Sport, Politics and the Olympics

     Perhaps the most obvious example of politics and sports colliding can be traced back to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, deemed the "Nazi Games." Despite the obvious tensions, these games boasted the highest number of countries participating up until that point. In addition, they were the first Olympics to receive live coverage on television despite poor coverage. Despite the political differences, U.S. Olympic Committee head Avery Brundage supported Germany hosting the games and famously stated that "politics has no place in sport" (jewishvirtuallibrary.org). 

      As mentioned in Chapter 9, "Hitler turned the 1936 Games in Berlin into a propaganda show to legitimate Nazi Germany" (Eitzen & Sage 206). This violates every sensibility of the games, specifically concerning Eitzen & Sage's 5 political uses of sports. The most apparent of the 5 uses that Hitler's Germany violated is #1, as the Olympics were used as a launching point to legitimize Nazism and its hateful rhetoric. Although the Nazi party was influential in Germany, there were obviously many dissidents in the host country as well as worldwide. The Nazi party itself, thus can be considered a political dissident despite their obvious power. Germany attempted to disallow Jewish and Black people from participating, which pertains to #3 or denying certain nations the attempt to participate by the host body. Germany eventually caved under mounting global pressure, and allowed everyone to participate while removing derogatory signs. Numbers 4 & 5 on the list were also evident, as many nations considered boycotting the Games for political reasons (and some athletes did) as it was evident that the entire political organization of the 1936 Olympics was operated by the heavy handed Nazi regime. 

     Based on my research, it is hard for me to agree with the statement that "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference," despite the best intentions of the U.S. and other nations involved. The fact that the developing climate in Nazi Germany alienated Jewish and Black athletes had an effect on the sports themselves, as many athletes chose to boycott the games and the U.S. even pulled several of its Jewish sprinters in an attempt to save Hitler from embarrassment. Even today, the anti-gay rhetoric in Russia spearheaded by Vladimir Putin will likely effect the games despite the U.S.'s best efforts to minimize it. Organizing world-wide sporting events will ultimately always be influenced by the political climate of the time. I would argue that the effect of politics on the Olympics has been minimized to a certain extent over time, but it is impossible to completely eliminate political interference. 

     I have included this picture of former President George W. Bush as a visual example to help illustrate my point that sports and politics go hand in hand in the Olympics. It serves more of a symbolic purpose, as obviously Bush wasn't interfering in this picture but he is still a powerful political figure posing with Olympic athletes during the Beijing Games. This is fairly common in the Olympics, and shows the political interest in sports.  

George Bush at Beijing Olympics with U.S. Women's Volleyball players Treanor & Walsh.
Source: Telegraph.Co.UK