The Olympics and the World Cup as Global Rituals

International sport creates rare moments when much of the world watches the same event. Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, hoping sport would promote understanding between nations; women first competed at Paris in 1900. FIFA held the first football World Cup in Uruguay in 1930.

These events quickly became stages for national pride and politics: the 1936 Berlin Games were used by the Nazi regime for propaganda, Black American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists on the 1968 Mexico City podium to protest racial injustice, and Cold War rivals boycotted the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Games. Hosting is seen as a chance for countries to show themselves to the world, though critics point to costs and displacement. Sport thus mirrors globalization's mix of shared experience and national rivalry.