Sport, Politics and the Olympics

The 1936 Olympic games, held in Berlin, Germany, were viewed by Adolf Hitler as an opportunity to express the ideals of the Nazi party to the world. In the attempt to further impose the racial supremacist nature of the Nazi party, Hitler banned Jews and African Americans from the games. However, boycott threats from several nations caused Hitler to remove the ban and allow Jewish and Black people to participate in the games. With the exception of Helene Mayer, a german Jewish woman, Jewish and black athletes were still not allowed to participate on the German team.

The 1936 games clearly fall under the "Sport as a Propaganda Vehicle" in Sage and Eitzen's five political uses of sport. Hitler used the games to show the world the superiority of the german people under the Nazi party's control. In his book The Nazi Olympics, Richard Mandall said, "The festival planned for these games was a shrewdly propagandistic and brilliantly conceived charade that reinforced and mobilized the hysterical patriotism of the German masses." Germany's success and medal count in the games verified Nazi superiority in Hitler's eyes.

The statement "sport is pure and devoid of political interference" is absolutely not true. Politics have played a role in nearly ever olympic games, whether it be the Nazi games, the Black Power games in Mexico City, the Munich Massacre in 1972, and the list goes on. Politics in sport goes beyond the Olympic games, as well. The military uses the NFL as propaganda when it equates football to a battle, or war. Referring to football as war desensitizes the public to the violence and injustice of war and strengthens public support of war through the popularity of the NFL.

Jake Packman