Olympic Games DBQ

The Olympic games were brought back by a man named Pierre de Coubertin when he made a speech to the Athletic Society of France in 1892 (Doc 1). Since the games came back they have shaped the economies, national pride and the social changes in multiple countries. The economies of the countries who host the Olympic games generally have a boost in the economy. With a few exceptions like South Korea. Even with the Olympic games being hosted in Seoul, none of their companies were selected as top sponsors. “Korean companies are not on the list. Korea failed to avail itself of an opportunity to display its industrial and economic power to a worldwide television audience.” (Doc 7) One country that always contributed to the games was the United
States. In 1980 when the games were hosted in Moscow, the USA contributed less than 200 million. Twenty years later in the year 2000, they contributed over 1,200 million when the games were hosted in Sydney. (Doc 9) Many of the documents shown had national pride behind them.
Many critics talked highly of the Soviet Union when the Olympic games were to be held in Moscow for the 1980 games. Saying that the Soviet Union “is a beacon of peace, democracy, and social progress.” (Doc 6) But when it came to what they Americans thought, it was far from that. Bob Matthias form the United States, once said “You just loved to beat’em. You just had to beat’em.” (Doc 4) This is because of the long rival that these two countries have had ever since the cold war had started. His perception of the Russians was skewed because he had a long standing with them. He didn’t see them as real competitors. Some countries always went up and down, like Pakistan. There “social values which have shrunk from that of national pride to self-promotion.” (Doc 10) Ali Kabir, a sports writer states that they have lost what has once made them great, and that is work. “The current national team is clueless and has tarnished the country’s name.” For a few countries it was more than national pride, for Japan it was more of a national crusade. They felt that this was a perfect time to come back as a world trade power. (Doc 5) For other countries like Germany, it was also more than just national pride. For Hitler it was a way to show that Germans were superior. He always made protests that always helped the Germans and no one else. (Doc 3) Although he was less concerned about medals, he was more concerned about
gaining propaganda. Women were on the bottom of the totem pole during that start of the Olympics in 1896. When the games were hosted in Great Britain in 1908, only two percent of athletes were women. (Doc 2) It would take a long time for women to take root in the Olympics. In 1992 the games were held in Spain and twenty nine percent of the athletes were women. A woman named Hassiba Boulmerka once said “My victories give me confidence, and they give confidence to my country. I represent my country and all the women I my country who aspire to be athletes.” (Doc 8) A document I would like to have seen would be one containing a record of how a restaurant would have increased sales. This would have shown how wealth effects the modern Olympics. The Olympics helped increase revenue in the surrounding areas of the stadiums. They produced massive amounts of national pride and the social status of women is still evolving.