War played a major role in shaping the modern day Olympic Games. In document one, Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, states that the Olympics would serve as a reduction of war because of the worldwide competition between various countries. Coubertin wrote this document to attempt to convince the Athletic Society of France to revive the Olympic Games. In document 3, the autobiography of Arnold Lunn talks about how the Nazis used certain competition to prove to the world that a dictatorship (or Nazism) is better than democracy. The only thing that mattered to the Nazi’s was to win. The Nazi’s had pictured the Olympics as a war where it was the Nazi’s against the world. Document 5 reveals that if Japan wouldn’t have hosted the Olympic Games after the Second World War, they would’ve never gotten what they needed to rise as a world trade power. Ryotaro Azuma wrote this document to recognize the fact that the Olympics had evolved into an event that would ultimately save a country.…
The Olympics have shown over the decades that they can be affected by political conflict. However, it seems that this is the point of the Olympics, to illustrate national pride, by competition. Bloodshed should not be the way for pride of one’s country to be shown, but it should be shown through competition, in the words of the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin(1). The games have been used as a weapon for denouncing a country’s sportsmanship, such as in 1956 when Arnold Lunn, a British Olympic team official accused the Nazis of cheating in the 1936 Olympic games that were held in Germany. He went on to allege that the competitors of Germany went onto the course while it was closed to athletes. Though the fact that they were trying so hard to practice, could be an example of the importance placed on the games at the time before war period. This is implied by the statement by Arnold Lunn that victory was the only thing that mattered to the Nazis, and how they achieved it did not matter as long as they did(3). The use of the Olympics to show off one’s country was further demonstrated during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union were itching to outdo one another. Bob Matthias gives insight through an interview into the United State’s yearning to win over Russia. The competitor told of the spirit of winning throughout the team, even in the athletes that were sure to win for the United States(4). This is a stark contrast to an information guide provided by the Soviet Union regarding the olympics being held in Moscow that year. It tells of seeking peace with the U.S., and how…
In 1936, Adolf Hitler had hoped that the Berlin Olympic Games would prove German superiority to the spectators of the world. Little did he know that track legend Jesse Owens, an African-American superstar, would break eleven world records at that very game. Another lesser known Olympian caught Hitler's attention that day, as well. Louis Zamperini, an unknown American runner, completed the last lap of the 5000 meter race in a mere 56 seconds. Upon meeting Zamperini Hitler remarked, " Ah, you're the boy with the fast finish." Such words would prove to be prophetic - Zamperini indeed has had a fast finish but survived inordinate atrocities to get there. Laura Hillenbrand, made famous by her book Seabiscuit, has marvelously captured his journey…
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.…
He had to struggle to fit in, he had to prove to society that he belonged with those athletes all throughout high school and and into college. Living in that lifetime would’ve been hard for all non-white races. I think that if Jesse Owens wouldn't have been one of the students who didn't fight for that right to compete, then he wouldn't have set the stage for Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays later on the years. People who fight for believe in even when it's frowned upon and the true heroes. They are willing to change the landscape and pave the way for the future. That is exactly what Jesse did in his high school, college, and Olympic…
glance, it would seem that African-American athletic runner Jesse Owens had stolen the show at the Nazi Olympics when he won four gold medals. According to this…
Jesse Owens is not only an Olympic legend, but has set a course in history that would provide motive for millions of track and field racers. James Cleveland was his name as a young chap. Born on September 12, 1913; James Cleveland grew up as a poor boy with his grandfather being a slave and his father a shop keeper. He was often sick with what his mother would call the “devils cold”. Going to school as a child, James did not get his new name from his parents or his family, but got it from his school teacher. His classmates called him J.C., but his teacher did not understand him when he gave his name and took it as Jesse instead (Online, Owens).…
“Jesse Owens had just completed the 4x100m relay and won his fourth gold medal. Talk that he was subhuman because he was black and Hitler’s refusal to shake his hand were touted around the world”…
“If you don’t try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody’s back yard” Jesse Owens quotes (American Athlete, 4 time Gold Medalist in Track and Field at the 1936 Olympic Games, 1913-1980)…
