Cold War Olympics
The united states and the soviet union formed an uneasy pact to help turn back nazi germany during world war ii.
Cold war olympics. The cold war and the olympic movement christopher hill describes the diplomatic and public relations disputes that surrounded the olympic games in the cold war. The cold war was not a war fought primarily on a battlefield but fought through social and political disputes. Less than a decade later most global events were seen as part of the cold war between the two super powers including the olympics. The olympic competition also became an opportunity for groups to gain media attention for example the black september attacks of 1872.
When the soviet union entered helsinki summer games in 1952 the games took on political overtones that only increased as the cold war heated up. The summer olympics in helsinki finland set a record for countries 69 and participants nearly 5000 numbers boosted by the ussrs first appearance in the games as a communist nation. It had in fact been predicted years in advance as the cold war raged. When peter ueberroth the chairman of las olympic organizing committee negotiated rights deals with television networks.