Controversy at the Olympics: 1980, 1984, and 1988 By: Ben Feinberg and Ben Cannistraro
olympic.org 1980 Summer Olympics: Moscow
Overview - Held in Moscow, USSR from July 13 to August 3, 1980-67 nations, including US, did not participate - 80 nations did participate, including six first-timers, the lowest number since 1956 - The US led a boycott against these Olympics in response to the Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979-45-50 of the 67 no-shows were absent because of the boycott
Misha the Bear
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan - Soviets invaded Afghanistan in an attempt to stop Muslim rebels from taking over the communist government - The Muslim rebel groups, collectively known as the Mujahideen, fought the Soviets to a stalemate using guerilla tactics - The United States supported the rebels by training them in terrorist attacks - Carter also took this matter to a political level - Carter designed a series of measures to put pressure on Soviets to withdraw, one of which was a possible Olympic boycott
Boycott - The idea was first discussed on December 20th, 1979 at a NATO meeting - The idea gained popularity when Andrei Sakharov, a Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner, called for a boycott - Carter supported Sakharov and placed a deadline for when the Soviets must withdraw from Afghanistan or else there would be consequences - The Soviets failed to act before the deadline, thus giving the green light for the boycott
Boycott - Led by the US, many nations decided to boycott including West Germany, the UK and Israel - Goal was to pressure the Soviets to remove their armies - Some nations who boycotted, such as the UK, did so in name only, as they still sent athletes to compete under a neutral flag - American athletes were forbidden to participate in any way, with the penalty being confiscation of their passports - Most of the countries were uninterested and felt it was an over dramatic response to a war they had nothing to do with
Carters Announcement
Support of the Boycott in US - Within the US there was much public support for the boycott. It easily passed the Senate and House of Congress. - Many people supported the idea of fighting the Soviets, but felt sorry for the athletes who had trained so hard - Ultimately, the final decision rested in the hands of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), who accepted the boycott - Liberty Bell Classic was put in place for boycotting nations - USSR-Afghanistan war lasted for another ten years, ending in 1989, meaning the boycott did not accomplish its goal
Athletes Perspectives "I got my revenge. I became a Republican that year." - Don Paige "No, that's [medal ceremonies] not what I missed, It was walking in the opening ceremony with all the athletes in the world. That was more important. To put my arms out to everyone there and say, 'Guys and girls, we made it.' " - Don Paige "I think it should be left completely up to the athletes. The athletes are the ones who ve worked their asses off and I think it should be left up to them whether they should go or shouldn t go." - Ron Tabb
Liberty Bell Classic - Known as the Olympic Boycott Games. - 29 countries participated. - Was held in Philadelphia. - Purpose: Gave athletes and countries something else to look at; was an alternative to the Olympics. - Support was low. People thought it was pointless.
olympic.org 1984 Summer Olympics: Los Angeles
Overview - Held in Los Angeles - Held from July 28th to August 12th, 1984-14 countries boycotted including USSR, East Germany and other countries in the Eastern Bloc. - 140 countries participated - Boycott was a response to the US led boycott in 1980. - Fun Fact: China's first Olympics since 1952
Money and the Olympics - For the first time since 1932 the Olympics turned a profit for the country hosting it. This was due to the Olympics being open to sponsors for the first time. It allowed for a 225 million dollar profit. - McDonalds ran a promotional game called "When The US Wins, You Win" where customers scratched off a ticket and if the US won that event then they would be given a free menu item. The company lost millions of dollars when the Soviet boycott let the US athletes fare better than they otherwise would have.
Boycott - The Soviets claimed, "chauvinistic sentiments and an antisoviet hysteria being whipped up in the United State" as the reason for the boycott. - Wanted to protect their athletes from what they called an anti-communist environment - Revenge for boycott of 1980 olympics. - Resulted in US winning a previously unimaginable amount of medals, 174, consisting of 83 gold medals, 61 silver medals and 30 bronze medals.
Effects of the Boycott - Caused feelings of unease in the US about relations with the USSR - Made it clear the Cold War was still happening. - Led to the US spending billions on expanding the army in an attempt to scare the Soviets. - Mcdonalds lost a lot of money. - Friendship Games
Friendship Games - The Soviet response to the Liberty Bell Classic - 49 countries participated - Eastern Bloc countries sent superstars while other countries sent athletes who did not qualify for the olympics. - Soviet Union won 282 medals including 126 gold. - Similar to the Liberty Bell Classic support was low; people thought it was pointless.
olympic.org 1988 Summer Olympics: Seoul
General Overview - Held from September 17th to October second. - Held in Seoul, South Korea. - North Korea held a boycott after not being considered a partial host. - Fun Fact: Last olympics for East Germany and USSR as neither would exist under those names in 1992.
Boycott - North Korea wanted half the events to be played in North Korea to show that Communist and Capitalist countries could get along. - The idea was proposed by Fidel Castro. - South Korea rejected this idea due to its poor relationship with communist countries. - North Korea, Cuba and a few others boycotted.
Impact of the Boycott - Strained relationship between US and North Korea that we still see today. - South Korea and North Korea continued their bad relationship and made it seem less likely than ever that the two could eventually have diplomatic relations. - Overall, the boycott was not as big or as politically affecting to the US as the 1980 or 1984 boycott, it did contribute to the current problems with North Korea.
AIDS Scare - Two time Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis cut his head when he hit his head on a diving board during one of his jumps. - The openly gay Louganis started to bleed and the water was covered with blood. - In 1995 he admitted to being HIV-positive during the 1988 Olympics. - This caused mass hysteria and public criticism, where people said he should have not been allowed to compete in the Olympics. - Scientists proved that it was impossible for anyone in the water to be infected by the disease due to the chlorine. - People started to categorize AIDS as the gay disease. - AIDS was largely ignored in the US and Louganis and the Olympic committee was heavily criticized.
Greg Louganis
Bibliography http://www.olympic.org/moscow-1980-summer-olympics http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~cckarpov/whythesovietsinvadedafghan.htm http://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/olympic\ ^ Burns, John F. (May 9, 1984). "Protests are Issue: Russians Charge 'Gross Flouting' of the Ideals of the Competition". New York Times http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=30530 http://www.csmonitor.com/1984/0515/051549.html http://www.thepressproject.gr/photos/gallerys/596x420/north-korean-army0051364653835.jpg http://www.infoplease.com/spot/summer-olympics-greg-louganis.html http://www.britannica.com/ebchecked/topic/1499983/soviet-invasion-ofafghanistan