On this day March 21 1980 President Jimmy Carter officially announced that the United States would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The decision was made in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan which began in December 1979.
The boycott was part of a broader effort to pressure the USSR to withdraw from Afghanistan and was supported by over 60 other countries including Canada West Germany and Japan. Despite the political stance many American athletes who had trained for years were devastated by the decision and were unable to compete on the world stage.
80s insight: The Soviet Union retaliated by leading a boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles along with 14 other Eastern Bloc countries.
The boycott was part of a broader effort to pressure the USSR to withdraw from Afghanistan and was supported by over 60 other countries including Canada West Germany and Japan. Despite the political stance many American athletes who had trained for years were devastated by the decision and were unable to compete on the world stage.
80s insight: The Soviet Union retaliated by leading a boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles along with 14 other Eastern Bloc countries.
