Women's Artistic Gymnastics During the Cold War and Its Aftermath
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A Balance of Power: Women’s Artistic Gymnastics During the Cold War and Its Aftermath Georgia Cervin Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Otago This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia School of Humanities, History 2017 ii Abstract Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) entered Olympic competition in 1952, when the first appearance of the USSR started forty years of ascendancy. By 2000, emphasis on spectacle and risk had replaced its balletic origins. This research traces such development of WAG during the Cold War and its aftermath, through exploration of the differing responses to Soviet domination in the United States, Australia and the international gymnastics federation (FIG). It pursues this through semi-structured oral histories, print media sources and – uniquely among studies of gymnastics – the archives of the FIG and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In doing so this thesis has two aims: first, to make sense of WAG’s development with consideration of international sporting governance, and second, to position it within wider understandings of the Cold War. In this thesis I argue that the context of the Cold War was crucial to the development of WAG, both internationally and domestically within the USA as well as Australia. Cold War rivalry heightened the importance placed on Olympic competition as one of the foremost demonstrations of soft power and national ascendency. The Cold War not only motivated the pursuit of international success on the Olympic stage, it resulted in female gymnasts being used in political endeavours. It influenced the rhetoric surrounding women’s sport, where women’s gymnastics was in the vanguard. It affected the governance of international sport and judging of gymnastics. Moreover it flavoured the Olympic landscape of the time, lying beneath issues such as amateurism and the slowly professionalizing nature of the Games. However, the Cold War was not the only influence on WAG’s development. These issues were negotiated by the international non-government organizations controlling international sport, which endeavoured (with varying success) to remain aloof from politics. Within the FIG, there was debate over the feminine vision for WAG, which differed from the acrobatic practices of the gymnasts. Within the IOC, there was concern over the size of the Olympic programme, of which gymnastics was considered to occupy more space than it deserved. The FIG was thus caught between its two main stakeholders, and the debates waged within the sport reflect this duality. In WAG lies a microcosm of socio-cultural issues that have been mediated by its participants, spectators and governors. This research is significant because WAG illustrates the on-going dialogue between sport and society. It thus contributes to the growing body of work on sport during the Cold War, which until now has largely excluded gymnastics. Furthermore, it also marks one of the few attempts to study the history of WAG as a competitive sport. iii iv Contents Abstract iii Contents v Acknowledgements vii Statement of Candidate Contribution ix Statement of Ethics Approval xi Abbreviations xiii Introduction 15 Part I: 1952 – 1969 61 Chapter One 65 ‘The Games Operate on an Honour System’: Avery Brundage’s Amateur Olympics Chapter Two 93 Dreamboats And Amazons: The New York Times, Female Athletes and the Cold War Part II: 1970 – 1979 111 Chapter Three 113 Dynamic and Young: Daredevils and the Changing Nature of WAG Chapter Four 153 Cold Warriors: Gymnastics Tours and Flic Flac Diplomacy Part III: 1980 – 1989 175 Chapter Five 177 The Devolution of Détente: Cold War Boycotts and the Olympic Movement Chapter Six 205 An Art of Flight: WAG Under Globalization and Professionalization Part IV: 1990 – 2000 253 Chapter Seven 255 Raising the Bar: Soviet Emigration and International Improvement Chapter Eight 273 Swinging Into Action: Influences on FIG Policy in the 1990s Conclusion 311 Bibliography 319 v Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the assistance of a number of people. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors, Mark Edele and Tony Barker. It is only with their unfailing support and encouragement that I have been able to come this far. Tony in particular has devoted much of his time and interest to this work. Their gentle criticisms have taught me much about research and writing, without compromising my motivation. In fact, with them I was always inspired to continue pursuing my research. I could not have asked anything more from these two scholars. Thanks also to the wider discipline group of History at the University of Western Australia, which has been an excellent environment to undertake this work. I give my sincerest gratitude also to the history department at the University of Otago – I am certain that without this solid foundation I would never