Dress worn by H. Matsdorf of West Germany at the Mexico City Summer games, 1968
date: label: date made
content: 1968
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Dress worn by H. Matsdorf of West Germany at the1968 Mexico City Summer Olympic Games. Lewis was given the dress by Matsdorf following the Olympic Games. Lewis, a high school volleyball player made the national team in 1967 which won a gold medal at the Pan American Games that same year. After competing in the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, she joined the UCLA Bruins volleyball team in 1969 and led the Bruins to their first women's championship in 1972.
label: Description (Brief)
content: 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: name of sport
content: Swimming
label: level of sport
content: Olympics
label: level of sport
content: Amateur
label: web subject
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
label: See more items in
content: Sports & Leisure
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2017.0098.05.1
label: accession number
content: 2017.0098
label: catalog number
content: 2017.0098.05.1
objectType: label: Object Name
content: dress, summer olympics
label: Object Name
content: dress
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, polyester (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 38 in x 19 1/2 in; 96.52 cm x 49.53 cm