80 years after the 1936 Olympic Games: new perspectives on the significance of sports in the Nazi state. During the Nazi era, sports gained an importance unprecedented in German history. This development was not only a result of the regime's promotion of sports. The actors of the sports movement recognized in the Nazi state an ideal political environment for many of their concerns and pursued these with particular vigor. Thus, sports significantly contributed to the staging of the national community: the Nazi mass organizations ensured that the largest possible segment of the population was engaged in sports. The responsibility for the individual body as part of the national body, whose health and performance were to be promoted, represented a collective objective. Moreover, participating in sports was meant to reinforce the racial identity of the national comrade.