The 1971 Pan American Games were held in Cali, Colombia, from July 30 to August 13, 1971.[1] (One source dates the Games from July 25 to August 8.)[2] A total of 2,935 athletes from 32 countries participated in 17 sports. (One source put the number of competing athletes at 4,000.)[3]
The main stadium was the Cali Olympic Stadium. Some events were held in the Coliseo El Pueblo. Boxing was staged in the Plaza de Toros Cañaveralejo, a Cali bullring. Some complaints were made about the barracks-style housing, which was woefully overcrowded. In an effort to protect the athletes from students who had protested the amount of money that Colombia was spending on the games, security-minded officials surrounded the athletes' village with barbed wire and guards carrying rifles. The overcrowding caused it to be dubbed "Claustrophobia Manor" by the athletes.[7] Other concerns centered on mosquitoes, the altitude, faulty plumbing, dysentery and pickpockets.