Sports+Olympics

SPORTS AND OLYMPICS DURING THE COLD WAR



The Cold War, which informally began in 1945 (different resources will give different dates) marked the beginning of an era of hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union. There was no direct combat of the two nations; instead, they used science, sports, foreign aid, and other means that did not involve military enforcement to battle each other. Everything counted in this competition of capitalists versus communists, which is why the Olympic games, set on a world-level stage, was a perfect opportunity for each of the countries to make a stand. The Olympics have always heightened competition between countries all over the world. Due to the already competitive atmosphere, the United States and USSR expanded Cold War fighting onto the Olympic arena i n 1952 when the Soviet Union entered the games. From that year on until the USSR’s downfall in 1991, Cold War tension was a driving force for many athletes, capitalists and communists alike (The last Olympic games that the Soviet Union participated at was in 1988).

COLD WAR OLYMPICS TIMELINE



WHERE IT BEGAN: HELSINKI, FINLAND, JULY 1952

- US almost did not compete because in 1951 there was speculation that Stalin might be the ruler of Finland by the time of the games, Western countries doubted Finland’s political standpoint (they were, in fact, a democracy) - Beneficial for capitalists because Finland got a lot of publicity pre-Olympic games since they were announced in 1947, so the Soviets could not interfere as heavily with Finland’s internal workings - Soviets refuse to house with other, non communist countries; set up their own Olympic Village in Otaniemi; heavily monitored so there was no communication with western countries

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY, JANUARY 1956 - Soviets beat Canada in Men’s Ice Hockey and take more medals than any nation - US emerges as figure skating power: Tenley Albright and Hayes Alan Jenkins both take Olympic Golds (Men's and Women's Figure Skating)  

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, NOVEMBER 1956  <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- Russian athlete, Valentine Prokopov, swam up to Hungarian (and capitalistic) athlete Ervin Sador and punched him in the face during a water polo match; he was cut in two places on his face and was bleeding largely from both <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">media type="youtube" key="RfJEUyyH52E" height="283" width="378"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- The Soviets had invaded Hungary in October that same year, just weeks before the semi-final

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- Eastern and Western Germany competing together

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">- Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland also boycott the games in response to the Soviet invasion of Hungary

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">SQUAW VALLEY, CA, USA, FEBRUARY 1960 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- In 1957 the United States government threatened to deny <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">visas to athlete from Communist countries, causing the IOC to threaten to revoke Squaw Valley's right to host the 1960 Games. Bowing to international pressure, the United States allowed athletes from Communist countries entry for the Games.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- “Forgotten Miracle”: US beat Cananda, Soviets, Sweden, and Czechoslovakia in all 7 games and won first men’s ice hockey gold medal <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- Controversy over Eastern bloc countries’ use of “Professional amateurs” (give men phantom jobs in military so that they may play hockey full time)

<span style="background-color: white; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- East & West Germany competing together as one team

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA, JANUARY 1964 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- Final year that East and West Germany entered the games as a combined team <span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">GRENOBLE, FRANCE, FEBRUARY 1968 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- East and West Germany compete as separate teams for the first time at the Winter Olympic Gam es    <span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">MEXICO CITY, MEXICO, OCTOBER 1968 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- East and West Germany compete for the first time as separate teams (Summer Games)

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">SAPPORO, JAPAN, FEBRUARY 1972 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> - Canada refused to send an ice hockey team, claiming that professional ice hockey players from Communist nations were allowed to compete with no restrictions

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">MUNICH, W. GERMANY, AUGUST 1972 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- ( Not tied to cold war politics) Palestinian terrorists killed all Israeli athlete, proving that the Games could be hijacked by a radical group trying to gain worldly attention

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- US Men’s Basketball defeats USSR when a Soviet pass missed its mark, FIBA ordered the clock to reset to 0:03 and USSR won the game

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- US protested; protest denied and USSR awarded gold medals; US team unanimously agreed to refuse silver medals <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> media type="youtube" key="w9COEbgjvOI" height="283" width="378" align="center"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA, FEBRUARY 1976 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> - The <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; text-decoration: none;">USSR won its fourth straight <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; text-decoration: none;">ice hockey gold medal; for the second consecutive Olympics Canada refused to send a team

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> - USSR won most medals overall <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> - US Dorothy Hamill took gold in Women’s Figure Skating

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> - USSR takes 4 speed skating golds, US takes 6 speed skating golds

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">MONTREAL, CANADA, JULY 1976 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> - <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Boris Onishchenko (USSR) was disqualified after it was discovered that he had rigged his sword to register a hit when there wasn't one

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- American boxing team wins Gold, often referred to greatest boxing team US has ever seen

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- US athlete Bruce Jenner won Gold in decathalon and set the world record <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">LAKE PLACID, NY, USA, FEBRUARY 1980 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> - Miracle on Ice: US Men’s Hockey Team defeats USSR Men’s Ice Hockey Team 4-3  <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> media type="youtube" key="qYscemhnf88" height="283" width="378" <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> - East Germany won most medals overall (23)

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">MOSCOW, USSR, JULY 1980 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;"> - US and 64 of its allies boycott the games due to the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan eighteen months before <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- The nations that fully boycotted the Games held their own event in the Philippines <span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, JULY 1984 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">- USSR and 14 Eastern bloc countries boycott and refuse to compete

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, SEPTEMBER 1988 <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">- S outh Korea denies North Korea’s bid to be a joint Olympic host <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">- USSR Men's Basketball beats US Men's Basketball 82-76 <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: center;">media type="youtube" key="7Z9NVMuNz_g" height="283" width="378"

<span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> WORK CITED <span style="background-color: #ff0000; color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">. "Basketball Win "Given" To Russia." // Changing the Game: Three Stunning Upsets in Basketball History //. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 April 2012. <http://www.mmbolding.com/basketball/Olympics.htm>. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">. "Cold War Violence Erupts at Melbourne Olympics." // Sydney Morning Herald // 07 Dec 1956, n. pag. Web. 2 May. 2012. <http://www.smh.com.au/news/175-years/cold-war-violence-erupts-at-melbourne- olympics/2006/04/17/1145126047088.html?page=fullpage <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">. "Helsinki Olympics Today: Cold War." //Helsinki According to PPusa//. N.p., 18 Aug 2008. Web. 29 April 2012. <[]>

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