The 1968 Mexico City Olympics stand as a pivotal moment in sports history, not only for iconic athletic achievements but also for sparking a revolution in sports science. As the world commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Games, it’s crucial to reflect on how Mexico City, chosen as the host, ignited crucial conversations about athletic performance, particularly concerning the city’s high altitude. This event became a turning point, ushering in the modern era of athlete preparation and our understanding of the body’s response to environmental challenges.
Before Mexico was awarded the XIX Summer Olympic Games, a significant debate arose: the impact of Mexico City’s altitude on athletic performance. Situated approximately 7,350 feet above sea level, the city presented a unique challenge and opportunity for athletes. Opinions were divided. Events like the long jump, shot put, and high jump were anticipated to benefit from the thinner air, offering less resistance. Conversely, distance runners and swimmers worried about the reduced oxygen intake, potentially hindering their endurance and performance compared to sea-level training.
“After 1968, training at altitude, even if the events were going to be held at sea level, was seen to be a great way to prepare,” noted Tim Wendel in his book “Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball — and America — Forever.” Wendel highlighted a key takeaway from the Mexico City Games: proper preparation could unlock unexpected athletic potential. The Games inadvertently emphasized the importance of understanding and adapting to environmental factors in sports.
While altitude training wasn’t entirely novel in the early 1960s, the Mexico City Olympics and the advancements in sport science propelled its significance into the spotlight. The altitude question forced a deeper dive into the physiological effects of reduced oxygen availability on the human body during strenuous activity.
The Science of Altitude and Athletic Performance
In 1925, Nobel Prize laureate A.V. Hill, a renowned physiologist, introduced the concept of ‘oxygen debt’. This term described the body’s response to exercise in oxygen-deficient conditions. During intense physical activity without sufficient oxygen, muscles produce lactic acid. This lactic acid is then converted back into glycogen during the recovery phase. At high altitudes, the lower oxygen levels meant the body struggled to absorb enough oxygen, leading to quicker fatigue and reduced muscular recovery even after training.
By 1960, researcher Bruno Balke had conducted extensive studies on non-elite athletes at high altitude. His research, published in “Johnson’s Science and Medicine of Exercise and Sport,” emphasized that “oxygen supply to the body becomes inadequate as a result of lower pressure of oxygen and the diminished oxygen content of the arterial blood.” Balke stressed the necessity for athletes to acclimatize extensively to altitude before competing. However, the optimal duration and methods for acclimatization remained unclear at the time.
Despite the growing body of research, the extent of the impact of high elevation on elite athletic competition was still being debated when Mexico City was chosen to host the Olympics. Athletes and scientists recognized that competing at such a high elevation would undoubtedly influence performance, but the specifics were still under investigation.
In response to these mounting concerns, the Mexico City Organizing Committee issued a statement asserting, “The altitude of Mexico City permits a rapid adaptation of normal persons and does not impair in any way the capacity to carry out physical work or sporting events. Mexico City’s altitude does not cause a pathology of any kind in the human being.” This statement aimed to reassure participants and downplay the potential negative impacts of altitude.
Pan-American Games and Brundage’s Skepticism
Mexico City had previously hosted the 1955 Pan-American Games, featuring many Olympic events. This event became central to IOC President Avery Brundage’s resistance to the scientific findings regarding the 1968 Games. Reports on the altitude’s impact during the Pan-American Games were largely subjective, based on athletes’ feelings after competition. One athlete reportedly described feeling “exhausted” after his event.
However, the Pan-American Games saw records broken in 16 out of 22 events. This seemed to provide the IOC with limited concrete evidence that altitude negatively affected performance in Mexico City. Brundage’s skepticism was also influenced by his broader agenda for the Olympics. Issues like doping, gender verification, and amateurism within the IOC were, in his view, more pressing for maintaining the Games’ public image, especially as the 1968 Olympics were the first to be broadcast live in color.
Arthur G. Lentz, the administrative chairman of the American team and assistant director of the United States Olympic Committee, recognized the importance of scientifically understanding altitude effects. He advocated for taking a group of athletes to Mexico City for acclimatization and workouts, preceded by controlled preliminary tests, to efficiently study the altitude’s impact on performance.
Instead of investing in thorough research to address the altitude issue for the 1968 Games, the IOC opted for “pre-Olympic” research weeks. These weeks allowed elite athletes to be tested in the actual Olympic facilities using advanced equipment, moving beyond older, less sophisticated altitude studies. For many sports scientists, professional athletes, and Olympic committees, this presented a valuable opportunity to utilize the state-of-the-art infrastructure of the Mexico City Olympics for altitude performance research.
