Dating back to the Ancient Greece Olympic Games, politics and sport have been intertwined. In class on March 1st, we talked about the connection between sport and politics. Politics have become a part of sport by making laws for the public safety, to promote fitness by the Presidential physical fitness award, and to foster diplomatic relationships such as table tennis diplomacy with China, among others. In his text, Coakley discusses these ideas, along with some others such as to promote nationalism, foster economic development, or reproduce political ideals.
Other examples of sport and politics cited in this article include the Nazi Olympics, which occurred in 1936 as Adolf Hitler attempted to use the Olympics as a platform to political power. Olympic boycotts have also been used as political tools, such as the Moscow boycott in 1980, which America organized to show displeasure towards the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Theodore Roosevelt was a large part of sports in the early 1900's, demanding rules in football and leading to the formation of the NCAA. Many former sport stars such as Jesse Ventura and Lynn Swann have run for public office, using their popularity as sports figures to gain support. Congress has been involved in baseball's steroids investigation and the US government spends nearly $30 million in sponsorships to NASCAR teams. It is clear from all of these examples that sport and politics are a relationship that will never be broken, for better or worse.
