‘A debt was paid off in tears’: Science, IOC politics and the debate about high altitude in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics

Abstract

The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City are best remembered for many significant events including the student riots that occurred outside the venues prior to the opening ceremonies, the protests by African-American athletes on the medal stand, the drug-testing of athletes for the first time, and the sex-testing of female athletes. Prior to the Games, however, the most hotly debated topic surrounding the Games was what might be the effect of high altitude on athletic performance. The 1968 Mexico City Olympics are an ideal vehicle through which the history of scientific, particularly physiological, research in relation to athletic performance can be examined. The goal of this study is to initiate a greater understanding of the place of scientific research within athletics, and more specifically, within the Olympic Movement, by focusing on the influential debate about altitude's impact on athletics in the years leading up to the Mexico City Games.