1980 Summer Olympics boycott

Part of a series on
1980 Summer Olympics
Bid process (bid details) Boycott Development (venues, torch relay) Marketing (mascot) Broadcasters Opening ceremony (flag bearers) Chronological summary Medal table (medalists) Olympic records World records Controversies Closing ceremony (flag bearers) IOC NOC USSR (ROC) OCOG-80)
v t e

The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was the largest boycott in Olympic history and one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.^[1] The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its satellite states later boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.^[2]

The Western governments first considered the idea of boycotting the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics in response to the situation in Afghanistan at the 20 December 1979 meeting of NATO representatives. The idea was not completely new to the world: in the mid-1970s, proposals for an Olympic boycott circulated widely among human rights activists and groups as a sanction for Soviet violations of human rights.^[3] At that time, very few member governments expressed interest in the proposal. However, this idea gained popularity in early January 1980 when Soviet nuclear scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov called for a boycott. On 14 January 1980, the Carter Administration joined Sakharov's appeal and set a deadline by which the Soviet Union must pull out of Afghanistan or face the consequences, including an international boycott of the games. On 26 January 1980, Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark announced that Canada, like the US, would boycott the Olympic Games if Soviet forces did not leave Afghanistan by 20 February 1980.^[4] Carter also proposed moving the Olympics to Greece on a permanent basis to eliminate the issue of politicisation of the Games' hosting, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rejected this idea.^[5]

When the deadline passed a month later without any change to the situation in Central Asia, Carter pushed U.S. allies to pull their Olympic teams from the upcoming games.^[6][7]

In late January, the Soviet regime prepared to face down this "hostile campaign". As Soviet Central Committee documents show, in addition to its own propaganda efforts, it was relying on the IOC and its 89 members to behave as in the past (e.g. after the Soviet invasions of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968), and not give in to pressure from national governments. It noted that the government and the National Olympic Committee of France had already stated a willingness to participate.^[8]

After its 24 April meeting, the head of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Robert Kane told the IOC that the USOC would be willing to send a team to Moscow if there were a "spectacular change in the international situation" in the coming weeks.^[9]

In an attempt to save the Games, Lord Killanin, then president of the IOC, arranged to meet and discuss the boycott with Jimmy Carter and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, before the new 24 May deadline. Killanin insisted that the Games should continue as scheduled, while President Carter reaffirmed the US position to boycott the Games unless the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan.^[10]

The IOC protested, claiming that the "pressures by the US and other supporting countries for the boycott were an inappropriate means to achieve a political end, and the victims of this action would be the athletes."^[11] West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt said that the American attitude that the allies "should simply do as they are told" was unacceptable,^[12] although West Germany did join the boycott.^[13]

Several interventions at the late April 1980 Bilderberg meeting in Aachen included discussion of the implications of the boycott. The world would perceive a boycott, it was argued, as little more than a sentimental protest, not a strategic act. An African representative at the Bilderberg meeting voiced a different view: whether there was additional support outside the US or not, he believed a boycott would be an effective symbolic protest and be dramatically visible to those within the Soviet Union.^{[citation needed]} Some Soviet dissidents expressed an opinion that a boycott would be a strong message to the Soviet Union who breached the Olympic rules (using state-sponsored doping and professional athletes despite the fact that the rules of the time only allowed amateurs) to achieve their political goals.^[14][15]

Boxer Muhammad Ali traveled to Tanzania, Nigeria, and Senegal to unsuccessfully convince their leaders to join the boycott.^[16][17][18] He did, however, successfully convince the Kenyan government to do so.^[19]

Many countries ultimately joined the U.S. in a full boycott of the Games. These included Japan and West Germany, where Chancellor Schmidt was able to convince the West German Olympic Committee to support the boycott. China,^[20] the Philippines, Chile, Argentina and Norway also boycotted the Games entirely. Some of these countries competed at the alternative "Liberty Bell Classic" or Olympic Boycott Games held in Philadelphia that same year. Israel also joined the boycott to protest Soviet military aggression, but also because of Soviet antisemitic and anti-Israel policies.^[21]

The governments of the United Kingdom, France, and Australia supported the boycott, but left any final decision over the participation of their country's athletes to their respective NOCs and the decision of their individual athletes. The United Kingdom and France sent a much smaller athletic delegation than would have originally been possible. The British associations that governed equestrian sports, hockey, shooting and yachting completely boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics.^[22][23]

Spain, Italy, Sweden, Iceland and Finland, although the latter under a heavy Russian influence at the time, were other principal nations representing western Europe at the Games.^[23] Of these, Spain and Italy participated under a neutral flag with the Olympic anthem playing in any ceremony. Italian athletes serving in its military corps could not attend the Games, however, because of the national government's official support of the boycott. Many events were affected by the loss of participants, and some US-born athletes who were citizens of other countries, such as Italy and Australia, did compete in Moscow.

