The Moscow Playbook
How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power
Triumph Books · Print & ebook · January 20, 2026
An eye-opening account of how Russia’s leaders have used sports as a political tool to solidify their global power “Victories in sport do more to cement the nation than a hundred political slogans.” This was the pep talk Russian athletes heard in 2000 from their new president, Vladimir Putin.
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- Who it’s for
- Bruce Berglund traces how Russian leaders have used sport to build nationalism, prestige, and political power.
- Genres
- Olympics, Geopolitics, Sports & Society
- Published
- Triumph Books, January 20, 2026
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An eye-opening account of how Russia’s leaders have used sports as a political tool to solidify their global power “Victories in sport do more to cement the nation than a hundred political slogans.” This was the pep talk Russian athletes heard in 2000 from their new president, Vladimir Putin. And so, for more than two decades, Putin has used sports like his Soviet predecessors to stoke nationalism at home, boost prestige abroad, and cement his position as leader.
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The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Gold is the first book to fully examine the intersection of Russian sports and geopolitical power, from the dominant Soviet teams of past Olympics to recent doping scandals and international sanctions. With new research from Olympic archives, records of the Soviet bloc and current Russian media, historian Bruce Berglund shows how Moscow’s leaders have defied the rules of the game for decades as the world’s governing bodies turned a blind eye. Featuring oligarchs, sportocrats, and famous athletes from Olga Korbut to Alex Ovechkin, this is a timely investigation into the gears of power, nationalism, and money that drive the Russian sports machine.
Russian Sports Power
Bruce Berglund traces how Russian leaders have used sport to build nationalism, prestige, and political power.
Come here for
- Soviet Olympic teams and recent doping scandals
- The roles of oligarchs, sportocrats, and athletes
Expect
- A history spanning Soviet teams to international sanctions
- An account drawing on Olympic archives and Soviet bloc records
Where it sits
| Olympics | 52% |
|---|---|
| Geopolitics | 33% |
| Sports & Society | 22% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Russian History
- Nationalism & Patriotism
- Propaganda
- Russian & Post-Soviet Politics
Show all 8 publisher categories
- Geopolitics
- Hockey
- Ice & Figure Skating
- Olympics
- Authors
- Bruce Berglund
- Publisher
- Triumph Books
- Published
- January 20, 2026
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Russian History