International Sport Week and the Rise of Altitude Training
In 1966, the International Sport Week for research attracted 788 participants from 25 countries. This event spurred individual nations to develop their own altitude testing and training programs. Many countries, including the United States, France, and Great Britain, started establishing state-funded altitude training centers.
“The debate surrounding altitude prior to the 1968 Games was perhaps the first instance when IOC members were compelled to comprehend complex scientific data on human performance,” observed author Alison Wrynn. During the International Symposium on the Effects of Altitude on Physical Performance in 1966, Bruno Balke recommended to the IOC that athletes should train at high altitude before the Mexico City Games, based on data from the International Sport Weeks.
Balke suggested a minimum of three weeks of pre-Olympic altitude training, ideally six weeks for optimal performance. This recommendation was formally presented to the IOC and International Federations. However, Avery Brundage and the IOC, particularly Vice President David Burghley, prioritized amateurism within the Olympic movement. They downplayed the scientific evidence.
Brundage even suggested, “I am not sure in view of the hullabaloo all over the world about the altitude of Mexico City that we should not permit an extra four weeks in the year 1968.” However, this suggestion clashed with Rule 26 of the Olympic Rules and Regulations, which stipulated that athletes training for more than four weeks for their Olympic event would lose their amateur status.
This rule significantly influenced the IOC’s decision-making regarding the 1968 Games. Requiring athletes to train longer meant more time away from their jobs, posing financial burdens, especially for smaller nations’ Olympic committees already struggling to finance athletes under the amateurism rules.
Burghley stated, “There has been so much misinformation circulated on the effects on performance of high altitude such as that of Mexico City we have decided to make a special allowance for the year 1968 only of two weeks. This means that six weeks in special training camps during the year 1968 will be permitted, but no more than four of these weeks shall be during the three months preceding the opening of the Games in October 1968.”
Despite opposition from athletes and sports scientists, Brundage, Burghley, and the IOC, influenced by the perceived success of the 1955 Pan-American Games and their commitment to amateurism, only allowed a two-week extension to the standard four-week training period.
Altitude’s Decisive Role in the 1968 Games
Once the Mexico City Games commenced, it became immediately clear that altitude would be a defining factor. In the first distance race, the men’s 10,000 meters, Neftali Temu of Kenya secured gold, followed by Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia and Mohammed Gammoudi of Tunisia. These East African distance runners, accustomed to training at altitude in their home countries, were significantly better adapted to Mexico City’s conditions compared to athletes from lower-altitude regions.
Temu’s gold-winning time, while impressive, was notably slower than the world record held by Australian runner Ron Clarke by 1 minute and 48 seconds. Clarke collapsed at the race’s end and remained unconscious for approximately 10 minutes, illustrating the severe impact of the altitude on athletes not properly acclimatized. Similar patterns emerged throughout the Games. Kenyan runners dominated the men’s 1,500 meters, and African athletes excelled in the men’s 5,000 meters.
Conversely, world records were shattered in all men’s track events of 400 meters or less, as well as in field events. Bob Beamon’s legendary long jump of 29½ feet became the most iconic example of altitude’s potential benefit in certain sports. As predicted by scientists and data, altitude significantly affected distance runners, while seemingly enhancing performances in shorter bursts of power and speed events like jumps and throws, more than Brundage and the IOC had anticipated.
The Enduring Legacy: Altitude Training and Sports Science
Following the 1968 Games, the consequences of altitude on athletic performance and oxygen supply became a central focus of sports science research. Altitude training gained immense importance. Athletes realized that strategic, scientifically informed training was crucial to achieving their goals. The Games marked a turning point, accelerating the shift from amateurism towards professionalism in sports. Athletes began relocating to high-altitude regions to live and train permanently.
“When an athlete lives and trains at high altitude for an extended period of time, the body adapts in a number of ways; most important for the elite athlete is the increased production of red blood cells,” explained Alison Wrynn. “This allows the blood to carry oxygen more effectively and it should lead to an improvement in performance.”
The research spurred by the 1968 Mexico City Olympics directly influenced the USOC’s decision to move its headquarters to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1978. Located 6,000 feet above sea level, Colorado Springs has since become a premier altitude training hub for American Olympic athletes, a direct legacy of the pivotal Mexico City Games and its altitude-driven athletic revelations. The 1968 Mexico Olympics were truly a watershed moment, forever changing how athletes prepare and how we understand the science of human performance under diverse environmental conditions.
