Irish Journalists and the 1968 Mexico City Olympics

Abstract

This article examines how Irish journalists depicted Mexico City as a suitable host for the 1968 Olympic Games. Mexican elites believed the event would attract foreign investment and tourists but faced an uphill battle as many European observers criticized the city as undeserving. Irish journalists often presented images of Mexico that were impacted by Ireland’s own struggles of achieving sporting modernity and its sense of global importance as a white European nation. The image that emerged portrayed Mexico as rich in history and sporting infrastructure, but also mired in disorganization, superstition, and violence. These negative images may have propelled journalist and president of the Olympic Committee of Ireland, Lord Killanin, to the International Olympic Committee presidency.