Political Games

By: /
30 July, 2012

When you have an event as high profile as the Olympic Games, you know that politics is going to come into it at some point. When the international community wants to make a point about the actions of a rogue nation, banning that country from competing in the Olympics is a very visible way to do it. And should a country not particularly like whoever is hosting that year, boycotts are a great way to demonstrate disapproval. Below, OpenCanada runs through the biggest boycotts and bans in Olympic history.

The 420 BC Games at Olympia

Sparta was barred from attending the Games at Olympia after it violated the Olympic truce that was meant to protect athletes and spectators from whatever war was happening at the time. According to the historian Thucydides, there was some concern that the very warlike Spartans would force their way in regardless.

The 1908 London Olympics

After Britain refused to grant Ireland its independence, many Irish athletes boycotted the Games in London. Perhaps in a show of solidarity with their freedom-seeking brethren, members of the American team failed to dip their flag to King Edward VII during the opening ceremony.

The 1936 Berlin Olympics

With Nazi Germany hosting, there was serious talk in many countries of boycotting the Games, but ultimately only Spain – then led by the left-wing Popular Front – and the Soviet Union chose not to compete. Spain even went so far as to organize the People’s Olympiad in Barcelona as an alternative to the Olympics, but the event was cancelled just two days before it was scheduled to begin, after the Spanish Civil War broke out.

The 1956 Melbourne Olympics

Different countries stayed away from Australia for different reasons. Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon boycotted the Games to protest the invasion of Egypt by Israeli, British, and French troops during the Suez Crisis. The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland boycotted to protest the Soviet Union’s violent suppression of the Hungarian Revolution. And the People’s Republic of China pulled out because the Republic of China (Taiwan) had been allowed to attend.

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics

Before the Tokyo Games began, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave South Africa a choice: either renounce racial discrimination in sport or be banned from the Olympics. South Africa refused, and the country wasn’t allowed to attend the Olympics again until 1992.

The 1976 Montreal Olympics

When the IOC failed to bar New Zealand from the Montreal Games as punishment for the Kiwi national rugby team’s tour of apartheid South Africa, more than 20 African countries boycotted the Games.

The 1980 Moscow Olympics

The 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan prompted then-U.S.-president Jimmy Carter to pull the American team out of the Moscow Games. More than 60 other countries followed the American lead, leaving only 81 participating countries. The Soviet team went on to win an impressive 195 medals.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Soviet Union and 14 of its Eastern Bloc allies (with the exception of Romania) decided to sit out the Los Angeles Games. The official excuse was security concerns for their athletes. The American team managed 173 medals in their absence (the Romanian team came in second with 53).

The 1988 Seoul Olympics

After North Korea was not recognized as host alongside South Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea boycotted the Games. It was joined by Ethiopia, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

Research by Ioana Sendroiu

Before you click away, we’d like to ask you for a favour … 

 

Journalism in Canada has suffered a devastating decline over the last two decades. Dozens of newspapers and outlets have shuttered. Remaining newsrooms are smaller. Nowhere is this erosion more acute than in the coverage of foreign policy and international news. It’s expensive, and Canadians, oceans away from most international upheavals, pay the outside world comparatively little attention.

At Open Canada, we believe this must change. If anything, the pandemic has taught us we can’t afford to ignore the changing world. What’s more, we believe, most Canadians don’t want to. Many of us, after all, come from somewhere else and have connections that reach around the world.

Our mission is to build a conversation that involves everyone — not just politicians, academics and policy makers. We need your help to do so. Your support helps us find stories and pay writers to tell them. It helps us grow that conversation. It helps us encourage more Canadians to play an active role in shaping our country’s place in the world.

Become a Supporter

Also in the series

The Culture of Cheating

The Culture of Cheating

By:

Does cheating in sports have anything to do with the culture of the athlete?

A Leap Forward For Saudi Arabia

A Leap Forward For Saudi Arabia

By:

For the first time, Saudi women will compete at the Olympics. It’s a triumph for Saudis and non-Saudis.

The London Security Spectacle

The London Security Spectacle

By:

More than a billion pounds will be spent on security for the Games. Will it make anybody safer?

What Politics Can Learn From Sport

What Politics Can Learn From Sport

By:

Governments could learn from the Olympics says Dick Pound.