"I think I was more or less, convinced of that by just the press, the US press. By people who were pressuring you, saying that you gotta beat the Russian's, if you don't win anything else, win the Russian meet and so forth"

Ralph Boston's quote talks to the pressure he felt to win the Russian satisfy. He was encouraged of this pressure by the US press, which was pushing him to beat the Russians. This pressure was most likely due to the Cold War, which was a duration of extreme competitors in between the US and the Soviet Union. The US press was likely attempting to rally assistance for the United States professional athletes and produce a sense of national pride by encouraging them to beat the Russians. This pressure was most likely felt by all US professional athletes contending in the Russian fulfill, and Ralph Boston was no exception. He understood the pressure and felt it was essential to win the satisfy in order to prove the US's superiority. This quote talks to the extreme competition in between the 2 countries and the pressure felt by professional athletes to perform in order to show their country's superiority.