Twelfth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Although the concept of sport as a vehicle for building national identity has received much focus in existing literature, far less emphasis has been placed on examining the ways in which the Olympics have shaped international recognition of states and provided or withheld legitimacy. The reality of national representation and hosting ensures that the Games are a profoundly political enterprise within the context of international relations. That fact is generally understood in the narrow realm of representing a contest between political systems, beliefs, or policies, such as the US-Soviet competition during the Cold War, or representing an international position on a current event, such as the decision to allow refugee representation in 2016. This paper examines a larger and generally uncharted issue—the way in which Olympic participation and exploits shape understandings of legitimacy, identity, and recognition within the international system writ large. This study proceeds from the belief that recognition and legitimacy are constructed concepts that emerge from normative behaviors within the international system. It analyzes the debate within the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the divided states of the Cold War to show how the decision on recognition shaped the international identities of those states. The analysis shows that political influence is not a one-way street. That is, politics does not simply impact the Olympics, rather, the Olympics also impact international politics in ways that are often long-lasting and decisive. Taken from this view, the story of Olympic politics is largely untold.