relations: The Chicago 1959 Pan-American Games", Historicizing the Pan-American Games, Routledge, 2018.
- ↑ "Lemont Boys To Join Pan-Am Torch Relay", The Lemonter, August 20, 1959, front page.
- ↑ "Torch To Burn During The Pan American Games", Taylorville Daily Breeze-Courier, August 21, 1959, page seven.
- ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
- ↑ a b c Hersh, Phil. "Torch relay set the stage for '59 Pan American Games", Chicago Tribune News Service, via McAllen Monitor, July 26, 1987, page 7B.
- ↑ Gustkey, Earl. "PAN AM GAMES LEGACY: 1959 : It's Not Exactly Peace and Harmony", Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1987, Web, retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ↑ "Rowing Ace Dead; Foul Play Hinted", Associated Press, via The Spokesman-Review, September 8, 1959, front page.
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External links
- Chicago 1959 - III Pan American Games - Official Report at PanamSports.org
- Chicago 1959 - III Pan American Games - Official Report (Part 2) at PanamSports.org
- Torch relay envelope with Pan American Games Chicago postmark on 49 star flag stamp
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