Sport under Communism Behind the East German 'Miracle'

by Dennis, Mike; Grix, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780230227842
• ISBN10: 0230227848
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-05-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book is the first in-depth exploration of why East Germany was, for two decades, one of the three most successful nations in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Based on original Stasi and Communist Party archival sources, the book evaluates the significant factors behind the GDR's rise to sporting supremacy, notably doping, intensive training regimes, specialist sport schools, heavy investment by the state in elite sport, and the comprehensive guarding of top-level sport by the Stasi. Thisbook reveals how the central elite sports system was beset by internal tensions and disputes, by the personal ambitions of top Communist officials and by local and regional interests, and outlines how this system offers a model for elite sport today.

Author Biography

Mike Dennis is Professor of Modern German History at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He has specialized in the history of East German Communism and sport and among his major publications are The Rise and Fall of the German Democratic Republic 1945-1990, The Stasi: Myth and Reality, Deutschland 1945-1990 (with N. Laporte). Jonathan Grix is Senior Lecturer in Sport Politics and Policy at the University of Birmingham, UK. He has published widely on East Germany, research methodology and sports-related themes, including The Role of the Masses in the Collapse of the GDR and The Foundations of Research. His sports-related contributions include articles on the governance of sport in the UK, sport policy and, in particular, the politicization of sport.

Table of Contents

'A detailed, subtle and authoritative account of one of the world's most successful and most corrupt elite sport systems. Of particular value is the location of the politics of elite sport within the domestic inter-organizational rivalries and political tensions of the East German state. An essential text for those interested in the comparative study of sport systems.' - Barrie Houlihan, Professor of Sport Policy at the Institute of Sport and Leisure Policy, Loughborough University, UK