Russia, Doping, and the Olympics

Nicholas B. Breyfogle Discussion

What's the history behind the I.O.C.'s decision to ban Russia from the Winter Olympics? Find out with Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective.   origins.osu.edu 

The Roots of Anti-Doping Policies in the Olympics

Scandals involving performance enhancing drugs have repeatedly rocked the sporting world. Governing bodies of sport at the highest levels now work aggressively to prevent the use of banned substances and to test and catch those who have used them. Ian Ritchie reminds us that doping to improve performance has been around for more than a century. It is only recently that sports leaders have become determined to ban certain substances, a shift that coincided with the end of the Olympic amateur ideal.

Playing Politics: Olympic Controversies

Long before the Beijing Olympic Games became embroiled in political controversy, historian Al Senn reminds us that politics and sport have always been intertwined at the Olympics. 

Russia, Gay Rights, and the Sochi Olympics

International backlash against Russian treatment of homosexuals marred the Sochi Olympics. David Stone explores the roots of Russia’s law on homosexual propaganda and the intolerance of Russian society.

 
The Politics of International Sport

Jesse Owens winning four gold medals in front of Adolf Hitler in 1936 Berlin. The 1942 Dynamo Kyiv soccer team which went on to defeat Hitler’s squad after being told, “If you win, you die.” Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising gloved hands in the Black Power salute in 1968. Gay rights and Vladimir Putin’s Russia at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The role of sport in dismantling South Africa’s apartheid regime and the 2010 World Cup in putting the nation on display on the global stage. And coming up, Brazil: about to host to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics and home to tumultuous popular demonstrations. Politics and international sports seem to go hand-in-hand, but why? Join History Talk hosts Leticia Wiggins and Patrick Potyondy as they discuss the historical dimensions of this contentious topic with experts Russell FieldMarc Horger, and Steven Conn.