Moscow Olympics Boycotted: Cold War Splits the Games
Sixty-five nations boycotted or partially boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, reducing the Games from a global festival to a Cold War propaganda battle. President Jimmy Carter led the boycott campaign, threatening to revoke the passport of any American athlete who attempted to compete. Many athletes who had trained their entire lives for this single opportunity never got another chance. The Soviet Union retaliated by boycotting the 1984 Los Angeles Games. The double boycott left an entire generation of athletes on both sides without Olympic memories, demonstrating how thoroughly geopolitics could corrupt the ideal of sport as a bridge between nations.
July 19, 1980
46 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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