Sports During The Cold War

It is in human nature to want to be competitive, to want to win, to want to have overall power. Whether it is for yourself, as a team, or even as a country. Many lines are to be crossed and many enemies are to be made in the attempt to become the best. The Cold War was a prime example of a time where competition most certainly got the better of people or more precisely, got the better of the United States and the Soviet Union. The rivalry between these two superpowers has created another level of competition, with need of one side almost always feeling obligated to one up the other side, for the sake of being declared superior. Between the arms race which dealt with military ideas, and the space race which regarded space exploration, it was
Sports played a huge role in the Cold War in the means of making statements between countries in which you give man a more cordial way to become a victor. The role of sports during the cold war devised a way to unify nations, sports gave the United States and new perspective on tactics to winning the war, and it became a way to, initiate cultural, social, and political significance. Between the time of 1952 and 1988, the United Staes sparked a groundbreaking interest in international sport for the sake of finding a new way to out do the rest of the world, but most importantly a way to upstage the Soviet Union. It was during this time that the Cold War was in full effect, and both Americans and Russians were eager to become greater than the other. This ignited worldwide interest of course because sports competition gave an open and equal opportunity of civil involvement among all the countries. Although the modern Olympics became an international sporting event in 1896, it wasn’t until the rivalry between the Soviets and the United States, was at an all time high, that the Olympics were to become a new competitive way to show sovereignty over other