The 1955 Pan American Games, officially known as II Pan American Games (Spanish: II Juegos Panamericanos) and commonly known as Mexico 1955 (Spanish: México 1955), opened on March 12, 1955, in the University Stadium (now Olympic Stadium) in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators.
On March 6, 1951, the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) selected Mexico City over Guatemala City to host the II Pan American Games. Seventeen of the eighteen countries participated in the vote, with El Salvador abstaining. Guatemala City received two votes, one from Guatemala and one from Mexico, and Mexico City received the remaining fifteen votes.[4][5]