Professor Romanov Publishes New Book

Professor Artemi Romanov’s new book Спорт и Холодная Война, Том 1 (Sports and the Cold War, Volume 1), was published by Herzen University Press. The book examines the interrelationships of sports and politics during the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s. Sport was an important symbol for both blocks in their ongoing ideological struggle. The book analyzes how Soviet and American governments not only regulated athletics, but also used sports as a means to advance their national interest in the international arena, which was reflected in many sporting events during the Cold War, particularly at the Olympic Games. Readers will learn how the USSR joined the Olympic movement in 1952 and ended American dominance in the world of sports, how the US State Department tried to win hearts and minds of peoples of Africa and South America by funding ‘good will’ tours of American athletes there, about uneasy athletic relations between the USSR and Peoples Republic of China, about the introduction of gender testing in sports caused by the Cold War rivalry, and many other things in the world of sport. Professor Romanov has mentioned that writing of the book took about four years and was largely inspired by his teaching a course on Sports and the Cold War which attracts more than 150 undergraduates each semester it is offered.