1959 Pan American Games

The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959.

Host city selection
One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), along with three cities that withdrew their bids. On March 11, 1955, at the IV Pan American Congress in Mexico City, PASO selected Cleveland unanimously to host the III Pan American Games.

On April 15, 1957, Cleveland asked PASO to be relieved of their assignment as the host city. 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 host the games, Chicago and São Paulo, and on August 3, 1957, Chicago was selected over São Paulo by a vote of 13 to 6.

Organization
Once Chicago took over the game 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.

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, 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.

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. 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.

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. 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," and his comments were in line with the negative perceptions of many other Latin Americans who traveled to Chicago for the Games.

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. On September 7, hours before the closing ceremony, Brazilian rower Ronaldo Duncan Arantes was found dead of 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. No one was ever charged in Arantes' death.

Sports and Venues

 * at Soldier Field
 * at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park
 * at Alumni Gymnasium (men's) and Oak Park High School (women's)
 * at Northwest Armoury
 * at Gately Stadium temporary venue (Track Cycling)
 * at Portage Park
 * (Open jumping)
 * (soccer) at Hanson Stadium and Soldier Field
 * at Navy Pier
 * at Waukegan Shooting Range (shooting), Great Lakes Naval Training Center (fencing), Independence Grove (equestrian show-jumping and cross-country running), and Portage Park (swimming)
 * in the Cal-Sag Channel
 * in Lake Michigan
 * at Portage Park
 * at Lincoln Park Tennis Club
 * at Proviso High School
 * at Chicago Vocational High School
 * at Reavis High School
 * at Reavis High School