Sport, Politics, and the Olympics

I chose the 1936 Olympics (commonly referred to as the "Nazi Games") that occurred in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the games over Barcelona in 1931. I gathered this information from the slides and Wikipedia. In order to promote the air of supremacy and domination, Germany pulled out all of the stops for these Olympic games: a new 1000-seat track and field stadium was erected, a closed-circuit television and radio circuit were installed, and someone was hired to film the games. Hitler voiced his opinion in the official Nazi paper that no Jewish or black people should be allowed to compete in the Games. Obviously, this was received poorly by other nations who threatened to boycott the Games. Germany was forced to "cover up" some of its anti-Jewish propaganda, and Hitler went to his own measures to make sure that Berlin was "respectable" when he imprisoned all gypsies in a concentration camp for the duration of the Games. The Germans ultimately believed that the Olympics would serve as a way to "weed out" the weak (including Jewish people). They refused to let Jewish-born or Roma Germans compete on their own team, excluding some of their best athletes. Ultimately, the Germans viewed the 1936 Olympic Games as a way to impose their political beliefs on others.

I believe that the 1936 Olympic Games best fit under the category of a "vehicle for propaganda" according to Sage and Eitzen. The games were literally a platform for Germany to show the rest of the world why they thought Nazism was such a success. Obviously, the rest of the world did not take kindly to it. Nonetheless, Germany's detainment of gypsies and refusal to let Jewish-born Germans compete on their own team relayed their message loud and clear. I also think that the Games fit under the category of promoting nationalism for Germany. The Germans wanted everyone to perceive that Germany was the most powerful nation in the world.

To say that "sport is pure and devoid of political interference" is quite ignorant. After reading Sage and Eitzen's article and watching the film in class on Monday, it is quite clear that politics are not just a part of sports, but a major contributor to the way that we perceive sports. From the beginning of the Olympics when the Games served as a peace-time between warring nations, to the blatant attacks on gay athletes in the NFL, it is clear that politics and sport have become one. It is true that there is a positive side to this; countries show immense national pride and come together during the Olympics. Often this is positive. In the case of the 1936 Olympics, however, it's clear that this is NOT always a positive thing. It is impossible to completely remove politics from sport.