AVERY BRUNDAGE

The year before {625800} he had castigated the Germans for discriminating against Jewish and other athletes because of their warped political/ideological views. However, there were so many people in the Olympic movement, that by 1934 there was much advocacy of the boycott of the coming 1936 Berlin Olympics. Brundage who himself was somewhat anti-Semitic had made the earlier statement to try and head off calls for boycott. So in 1934, he changed his approach and argued to keep all “politics” out of the Olympics. However racism transcended politics and much athletics in the American South was segregated so there was some support to keep issues of racism out of the Olympics although it had been introduced in Nazi Germany and the American South in the tryouts and the membership on the Olympic Committees. In 1935 Ernest Lee Jahncke, the American delegate was expelled from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in July 1936 after taking a strong public stand against the Berlin Games {625798}. Based on this statement The IOC pointedly elected Avery Brundage to fill Jahncke's seat. Jahncke is the only member in the 100-year history of the IOC to be ejected. Brundage beat back the boycott movement and the Olympics went on with American Blacks winning many medals to the distress of the Nazis. However, behind the scenes, Brundage worked to have two Jewish runners removed from the American 400 meter relay team where they were overwhelming favorities so that when America won, Hitler would be spared the embarrassment.

The following year, there were calls for boycotts of the racist 1936 German views that would prevail at the Olympics to be held in Berlin. So Brundage changed his tune and tried to keep politics out of the Olympics. But race was already injected by German laws and policies and the U. S. practices in the South. Brundage, anti-Semitic himself, was worried that if boycotts of the Berlin Olympics were successful, their might be international or even national boycotts of segregated sporting events in the American south. So he argued to keep politics and boycotts out of the Olympics (See {625799}.) The U. S. Delegate to the International Olympic Committee.

The year before {625800} he had castigated the Germans for discriminating against Jewish and other athletes because of their warped political/ideological views. However, there were so many people in the Olympic movement, that by 1934 there was much advocacy of the boycott of the coming 1936 Berlin Olympics. Brundage who himself was somewhat anti-Semitic had made the earlier statement to try and head off calls for boycott. So in 1934, he changed his approach and argued to keep all “politics” out of the Olympics. However racism transcended politics and much athletics in the American South was segregated so there was some support to keep issues of racism out of the Olympics although it had been introduced in Nazi Germany and the American South in the tryouts and the membership on the Olympic Committees. In 1935 Ernest Lee Jahncke, the American delegate was expelled from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in July 1936 after taking a strong public stand against the Berlin Games {625798}. Based on this statement The IOC pointedly elected Avery Brundage to fill Jahncke's seat. Jahncke is the only member in the 100-year history of the IOC to be ejected. Brundage beat back the boycott movement and the Olympics went on with American Blacks winning many medals to the distress of the Nazis. However, behind the scenes, Brundage worked to have two Jewish runners removed from the American 400 meter relay team where they were overwhelming favorities so that when America won, Hitler would be spared the embarrassment.

The following year, there were calls for boycotts of the racist 1936 German views that would prevail at the Olympics to be held in Berlin. So Brundage changed his tune and tried to keep politics out of the Olympics. But race was already injected by German laws and policies and the U. S. practices in the South. Brundage, anti-Semitic himself, was worried that if boycotts of the Berlin Olympics were successful, their might be international or even national boycotts of segregated sporting events in the American south. So he argued to keep politics and boycotts out of the Olympics (See {625799}.) The U. S. Delegate to the International Olympic Committee.