Sports, Politics, and the Olympics

In 1956 the "Blood in the Water" H20 Polo Match was held in Melbourne, Australia. Hungary and the USSR competed against each other in the Melbourne Olympics where Hungary defeated the USSR in a game that came down to a final score of 4-0. This specific game took place on December 6th, and the name of this game was coined after Hungarian player Ervin Zador emerged during the last two minutes with blood pouring from above his eye after being punched by Soviet player Valentin Prokopov. On the other hand, the background of this game is a little more complicated. There had been this rivalry between Hungary and the USSR for some time now and on November 1, Soviet tanks began rolling into Hungary. Then, from November 4 to November 10 forces began suppressing the uprising with air strikes, artillery bombardments, and tank-infantry actions. There was much conflict going on between these two countries even before the games had begun. By the start of the Olympics, the uprising had been suppressed and many players saw the Olympics as a way to salvage pride for their country. This was somewhat of an outlet for the athletes to seek "revenge" on their opponents without politics getting involved. They had the game as their way of war, and whoever won was then "on top".

This game could be considered a "sport as a vehicle of change in society". There was clearly conflict between both teams countries before the 1956 Olympics, and by having these two rivals play against each other seems almost ironic. Because there was so much turmoil and fighting going on before the games had begun there was also a possibility for change. Before the game the Hungarians made up strategy tactics for scaring the Russians, and during the game there were a number of fists and kicks thrown between the players. The police even had to get involved at one point because they were scared of riots starting between sides.

Lastly, the quote "Sport is pure and devoid of political interference" is wrong. I completely disagree with this statement because sport is not pure and it is not devoid of political interference. We see this in the past and we see it today. Politics have so much to do with sports and can easily interfere with sports in so many ways. When it comes to rival countries, I don't think anyone would back down from supporting their own country and there should be no reason to. I think people are more invested into politics than they think, and a lot of people also don't realize that politics interfere with sports. For example, we see military recruiting and ads at professional games like the super bowl and the Olympics. Does this really have anything to do with the game itself? No. But we make it a part of the game because it has to do with our country and uniting as one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_in_the_Water_match