Was it right to boycott the 1980 Olympics?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

No. That was the dumbest thing Carter ever did.

[minionofmidas]

Yes, if only to ensure lots of medals for you guys in 84.

[Nym90]

Yes, I think it was appropriate, given that the Soviets had recently invaded Afghanistan.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Note that the UK, Italy, France, etc. and all the other NATO nations did not. The only European ally to do so was West Germany. And the Soviets were better than who they were fighting in Afghanistan anyway.

Besides it wasn't fair to the athletes

[Jake]

I agree with Nym. The Soviet Union, the Olympic host nation, had recently launched an invasion of a sovereign nation, on top of their other less than democratic policies. A US boycott was appropriate, if only to symbolise that we would not be associated with the USSR at that time.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Actually the Soviets sent troops in with the Afghan Communist government's permission. There was no violation of sovereignty. I certainly would've opposed the Soviet agression in Hungary in 1956 and Czechslovakia in 1968, but I have no problem with them kicking the asses of Muslim extremist whack jobs.

[MasterJedi]

Yes, it was right and I agree with what Nym and Jake have said.

[7,052,770]

It wasn't fair to the athletes who had trained so long and hard for it...attending a country's Olympics doesn't mean you necessary agree with them on everything, it just means you're letting your athletes have a chance to compete.

[opebo]

I agree with Nym. The Soviet Union, the Olympic host nation, had recently launched an invasion of a sovereign nation, on top of their other less than democratic policies. A US boycott was appropriate, if only to symbolise that we would not be associated with the USSR at that time.

Hahaha!  This is exactly what the US did recently in Iraq, Jake.

Except in fairness the Soviet intervention was a good deal better.

[minionofmidas]

Anyways, there's no right or wrong about these things.

[© tweed]

Anyways, there's no right or wrong about these things.

^^^

But I wouldn't have done it, given that it blows for the athletes and that the Soviets did come to Lake Placid that winter.

[Jake]

Hahaha!  This is exactly what the US did recently in Iraq, Jake.

Correct, but we weren't hosting the Olympics the next year.

[Akno21]

No. Most athletes only have one Olympiad where they can truly make a mark, and this took that opportunity away from them. They trained their whole lives, only for politics to get in the way. The Olympics should transcend politics, not be dragged into it.

[The Dowager Mod]

No.

[Hatman 🍁]

No. As BRTD said, it wasn't fair to the athletes.

[J. J.]

The argument was that we shouldn't have given legitimacy to Hitler in 1936.

Ultimately, it was a moderately good political statement.

[Emsworth]

No. It is simply absurd for atheletes to be denied a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, merely because the government wants to make a political statement. The United States government had no business telling atheletes where they could or could not go.

If the U.S. did wish to make some sort of statement, it should have followed the example of the United Kingdom: formally support a boycott, but allow each individual athelete to decide for himself whether to go.

[ag]

It was a right decision - unfortunately, these sorts of decisions are taken too rarely. It was a powerful statement, and it was very well heard behind the iron curtain: this was something that the Soviets could not really downplay at home.

Given the athlete's desire not to miss such events, I could see the following compromise: strict prohibition on using the US flag and on athletes, support staff and/or fans spending any money in Russia: that is, requiring them to show that all expenses were fully paid by the Russian side (the way it is done w/ Cuba). Also, prohibiting US companies to pay the Russians and/or the IOC for the broadcast rights and US companies from paying for advertisement, team sponsorships, etc. This would have been messy, though - one could imagine messy prosecutions of medallists, etc. Better do as it was done.

[Nym90]

I do sympathize with the athletes in this situation, and I do agree that the Olympics ideally should not be about politics, but this was just too significant of an event to be ignored. I think ag has some good ideas for how a compromise could have worked.