How Did The Olympics Influence American Sports And Culture

The history of the Olympics has influenced American athletics and culture and has had a significant impact on society today.

Initially, the Olympics have been around for thousands of years. The games first began between 704 B.C. and 884 B.C. and took place in Ancient Greece (Toropov 6). According to existing myths, the God Hercules created the Olympic games to honor his father Zeus. The games were organized to take place every fourth summer. However, since the ancient times the Olympics have developed more traditions and become much more complex. The games were officially revived and modernized in 1896 and introduced 43 events, most not existing in the ancient games (History). Typically in the ancient games, the athletes competed naked and

It most cases the games have been used to propagate a specific political message. Adolf Hitler’s propaganda games of 1936 are one of the most controversial (Toropov 44). At the time, the Nazis were officially in control over Nazi Germany and with the excessive attention from the media, Hitler used the games as an opportunity to demonstrate how Germany was superior to the rest of the world. Following that, many other global conflicts affected the games such as Japan’s Second Sino- Japanese War in 1937 and the invasion of Poland in 1939. Eventually the games were canceled due to World War II and did not begin again until 1948. In today's modern games politics are also relevant. Tommie Smith and Carlos, significant athletes won gold and bronze medals in 1968, however they used their media attention to express their political views on white supremacy and how, despite their accomplishments, they are treated as less that equals by American citizens (Peterson 99). They held up a closed gloved fist which symbolized their struggle in the civil rights movement. All of these events caused political uproar and demonstrate how politics have an influence on American culture and