Was the sport exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War a goodwill venture or another form of battle?

    This question, and the answer to it, were far from the mind of a young boy as he sat glued to the television during the 1984 Olympics. He merely observed in awe as great American athletes such as Mary Lou Retton, Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses won medal after medal.

    Now, however, as an adult, Lander University assistant professor of history Dr. Kevin Witherspoon devotes a great deal of time researching the intricacies of sport history. And the question he thought little of as a child is now the focal point of his current research and subject of his upcoming lecture, “War Between the Lines: Sport and Diplomacy in the Cold War.”

Dr. Kevin Witherspoon

    The fourth installment in Lander’s 2007-2008 Distinguished Speaker Series, Witherspoon’s lecture will focus on various sport exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union. Sponsored by Lander’s College of Arts and Humanities, the lecture is Thursday, Feb. 28, at 6:30 p.m. in the Lander Cultural Center’s Barksdale Recital Hall, Room 250.

    Witherspoon’s lecture will explore Cold War competitions in sports such as track, swimming, wrestling, and basketball, and will highlight tactics used by both the U.S. and the Soviet Union to shape the outcome of these events.

    “On one hand this was an act of peace, and I think most of the athletes thought of it that way,” said Witherspoon. “One hundred eighty degrees in the other direction you had both governments manipulating the process in attempts to influence the end result because the winning nation would reap the benefits of a propaganda victory.”

    With the 2008 Olympics in Beijing quickly approaching, the world is poised to write another chapter in the history of athletic diplomacy. Witherspoon’s lecture will provide background on how sports and diplomacy have been intertwined in the past.

    The Distinguished Speaker Series is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the College of Arts and Humanities at 864-388-8323. Information on future lectures in the Distinguished Speaker Series can be found at http://www.lander.edu/cah/speaker-series.html.

    Other events in the 2007-2008 lecture series follow:

•    “Public Speaking: Mugabe’s Zimbabwe and the Reaction of Christian Churches” by Dr. Kenneth Mufuka, Lander professor of history, March 13, 2008.

•    “South Carolina’s Lost Tradition: Shape-Note Music” by Dr. Robert Kelley, Lander assistant professor of music, April 10, 2008.