Hi yum47,
In December 1979, Afghanistan was invaded by Soviet troops. The USSR
justified this unprovoked invasion as "helping an ally", but others
saw it as a preemptive strike against Muslims. During the time,
U.S.-Soviet relations were less than great and the U.S. saw this act
of aggression by the Soviets as unacceptable. The United States (and
Jimmy Carter) demanded withdrawl by February 20, 1980. Otherwise, the
U.S. would abstain from the Olympics. The U.S. also encouraged its
allies to withdraw from the Olympics. Of course, the Soviets did not
retreat from Afghanistan, and 61 countries including Japan, Canada and
West Germany did not participate in the 1980 Olympics. Surprisingly,
France, Great Britain, Italy and Sweden did not join the boycott. A
total of 81 countries continued their participation - the lowest since
1956.
The United States believed that participating in the Olympics would
imply support for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. To not
participate would draw attention to the opinions of the United States
and would put the USSR in a bad light. This was Jimmy Carter's
intention - he wanted to make a point. He also did not want a
glorification of the Soviet Union, as happened in 1936 when the
Olympics were held in Berlin. During that year, the Nazis showed
themselves off, giving the world a peek at their perfect organisation
and "perfect" society.
The Soviets benefitted the most from the boycott. They won more medals
because Soviet athletes had less competition. The Soviets won 197
medals, including 80 gold medals. In fact, Soviet gymnast Aleksandr
Dityatin, who participated in 1980, was the only athlete ever to win a
eight medals in one Olympiad.
Most hurt by Carter's decision were the American and allied athletes.
Athletes train for many years in anticipation of the Olympics. After
Carter managed to persuade the American Olympic Committee to withdraw,
athletes felt dejected and abandoned. They had trained for many months
and years and laboured through hours of sweat only to be forbidden to
participate. They had to wait another four years for the next
Olympiad, but many athletes could not do so because they were getting
old. Thousands of athletes missed a chance at winning a medal. They
had negative opinions towards towards boycott.
Pole vaulter Abilene Olson trained for 1980, only to have been held
back by the boycott. He then missed the next Olympics (1984), held in
Los Angeles, because of an injury. He made the 1988 Olympics but
failed to bring home any medals. Olson feels as if he lost a chance to
win, because of the boycott. Read more of his story here:
http://www.reporternews.com/2001/sports/miss1009.html
Other athletes felt that if the boycott would have accomplished
something, then it would have been worthwhile. Alas, the Soviets did
not withdraw from Afghanistan. The boycott accomplished ltitle. There
is a good list of quotes from athletes, giving their negative reaction
to the boycott here:
http://www.runningtimes.com/issues/80/boycott1980.htm
There were greater implications from the boycott. The Soviets, along
with fourteen other Soviet Bloc nations, boycotted the 1984 Olympics
in retaliation, which was held in Los Angeles. Even now, there is a
small movement to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of China's
spotty human rights history. They cite the 1980 boycott as "a terrible
defeat" to the IOC. Of course, the Olympics were still held
successfully in 1980, albeit with fewer participants.
In summary, Jimmy Carter felt it necessary to boycott the Moscow
Olympics in protest over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It did
not obtain desired results; on the contrary, the Soviets won more
medals as a result. The boycott greatly hurt American athletes, who
were robbed of a chance at winning a medal.
I hope this answers your question!
Additional links
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Invasion_of_Afghanistan
Highlights of the 1980 Olympics
http://www.80s.com/Entertainment/Sports/Olympics/1980/summer.html
Official IOC page on the 1980 Olympics
http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1980
About the 1984 Olympics
http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa081000x.htm
More on how athletes felt about the boycott
http://archive.sportserver.com/olympics/00sydney/commentary/story/0,4823,500229974-500332839-501897910-0-sportserver,00.html
http://www.argonaut.uidaho.edu/archives/092900/sportsstory4.html
A page supporting a boycott of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China
http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=2286
Google Search terms
1980 Olympics boycott
1980 Olympics boycott 1956 |