Jesse Owens born and raised (where) less fortunate than many. He was a son of a sharecropper and a grandson of slaves. Growing up in a small community, he didn’t have a lot of advantages due to the lack of opportunities provided for African Americans. As a result, his motivation stemmed from prior athletes in his community. Many of these athletes, accomplish greatness through these determination and strides through adversity. Jesse Owens himself was very well respected. Owens gym teacher asked Jesse if would like to be on the track team, because he noticed his hard work ethics but because Jesse had to work after school, he was not able to join the team. Jesses coach told him as long as he continued to work hard he would be willing to offer to train Jesse in the morning before school, and Owens took him up on the offer. Buy the coach believing in Jesse he believed in himself, even though he knew that he was an even sick child, also his coach brought him breakfast every morning so he would keep up his strength and not get sick so often. Jesse trained so hard and motivated his team to the point that not he was noticed but his whole team was recognized by the whole town. (found the article,…
Better late than never that Owen’s contributions to providing hope for people throughout the world in the ability to defeat the superior race were acknowledged. With every additional distinction given to Owens from postage stamps to streets and schools and stadiums named after him, his fame grew greater which in turn further ended the color line within the realm of sports because of his respectability all throughout his life. Along the same lines, “Ann Arbor made Jesse Owens a track immortal; Berlin made him a household word” and with that, it is confirmed that Jesse Owens was successful in his quest for racial equality in the realm of sports. When a black man can be the most noted athlete throughout the country and be discussed in the comfort of people’s own homes without a negative connotation, there is a success story to be told and Owens has…
Jesse Owens was one of the most prestigious athletes of our time. His contribution to the sport of track and field has made him an American hero during an era when African Americans were discriminated against because of their race. He has opened the door for other African American athletes to have equality and opportunities in this country. The main objective of Jesse Owens bibliography was how his achievements at Ohio State University open the door for him to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany despite all the obstacles that stood in the way, to return home and was discriminated against because of the color of his skin.…
The poster, “Olympic Games 1972 - Basketball”, was designed by Otl Aicher, who was a pioneer of developing the visual identities of the 1972 Munich Olympics. "As a strictly designed grammar, the identity system allows free, playful application," Aicher explained before the Munich Olympics in 1970. "This is comparable to ball games or chess, where fixed elements and an agreed set of rules allow playful freedom." Aicher's system of color for the Games was easily identifiable and effective in communicating the atmosphere of composition. This poster is one of his famous works throughout the world because of its strategic use of colors. The dynamic colors he used make this poster a terribly compelling design because the consistencies with the visual identities make the poster easily rememberable, and the poster is remarkable because of the high-contrast colors which attract the audience’s attention. Also, the poster has a good color rhythm that the audience can feel the atmosphere of…
Sports often are not regarded as something capable of altering a war but the way the United States and Soviet Union used the Olympics did just that. The Olympics in the early 1980s were used as a stage for politics. During the Winter Olympics in 1980 the U.S. faced off against the best hockey team ever, The Soviet Union, in a time when these two countries did not get along. Days before the U.S. won this game President Jimmy Carter announced the U.S. boycott of the Summer Olympic Games that year in Moscow. The Soviets dominated the competition with approximately sixty countries not being represented.…
Sports history in the British Library: selected titles Any analysis of sport, sporting events and sports governance must inevitably take into account the historical events which underpin them. For sports researchers, the British Library has an unrivalled collection of resources covering all aspects of the subject and in many different media, from books describing sporting events, to biographies and autobiographies of grass roots and elite athletes; coaching manuals; sport yearbooks and annual reports; directories of athletics clubs; sports periodicals; newspaper reports; and oral history interviews with sports people, including Olympians and Paralympians. These materials cover a long period of sporting activity both in Great Britain and elsewhere in the world. Some early materials As a glance at the earliest editions of the British Museum Library subject index show, the term ‘sport’ in the 18th century (and for much of the nineteenth) usually referred to blood sports. Nevertheless the existence of such headings as Rowing, Bowls, Cricket, Football, and Gymnastics in these early indexes point to a longstanding role for sport -as currently understood - in British social life. As was the case in ancient times, sports might originate as forms of preparation for war (from 1338, when the Hundred year’s war with France began, a series of English kings passed laws to make football illegal for fear that it would consume too much of the time set aside for archery practice); but they could also represent the natural human desire for friendly competition, so that alongside the jousting of the elite, games like bowling, stool ball and football could hold important places in the lives of ordinary people. One relatively early commentator on such traditional leisure activities was Joseph Strutt, whose ‘The sports and pastimes of the people of England (1830) is an invaluable resource. By the 17th century, in any case, the monarchy had reached an accommodation with the sporting…
