5 stories that changed world sport forever

Adrenaline, excitement, and then wild delight or resentment from defeat – it’s all about sports. Nowadays, when most fans come to a match or competition, they support all athletes with the same zeal and evaluate only their physical qualities, without paying attention to external data. And how strange it may seem that not so long ago women and athletes with non-white skin color were not allowed to participate in certain sports. But there were brave men who weren’t afraid to step up and stand up for what was right. These five stories changed the rules of world sport forever.

Jesse Owens: winning against Nazism.

It happened at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany. Jesse Owens arrived there as part of a delegation of athletes from the United States. At that time, the German government was a supporter of the ideology that asserted the superiority of the Aryan nation (Indo-European peoples) over the rest, and dark-skinned people were considered “inferior”. Because of the participation of athletes of other nationalities (non-Aryan) even changed the awarding procedure: Adolf Hitler, who was in power, did not approach the winners to congratulate and shake hands.

Among the athletes who won “gold” was Jesse Owens: he finished the fastest in the 100-meter race. In doing so, he questioned the Aryan ideology and began the rejection of racial discrimination in the United States.

Mohammed Ali: boxing as a show

Another fighter against racial prejudice was Cassius Clay or, as he is known around the world, Mohammed Ali. It was this athlete who turned boxing into a show that mesmerized even those who did not understand it at all. Ali created a phenomenon that was later called trash talk: before entering the ring, he insulted and taunted his opponents, knocking them out of their psychological equilibrium.

In 1960, at the Olympic Games in Rome, he took the “gold” and returned to the U.S. national hero. But even universal love and recognition did not save him from racial stereotypes. He was still not allowed into venues reserved for white people, which was also the reason Ali threw away his Olympic gold medal. He adopted the pseudonym in 1967 after he refused to participate in the war with Vietnam and joined the Nation of Islam, a movement that worked to improve the lot of African-Americans in the United States. These events led to Ali losing his athlete’s license for three years and did not return to professional boxing until 1970.

USSR national hockey team 1972: success against expectations

For all hockey fans, the eight games of 1972 became legendary. This series of games was the first time that the USSR national hockey team met a professional team from Canada. Prior to that, the Soviet team had only played amateur teams. The first four meetings were held in Canada. It is difficult to imagine what psychological pressure was exerted on the Soviet athletes, because the opposing team was considered the best in the world. The fact that the opponents did not even wear helmets for the first match shows how easily they planned to beat the Soviet Union.

The opening game of the series brought the USSR its first-ever victory over Canada and the belief that there are no unbeatable opponents. In the end, the Soviet Union still lost the 1972 Super Series. However, it marked the beginning of a rivalry between the two teams that still captures the attention of hockey fans around the world.

Billie Jean King: the “battle of the sexes” in big tennis

Women have fought for equal rights in sports as well. First, female athletes were not allowed to play in professional tournaments, and afterward their prize money was much less than that of men. The solution to these problems was at stake during the “battle of the sexes” – a tennis match that took place in 1973 in Houston between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King.

During this match, the girl was victorious in all three sets and achieved her goal. King later supported an amendment to U.S. legislation that made women eligible for athletic scholarships at the university.

USSR national basketball team 1972: victory in three seconds

This game is still controversial today, and the silver medals of the U.S. national team are still in the office of the International Olympic Committee. It took only three seconds for Alexander Belov, a player of the Soviet Union’s basketball team, to throw the ball into the opponent’s basket and literally snatch victory from the hands of the Americans.

And although the opponents never admitted defeat, this meeting went down in sports history as the first loss of the United States at an Olympic basketball tournament, and even with a difference of only one point – 50:51.