1980 Summer Olympics boycott

The American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow was a part of a package of actions to protest against the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Though the Games have aimed to be an arena free of politics, the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan spurred United States President Jimmy Carter to issue an ultimatum, the terms of which being that the United States would boycott the Moscow Olympics if Soviet troops had not withdrawn from the country by 12:01 A.M. Eastern Standard Time on February 20, 1980; the official announcement confirming the boycott was made on March 21.

Carter engaged in extensive lobbying to gain support from other nations. Some governments, such as those of Great Britain and Australia, supported the boycott but allowed their athletes to decide for themselves whether to go to Moscow. No such choice was allowed for U.S. athletes, with the Carter administration threatening to revoke the passport of any athlete traveling to the USSR. In the end, 65 nations turned down their invitations to the Olympics; an estimated 45 to 50 did so because of the U.S.-led boycott. 80 nations did participate - the lowest number since 1956. [1]

The United States was joined in the boycott by some other populous countries - including the People's Republic of China, Japan, West Germany and Canada. Notably, Great Britain, France, and Greece did not boycott the games, but Great Britain and France sent a much smaller delegation of athletes than usual. Because of this, Italy became the principal nation representing western Europe. The boycott severely affected many events.

In the Opening Ceremony, 16 nations (among those Great Britain and Australia) chose to march under the Olympic Flag rather than their national flags, and the Olympic Anthem replaced their national anthems at medal ceremonies. Although New Zealand boycotted the games, four athletes from New Zealand competed independently and marched under their Games Association flag. [2] There were a few ceremonies where three Olympic Flags were raised as a result.

Another victim of the boycott was NBC, which had paid $87 million for the United States broadcast rights to the games, almost four times the amount paid four years earlier. It had to cut back on the planned 150 hours of coverage. [3]

Even though only 80 nations participated more world records were set in Moscow than in 1976 in Montreal.

In retaliation for the boycott, the Soviet Union and 13 of its allies (including East Germany and Cuba) boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Boycotting governments

Incomplete map of olympic boycotts, showing 1980 boycotting countries in blue and green

File:Fjce05.jpg

Anti-boycott sticker, published by the Communist Youth Federation of Spain

64 or 65 (from different sources) in all, list not complete

Albanian government Antigua and Barbuda Argentina The Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Belize Bermuda Bolivia Canada Cayman Islands Chad Chile Egypt El Salvador Fiji Gambia Ghana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Indonesia Iran Israel Japan Kenya Liberia Liechtenstein

Malawi Malaysia Mauritania Mauritius Monaco Morocco New Zealand Nicaragua Norway Pakistan Papua New Guinea Paraguay People's Republic of China Philippines Chinese Taipei (Republic of China) Saudi Arabia Singapore Somalia South Korea Sudan Swaziland Thailand Tunisia Turkey United States of America Uruguay Virgin Islands West Germany Zaire

Not Boycotting governments

• Italian government

Supporting Boycott governments that left athletes free to decide

• Great Britain government
• Australian government