A firm enemy of the United States under Ayatollah Khomeini's new theocracy, Iran also boycotted the Moscow Games after Khomeini joined the condemnation by the United Nations and the Islamic Conference of the invasion of Afghanistan.^[24] Independently of the United States, the Islamic Conference urged a boycott of Moscow after the invasion;^[25] the Ayatollah meanwhile accused Moscow of arming the Baluchis against his regime.^[24]

Lord Killanin permitted NOC-qualified athletes to compete at the Games without their national flags or anthems (which allowed NOCs to send athletes in a non-national context), but this did not allow other individuals lacking NOC sanction to participate in the Games, as this was perceived by the IOC as a potential weakening of their authority.^[9] Four competitors (including one athlete) from New Zealand competed independently and marched under their NOC flag because the government officially supported the boycott.^[26] The athletes of 16 countries did not fly their national flags. Instead, Olympic flags were raised, and the Olympic Anthem replaced their national anthems at the medal ceremonies. There was one awards ceremony where three Olympic flags were raised, that being the men's individual pursuit in cycling.

At the opening ceremony's Parade of Nations, the 16 partially boycotting countries sent only a flag-bearer to march after the placard-bearer, without the rest of the delegation following the flag-bearer.^[27]

Traditionally, the mayor of the previous host city (Montreal, Canada) hands over the Olympic flag, but Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau was prevented from attending due to the boycott. Sandra Henderson and Stéphane Préfontaine, the final torchbearers at the previous games, participated in his place.

Closing ceremony protocol rules dictated that the flag of the next host should be raised, but the United States "strongly objected" to the IOC's plans to enforce this rule.^[28] During the 83rd IOC Session just before the Games, IOC Director Monique Berlioux discovered a "loophole" where the French and English versions of the rules differed; one version stated to use the flag of the "country of the organizing city", while the other stated to use the flag of the "organizing city". Berlioux as well as LAOOC head Peter Ueberroth agreed to use the Los Angeles city flag instead.^[29] The Olympic hymn was played in place of the United States national anthem.^[30]

The Antwerp flag was received by an IOC member from the United States instead of the mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley; there was no handover to Los Angeles ceremony at the closing.

Sixty-seven National Olympic Committees that were invited to the 1980 Summer Olympics, plus Qatar, did not participate for various reasons, including support for the boycott and economic reasons (Qatar's National Olympic Committee was recognized in February of that year, but not in time to assemble a delegation to be sent). Taiwan refused to participate as a result of the 1979 Nagoya Resolution, in which the People's Republic of China agreed to participate in IOC activities if Taiwan was referred to as "Chinese Taipei NOC".^[31] However, the Sino-Soviet split during that time led China to refuse sending a delegation to the 1980 Summer Olympics as well:

The sixteen nations that follow participated in the Games under some adjustment to full conventional participation in the Games activities in partial support to the boycott.

Seven countries participated in the Games under the Olympic flag without taking part in the Opening Ceremony:^[34]

Two nations sent one representative each (Chef de Mission) who entered the Olympic stadium during the Opening Ceremony under the Olympic flag; for each country this was a token gesture, as their governments allowed individual national sports federations and in some cases individual athletes to take part in the Games if they chose to do so. Ireland also competed under the Olympic flag, rather than its own:

•  Great Britain – Richard Palmer^[35]
•  Ireland – Ken Ryan^[36]

At least five national teams participated at the Games under the Olympic flag rather than their respective national or NOC flags, as doing the latter would have denoted that their participation was officially sanctioned by their respective nations:^[34]

•  Australia
•  Andorra
•  Denmark
•  Ireland
•  Puerto Rico

Some nations competed under the flag of their National Olympic Committee:^[37][38]

•  Spain
•  Portugal
•  New Zealand

Events were staged separately in several sports, including the Liberty Bell Classic for track and field^[39] and the USGF International Invitational for gymnastics.^[40] The U.S.–Cuban 12-bout card at the Charlotte Coliseum (on Independence Boulevard, now Bojangles' Coliseum) on February 10, 1980, became the only meeting between Cuban and American boxers and was an important event in boxing; called "one of the prime matches of the year," by U.S. boxing coach Tom Johnson.^[41]

In April 1981, a Federal District court in Manhattan approved the settlement of two suits involving more than 9,000 Americans who were seeking refunds of payments they had made for trips to the Olympics that were canceled in wake of the boycott.

When the boycott was first announced, tour deposits of over 10 million dollars were refunded by the Russian Travel Bureau, the only agency authorized to book American tours during the Olympics. Although the Soviet Union kept about $7.2 million collected by the Bureau, they had agreed to set aside $1.8 million as credits to be paid back over five years.

Under the April 1981 settlement the remunerations were increased: Americans who had canceled their trips before 1 March 1980 were reimbursed a total 85 percent of their costs, while those who had canceled after that date were reimbursed 63 percent.^[42]

• 1984 Summer Olympics boycott
• 1986 Asian Games
• List of Olympic Games boycotts

• Eaton, Joseph. "Reconsidering the 1980 Moscow Olympic boycott: American sports diplomacy in East Asian perspective." Diplomatic History 40.5 (2016): 845–864.