'One of the Most Faithful Supporters of Olympic Matters': Hungary and the IOC’s Imperial Internationalism before the Cold War

• In Event: Sporting Histories of East Central Europe I: Hungary and Global Sports, 1920s-1960s

Abstract

This paper presents a snapshot of my ongoing research into Hungarian sportspeople’s role in the International Olympic Committee’s imperial internationalism before and during the Cold War. My work illustrates that the IOC’s attempts to “conquer Africa” through the African Games in the 1920s shows how the organization’s discriminatory facets were rooted in its imperial internationalist ambitions. The presentation will largely focus on Hungarian sportspeople’s engagement with the body prior to the Cold War.

Author

• Johanna Mellis, Ursinus College