The Soviet-Romanian Gymnastics Rivalry: Reassessing Gender and Cultural Diplomacy during Détente

• In Event: Reassessing and Remembering Soviet Diplomacy during the Cold War

Abstract

This paper examines how teenage gymnasts came to be the norm in elite women's artistic gymnastics during the Soviet-Romanian gymnastics rivalry of the 1970s and 1980s, with lasting effects on the sport still felt today. I demonstrate how both Soviet and Romanian cultural diplomacy within the broader Cold War environment, and the domestic politics around evolving gender ideals in Eastern Bloc societies drove the age shift in gymnasts and facilitated a culture of abuse.

Author

• Andrew Kapinos, U of Kansas