Stymied Expectations Buenos Aires' Persistent Efforts to Host Olympic Games

Abstract

Argentine elites have shown interest in hosting the Olympic Games in Buenos Aires at various times during the twentieth century. Expressions of interest intensified after the creation of a stable national Olympic bureaucracy in the 1920s. The last concerted effort was the bid for the 2004 Olympics. Argentine Olympic officials have perceived the efforts to bring the Olympic Games to Buenos Aires as an important aspect of their role as promoters of the Olympic Movement. Despite this perception, the history and status of these efforts remain unclear. This article explores the failed attempts to host the Olympic Games in Argentina's capital. in doing so, it ascertains how many times Buenos Aires actually bid and clarifies the logic, conditions, and forces behind these efforts. This article shows that these efforts have served as a terrain in and through which Argentines have imagined their collective identity .