1984 Summer Olympics boycott

The Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, United States followed the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

The boycott involved 14 Eastern Bloc countries and allies, including the Soviet Union, Cuba and East Germany (but not Romania), that refused to participate in the 1984 Olympics. The USSR announced its intentions on May 8, 1984, citing security concerns and claiming that "chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria [were] being whipped up in the United States" [Burns, John F. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F5071FF63A5C0C7A8CDDAC0894DC484D81 "Moscow Will Keep Its Team From Los Angeles Olympics; Tass Cites Peril, U.S. Denies It; Protests Are Issue"] , "New York Times", 9 May 1984] , but most observers saw it as revenge for the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games, enforced by President Jimmy Carter, in response to the 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Among those subscribing to the revenge hypothesis was Peter Ueberroth, the chief organizer of the 1984 L.A. Games, who expressed his views in a press conference after the boycott was announced, on the same day that the Olympic Torch Relay in the United States began in New York City.

Iran was the only country not to attend both the 1980 Moscow and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. For different reasons, Libya also boycotted.

The boycott affected a large number of Olympic events that were normally dominated by the absent countries. Boycotting countries organized another major event, called the Friendship Games, in July-August, 1984.

Boycotting governments

"14 or 16 (from different sources) in all, list not complete";Soviet Bloc
*flag|Soviet Union
*flag|Cuba
*flag|East Germany
*flag|Poland
*flag|Hungary
*flag|Czechoslovakia
*flag|Bulgaria|1971
*flag|Mongolia|1949
*flag|Afghanistan|1980
*flag|North Korea
*flag|Vietnam
*flag|Angola
*flag|Ethiopia|1975
*flag|Laos

Despite being considered part of the Soviet Bloc, flag|Romania|1965 permitted its athletes to participate.

;Others
*
*

ee also

* Politics in the Olympics
* 1980 Summer Olympics boycott

References