have been able to come this far. I have been the beneficiary of several scholarships from the University of Western Australia, without which this work would have been impossible. The Graduate Research School enabled me to undertake the first research trip for this project, and funds from the Broeze Award enabled a second trip to collect oral histories. The Postgraduate Student’s Association topped up this award, so to them I also extend my thanks. I owe a great debt to the team at the Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne, and their award of a PhD grant to complete this research. In an old villa atop the lake, these are more than the most beautiful archives in the world, they are a haven for the sport historian, and the friendliness of the staff there enhances the experience. Thanks to Nuria Puig, for arranging my visit, and to the staff for their unfailing positivity and helpfulness, particularly Stephanie Moreno and the entire archivist team. Thanks also to the staff at the Reid Library at the University of Western Australia, who have been extremely patient with the infinite influx of books I have requested from around the world. Beyond the archives, I extend my thanks to staff at the FIG, Nicolas Buompane, and particularly Philippe Silacci. These men took an interest in this work, provided a list of names and contact details for oral histories, and organized a media pass to conduct interviews at the 2014 world championships in China. Thanks also to all those who were willing to engage in interviews with me, particularly Hardy Fink, who was always willing to answer my questions later in the research. The small group of international scholars researching WAG have also made me feel vii welcome in academia, and their interest in this work encouraged me to keep going. To Natalie Barker-Ruchti, Astrid Schubing and Myrian Nunomura: thank you for taking me on and trusting me as part of your team. Here, I would like to extend a special thanks to Roslyn Kerr, who had a great role in facilitating this network, and who has been a kind of unofficial mentor for me throughout my PhD. I am humbled you took an interest in me. My thanks also to the other scholars I have met at various conferences, who have also been a fantastic source of insight, debate, advice, and empathy. You are too numerous to name, although I would like to mention the team in sports sciences at the University of Lausanne, who adopted me into their academic world, particularly Gregory Quin. Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family for their unwavering support, belief in me, and patience. Janet Klee, your encouragement has been crucial. Neil Cervin, all those times you answered my questions with thirty minute lectures, thank you for beginning my interest in history. Greta Cervin, thank you for being a reminder of normal life throughout all of this. And finally, my thanks to Christopher Heydon who helped conceive this project and has been my biggest supporter along the way. viii Statement of Candidate Contribution The examination of the thesis is an examination of the work of the student. The work must have been substantially conducted by the student during enrolment in the degree. Where the thesis includes work to which others have contributed, the thesis must include a statement that makes the student’s contribution clear to the examiners. This may be in the form of a description of the precise contribution of the student to the work presented for examination and/or a statement of the percentage of the work that was done by the student. In addition, in the case of co-authored publications included in the thesis, each author must give their signed permission for the work to be included. Chapters three and four have been published as two separate articles, both of which were sole-authored by the candidate, Georgia Cervin. The details are as follow: Cervin, Georgia. ‘Gymnasts Are Not Merely Circus Phenomena: Influences on the Development of Women’s Artistic Gymnastics During the 1970s.’ The International Journal of the History of Sport, 32, no. 16 (2015): 1929-1946. Cervin, Georgia. ‘Making Meaning of the 1970s East-West Gymnastics Tours.’ Sporting Traditions, 31, no. 2 (November 2015): 85-100. Extracts from chapters six and seven have been used to contribute to a co-authored article with Roslyn Kerr of Lincoln University, New Zealand, with each author contributing 50 per cent. For this article, most of the data and writing on WAG in Australia comes from this thesis, along with the explanation on the use of archival sources. Kerr was responsible for the New Zealand data, organization of the article and its invitation to the special issue. The citation for this article is as follows: Kerr, Roslyn, and Georgia Cervin. ‘An Ironic Imbalance: Coaching Opportunities and Gender in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics in Australia and New Zealand.’ The International Journal of the History of Sport, special issue: Trans- Tasman sport (April, 2017).