1968 Summer Olympics souvenir flag

1968 Summer Olympics souvenir flag

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Description (Brief)
1968 Summer Olympics souvenir flag is an opaque fabric with green, white and red wide, vertical stripes and a brown colored bird in the center belonging to Cathy Jamison (Imwalle). Jamison placed 5th in the Women's 200 meter breaststroke at the 1968 Games. She would go on to settle in Bend, Oregon, coaching at the Bend Swim Club and Mountain View High School.
The 1968 Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad were held in Mexico City, Mexico with 110 countries and 4,735 men and 781 women athletes participating. These were also the first to be held in Latin America and the first in a Spanish speaking country. The 1968 US Olympic track and field team was one of the most successful track teams’ winning twenty-four medals, including twelve gold. The high altitude of Mexico City was attributed to many of the records broken in the short distance races although those in the endurance races suffered from the lack of oxygen. These games also introduced the world to the Fosbury flop as Dick Fosbury won the gold with a new backward approach to the high jump, 16-year-old Debbie Meyer became the first US woman to win three individual golds in swimming and newcomer, George Foreman won gold in boxing. These Games were the first to subject athletes to drug testing which led to the first disqualification of an athlete after drinking a beer before his pentathlon competition. The politically charged atmosphere around the globe that year also contributed to controversy on the medal podium when two African-American athletes held black gloved hands high and bowed their heads during the National Anthem in response to the civil rights protests prevalent in the United States. The US won the medal count with 107.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
flag, olympics
olympic souvenir flag
souvenir flag, olympics
date made
1968
user
Imwalle, Catherine Jamison
Physical Description
fabric (overall material)
wood (overall material)
plastic (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 10 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in x 1/4 in; 26.67 cm x 11.43 cm x.635 cm
ID Number
2018.3065.02
nonaccession number
2018.3065
catalog number
2018.3065.02
subject
Swimming
Olympics
Women
Olympic Summer Games: Mexico City, 1968
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
Sports & Leisure
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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