The Significance of International Sports Essay -- essays research pape

The Significance of International SportsInternational sporting events have become somewhat of a staple in todays society, whether it be the Olympics, the realness Cup, or exhibition games between the New York Yankees and the Tokyo Giants. These competitions generally bring out high spirits and intense enthusiasm. Most people envision sports as childhood pastimes, played for fun and recreation. However, in a lot of cases, international sporting events mean more than just the game or event themselves because they jeer nationalism and patriotism. The patriotism and nationalism that these events inspire, however, is not always positive and can sometimes legitimize superiority claims or inspire anti-foreign sentiment. In 1936, the summer Olympics took shopping center in Germany, where at the time dictator Adolph Hitler was claiming that the Germans were a master race and he would surely be proven right in the Olympic games where the Germans would plain win every gold medal because the y were so superior. Jesse Owens and other incredible African-American and Jewish athletes proved Hitler wrong. Owens persevered to capture four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics in the 100-meters sprint, the 200-meter sprint, the long jump and the 400-meter relay, breaking two Olympic records and one world record. Jesse Owenss record for the long jump set in the 1936 Olympics stood for twenty-five years. The German spectators gave Owens a very large standing ovation. In the unofficial point system drawn up by the American Olympic Committee the American male track and field team scored 203 points. Owens, amazingly, scored 40 points by himself, almost two-thirds the total of the entire German track and field team. When Jesse Owens made his triumphant bring forth to the United States, he was honored and celebrated with a New York ticker tape parade, and awarded many honors. Even though the United States was not yet at war with Nazi Germany, the people knew of Hitlers white supremacy po licy, but did not interfere with it because the citizens were extremely bent towards isolationism following the first World contend and the Great Depression. Owenss triumphs in the 1936 Olympics lifted the spirits of the American people who were still greatly battling the Great Depression. Owens was turned into a national icon and political figure, and reportedly received 10,000 dollars to endorse Republican can... ...kout." The Sporting News 10 Feb. 1999. 2 May 2004 . ."Iran transcend US 2-1." cnnsi.com. 22 June 1998. 2 May 2004 .."Iran Tops US 2-1." cnnsi.com. 22 June 1998. 2 May 2004 .."Iran Tops US 2-1." cnnsi.com. 22 June 1998. 2 May 2004 ..Blum, Ronald. "Yankees gain revenge on Devil Rays with 12-1 rout." USA at once 31 Mar. 2004, Natl ed. 2 May 2004 . .Gallagher, Jack. "Valentine, Marines set sail again." The Japan Times 30 Mar. 2004. 2 May 2004..Gallagher, Jack. "Valentine, Marines set sail again." The Japan Times 30 Mar . 2004. 2 May 2004..Bedean, Michael. "why they call it a Miracle." espn.com. 23 Feb. 2004. 2 May 2004. .Bedean, Michael. "Why they call it a Miracle." espn.com. 23 Feb. 2004. 2 May 2004. .Bedean, Michael. "Why they call it a Miracle." espn.com. 23 Feb. 2004. 2 May 2004. .Flipse, Scott. "How I learned to cheat the Olympics." The Observer 26 Feb. 2002. 2 May 2004. .Flipse, Scott. "How I learned to love the Olympics." The Observer 26 Feb. 2002. 2 May 2004. 23. "Ronald Reagans Berlin Wall Speech." usa-patriotism. 2 May 2004 .