Politics in Sport

The Nazi OlympicsSport as Propaganda, USSRBloodbath in Melbourne 1956The Black Panthers, Mexico City 1968The Munich Massacre, Munich 1972Olympic Boycots, Moscow 1980 LA 1984

The Nazi Olympics

Berlin 1936

Adolf Hitler – the Nazi party

Symbolism Propaganda

Jesse Owens - 4 World Records

The results

The XI Olympic Games concluded with Germany as the overall victor, capturing 89 medals.

The Americans came in second with 56.

Helsinki 1952

USSR in Finland

WW II Russia The great wars that had devastated Europe were

over. Mother Russia had suffered unimaginable losses. Over 20 million of her people had died in World War II

alone. Now the fire of war had grown cold and so had the

spirit of a passionate and strong people. How to rekindle that spirit? In 1952 the Soviets challenged Capitalism at the

Olympics. Their athletes would carry the torch of a new ideology into an arena where their strength and will would define that spirit.

The Soviet Union USSR / CCCP

Melbourne 1956

Bloodbath in Melbourne 1952

Mexico City 1968

Only 10 days before the games began, government troops fired on a mass protest by striking teachers and students, killing hundreds

Tommie Smith & John Carlos

Munich 1972

11 Israeli athletes murdered in the Olympic Village by Palestine terrorists

Ankie Spitzer, widow of the Israeli fencing coach, Andre Spitzer, who was slain by Arab terrorists on Sept. 5, 1972, surveys the room where the incident occurred at Munich, Germany's Olympic Village on Sept. 8, 1972. The chalk circles on the wall were made by West German police to trace the impact of the bullets. Photo courtesy of Associated Press

Moscow and L.A.

Moscow 1980

Moscow 1980

Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze

Total

1     Soviet Union (URS) 80 69 46 195

2     East Germany (GDR) 47 37 42 126

3     Bulgaria (BUL) 8 16 17 41

4     Cuba (CUB) 8 7 5 20

Los Angeles 1984

Los Angeles 1984

Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze

Total

1     United States (USA) 83 61 30 174

2     Romania (ROM) 20 16 17 53

3     West Germany (FRG) 17 19 23 59

4     China (CHN) 15 8 9 32

5     Italy (ITA) 14 6 12 32

6     Canada (CAN) 10 18 16 44

Sources

olympic.org pbs.org abc.net.au bbc.co.net