Thirteenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

In May 1980, the West Germany parliament voted to join the US-led boycott of the XXII Summer Olympiad in Moscow. Although functionaries and athletes, among them the gold medalist fencer Thomas Bach, vehemently protested the politicization of sports, the financially dependent NOC had no other option but to adopted the political decision and West Germany abstained from participation. Nevertheless, two weeks before the opening ceremony, while athletes stayed home, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, an advocate of the 1979 NATO dual track decision, travelled to Moscow to sign major new trade agreements with the Soviet Union. The case demonstrates how at a time of heightened Cold War tensions, political necessities and economic interests easily stripped athletes and sports of their autonomy. This paper analyzes this seeming contradiction in West Germany policies towards the Soviet Union in 1980 and highlights the close, special relationship between Bonn and Moscow. Based on research in newspapers and archives (Foreign Office, Willy Weyer Archive, NOC and West Germany’s Sports Federation) and an interview with former NOC and IOC member, the late Walther Tröger, this paper demonstrates how the submission of sports in 1980 convinced West German functionaries – alongside the IOC – to make the Olympics independent from supposed political necessities and the swings in attitudes by way of commercialization and sponsorship soon opening the door for corruption and nepotism.