Introduction
The Cold War was a war between the two superpowers, USSR and USA. Despite being the two most powerful countries in the world, no actual fighting took place. Instead, the war was fought through various methods of propaganda and threats.
Sports were a very large part of propaganda in the Cold War. Countries were trying to prove their superiority in every way, and used sports as an effective method to do so. Soviets and the West were tight rivals, and would go to any limit to prove their superiority against their opposer. The actual sports had meaning to authorities, but what pleased them more was the medals. Athletes were mere amateurs at first, and spent all their time training in state-of-the-art Russian facilities, instead of …show more content…
Sports became deeply rooted in the systems of the countries participating in the Cold War, when politicians realized that they could use it as a means to spread their political ideologies. The barrier between the two sides of the Cold War, the East and the West, communism and capitalism, was a major factor in the effectiveness of this medium. As James Riordan said, “sports extends to and unites wider sections of the population than probably any other social activity”. A victory for a country could greatly increase the nationalist pride of a country, while at the same time increasing hostility between the country and the opposing side, a fact that politicians could take advantage of easily. Victories in sports were seen as validation of the losing side being inferior both in sports and as a …show more content…
In the view of the Soviets, the athletic performance of a country could represent the condition of the infrastructure of the country. This was especially important for them, as while their country remained in shambles, their athletes remained at the top of the Olympic leaderboard. It could be said that it represented the superiority of a country’s way of life, as if a country could afford to have state-of-the-art athletes, it was definitely a powerful and well-to-do country.
Doping
Doping was a massive part of sports throughout the Cold War, as it provided countries with an illegal advantage and increased performance in sports. A very large majority of countries used performance-enhancing drugs, and were able to dominate a sport. Smaller countries like East Germany were able to raise their standards greatly by doping, and were able to compete against the superpowers without getting absolutely crushed.
East Germany became a strong contender in sports, and rose as a hefty challenger to the superpowers. Doping in East Germany was superior, and despite being a small country, they were able to provide competition in sports. Despite East Germany not even being able to supply basic living needs to its population, the communist country still thrived to display their power in sports. People’s lives were
The Cold War was a war between the two superpowers, USSR and USA. Despite being the two most powerful countries in the world, no actual fighting took place. Instead, the war was fought through various methods of propaganda and threats.
Sports were a very large part of propaganda in the Cold War. Countries were trying to prove their superiority in every way, and used sports as an effective method to do so. Soviets and the West were tight rivals, and would go to any limit to prove their superiority against their opposer. The actual sports had meaning to authorities, but what pleased them more was the medals. Athletes were mere amateurs at first, and spent all their time training in state-of-the-art Russian facilities, instead of …show more content…
Sports became deeply rooted in the systems of the countries participating in the Cold War, when politicians realized that they could use it as a means to spread their political ideologies. The barrier between the two sides of the Cold War, the East and the West, communism and capitalism, was a major factor in the effectiveness of this medium. As James Riordan said, “sports extends to and unites wider sections of the population than probably any other social activity”. A victory for a country could greatly increase the nationalist pride of a country, while at the same time increasing hostility between the country and the opposing side, a fact that politicians could take advantage of easily. Victories in sports were seen as validation of the losing side being inferior both in sports and as a …show more content…
In the view of the Soviets, the athletic performance of a country could represent the condition of the infrastructure of the country. This was especially important for them, as while their country remained in shambles, their athletes remained at the top of the Olympic leaderboard. It could be said that it represented the superiority of a country’s way of life, as if a country could afford to have state-of-the-art athletes, it was definitely a powerful and well-to-do country.
Doping
Doping was a massive part of sports throughout the Cold War, as it provided countries with an illegal advantage and increased performance in sports. A very large majority of countries used performance-enhancing drugs, and were able to dominate a sport. Smaller countries like East Germany were able to raise their standards greatly by doping, and were able to compete against the superpowers without getting absolutely crushed.
East Germany became a strong contender in sports, and rose as a hefty challenger to the superpowers. Doping in East Germany was superior, and despite being a small country, they were able to provide competition in sports. Despite East Germany not even being able to supply basic living needs to its population, the communist country still thrived to display their power in sports. People’s lives were