Sport, Politics, & the Olympics

Sports have always played a role in politics, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse.  The Olympic games especially, because the host country has all of the power and wants to promote their country accordingly to the rest of the world.  The 1936 Olympic Games, hosted by Berlin Germany were was a great example of politics overtaking sports, as these games were at the forefront of the Nazi movement.  One of men put in charge of organizing the Berlin Games was under command of Hitler, so his ideologies were not the best for sport in general, but they were what Hitler wanted.  For example, this man exclaimed that the games were a great way to promote sport with the German youth, but he also stated that sports were a "way to weed out the weak, Jewish, and other undesirables".  Although Hitler had many plans to ban Blacks, Jews and "undesirables" from competing, the rest of the world came together and made it clear that everyone should be allowed to compete, no matter where the games are held.  This notion by Hitler seems to be a foreshadowing of the next ten years for Germany and the rest of Europe.  This definitely relates to the idea of a Country working to display their nationalism and beliefs onto other countries and the rest of the world in order of promoting their said beliefs.  Because of this example and many, many more, I have to disagree with the statement "Sport is pure and devoid of any political interference."  Often times sports is related to politics, and these olympic games are just one way.  Although this example shows how politics can negatively affect sports, there were many times in which politics and sports worked together for the benefit of society.  One example of this is Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers working to end segregation in the United States through introducing African American players to a White only Major League Baseball.

References:

-Powerpoint
-"August 1936." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial      Council, n.d. Web. Feb. 2014.