Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How Politics Can Shape Sports And The Athletes Who Perform: A Case Study Of Hungarian Gymnastics During The Cold War, Julia Adams, Corinne Cichowicz

Cold War Lives

The purpose of the project is to juxtapose how politics and government structure shape the world of sports, as well as the progress of individual sports, with the isolation of athletes from the political realities of their respective nations. We assert that contemporary politics is directly reflected in the sports community through the way athletes interact and the ways other nations perceive athletes’ treatment. We argue that around the Hungarian Revolution, Eastern countries like Hungary attempted to perform their strength by giving privileges that allowed athletes to excel while western nations like the United States focused on fostering their savior …