Olympics
Going as far back as the 1936 Olympics, Adolf Hitler used this as a stage to promote Aryan nationalism for Germany with his ideological belief of racial supremacy. The Olympics were used as a method of hardening the German spirit and instilling unity among German youth. It was also believed that sport was a "way to weed out the weak, Jewish, and other undesirables." As a result, many Jews and Gypsies were banned from participating in sporting events. While Germany did top the medal table, the Nazi depiction of ethnic Africans as inferior was dispelled by Jesse Owens' gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump events. There were questions as to whether Hitler acknowledged Owens' victories. On the first day of competition, Hitler left the stadium after only shaking hands with the German victors. An Olympic committee member then insisted that Hitler either greet every medalist or none at all; he chose the latter. At the games he was visited by Adi Dassler, the founder of Adidas, who offered new shoes to Owens.
| “ | Hitler had a certain time to come to the stadium and a certain time to leave. It happened he had to leave before the victory ceremony after the 100 meters. But before he left I was on my way to a broadcast and passed near his box. He waved at me and I waved back. I think it was bad taste to criticise the 'man of the hour' - Jesse Owens | ” |
Once again, in 1968, the global stage of the Olympics was used to show the world the plight of the African-American struggle during the civil rights movement in their home country. The famous Black Power salute was performed by Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the medal ceremony in Mexico City.
In 1972, some members of the Israeli Olympic team were killed in an attack by Palestinian Black September gunmen that started at the Olympic village and eventually resulted in the deaths of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics by a numerous Western states and their allies in protest of Russian actions. In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics the Soviet Bloc led a retaliatory boycott of the games in response to the American-led Moscow games boycott.
Following the cancellation of wrestling at the Olympics in the 2010s, traditional political rivals Iran, Russia and the United States joined forces to annul the measure. The U.S. hosted a publicity event in New York City with athletes from all three countries to campaign for its reinstatement.
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