On this day in 1980, President Jimmy Carter informed some 160 U.S. athletes and coaches that the United States would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in response to the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It marked the first and only time the United States boycotted the Olympics.
The presidential announcement came after the Soviet Union failed to comply with Carter’s Feb. 20, 1980, deadline to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
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The Soviets had invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to bolster the country’s pro-Soviet regime against Islamic insurgents. Carter decried the invasion as an effort “by a powerful atheistic government to subjugate an independent Islamic people that he called a stepping stone to [Soviet] control over [Afghanistan's] oil supplies.”
“I can’t say at this moment what other nations will not go … “ the president told the athletes who had assembled at the White House. But, he added, “ours will not go. I say that not with any equivocation; the decision has been made. The American people are convinced that we should not go … The Congress has voted overwhelmingly, almost unanimously, which is a very rare thing, that we will not go. And I can tell you that many of our major allies, particularly those democratic countries who believe in freedom, will not go.
“I understand how you feel, and I thought about it a lot as we approached this moment, when I would have to stand here in front of fine young Americans and dedicated coaches, who have labored sometimes for more than 10 years ... to become among the finest athletes in the world, knowing what the Olympics mean to you, to know that you would be disappointed. It’s not a pleasant time for me.” Carter added.
Eighty nations were represented at the Moscow Games — the smallest number since 1956. The teams of 15 countries that did participate marched in the opening ceremony with the Olympic flag rather than their national flags; the Olympic flag and Olympic hymn were invoked at medal ceremonies whenever athletes from these countries won medals.
Canada, West Germany, and Japan joined the United States in boycotting the games. But Carter failed to persuade Britain, France, Greece and Australia to also observe the boycott. When an international coalition suggested that the boycotting nations send athletes to compete under a neutral Olympic banner, Carter threatened to revoke the passport of any U.S. athlete who attempted to do so. His decision affected not only athletes, but also corporate advertisers and broadcasters such as NBC.
The Soviet Union and 13 of its allies retaliated by boycotting the 1984 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. President Ronald Reagan — who had defeated Carter in 1980 and who was poised to win a second term in a landslide election — attended frequently.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE HOUSE HISTORIAN AND CLERK OF THE HOUSE OFFICE OF ART AND ARCHIVES; WWW.HISTORY.COM