Diplomats in Tracksuits

How Sport Helped Ease Cold War Tensions

Discover how Cold War sports were more than just games – they were ideological battlegrounds. Through key events like the Fischer–Spassky chess match, the 1972 Olympic basketball final, the 1978 FIFA World Cup and many others, this book explores how athletes became unwitting ambassadors in the political clash between the USA and the USSR.

Fascinating and engaging study of the relationship between sport and politics during the Cold War.

By the author of the widely acclaimed Synthetic Medals: East German Athletes’ Journey to Hell.

Diplomats in Tracksuits uncovers the intriguing stories behind athletes who unwittingly became diplomats, bridging divides between superpowers through the universal language of sport. A must-read for sports and history enthusiasts, this engrossing book:

• Explores how iconic Cold War sports events, like Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy and the ‘Miracle on Ice’, helped ease global tensions and foster dialogue
• Reveals the crucial role of events such as the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and how leaders like Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev navigated these international stages
• Examines how victories and defeats in events such as the 1972 Summit Series in hockey helped to humanise adversaries and foster mutual respect
• Uncovers how human rights were often at the forefront of sports events, such as the famous ‘Black Power salute’ protest at the 1968 Olympics
• Shows how, at the 1960 Olympics, US sprinter David Sime was recruited by the CIA in an attempt to persuade a Soviet long jumper to defect
• Looks at how the boycotts of the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics increased Cold War tensions

Drawing on meticulous research, Diplomats in Tracksuits shows that sports during the Cold War era were not merely games but battlegrounds for promoting political ideologies and asserting the supremacy of the two superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union – and their allies.

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