For the last four years, since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian athletes have been banned from the Olympics and other world sports. The bans are controversial. Many fans argue that athletes should not be held responsible for their leader’s actions. And what if sports organizations banned the athletes from every country that started a war? Where would that leave American athletes?

This class looks at the background to the current ban on Russian athletes, going all the way back to the Soviet Union’s first appearance in the Olympics in 1952. We will learn why Moscow has mixed sports and politics, and how sports officials have worked to deceive the rest of the world––all to win gold medals.

From the dominant Soviet teams of past Olympics to recent doping scandals and international sanctions, this class looks into the gears of power, nationalism, and money that drive Moscow’s sports machine.

Recommended reading: The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power, ISBN 978-1637277485, is available online and at the Calvin University campus store.

Subject: history, sports

Bruce Berglund taught history for 15 years at Calvin University, where his courses included the history of Russia, China, sports, and war in modern society. He has earned three Fulbright awards and published three books, most recently The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power. He currently resides and teaches in Prague. This course is offered jointly with Calvin’s Historical Studies department.