Sport was an important part of the Nazis’ plan to strengthen the “Aryan race” and to unite the German “Volk,” or people. German sporting and leisure organizations advocated fitness in service of the nation. Youth groups, such as the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls, made sport one of their central elements.

Athletes were expected to be disciplined, demonstrate a strong will to win, and be prepared to sacrifice their bodies for the state. Athletic events were often described in military terms, sports were used to prepare German youth for war, and athletics primed women for their roles as mothers.

During the 1936 Olympics, representations of an idealized athletic body drew on classical imagery, mobilizing a mythical past to promote the idea of “Aryan” racial supremacy and physical power.