There has always been some element of politics in the Olympic movement. This became especially noticeable at the time of aggravation of relations between the leading world powers - the USSR and the USA. One of the episodes that clearly characterize the impact of political differences on sport was the boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
The holding of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow coincided with the peak of the confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States in the so-called Cold War. The main reason for boycotting the Games is often cited as the introduction of a limited contingent of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. However, this political decision of the USSR leadership became only a convenient pretext for boycotting the Olympics, which played into the hands of the principal opponents of the main sporting event of the year being held in Moscow.
The idea of boycotting the Games in Moscow was born at a meeting of the leaders of NATO countries in early January 1980. The protest was initiated by representatives of the UK, USA and Canada. But even before the decision to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan, the West was seriously discussing the issue of boycotting the Olympics in protest against the persecution of dissidents in the Soviet Union.
In total, the Olympics in Moscow were boycotted by the Olympic committees of more than sixty countries. These included the USA, Japan, Germany, Canada, Turkey, South Korea, whose athletes have traditionally always been strong and constituted the main competition for Soviet athletes. Some athletes from France, Great Britain and Greece arrived at the 1980 Olympics individually, and Qatar, Iran and Mozambique were not included in the Olympic Committee's bid at all.
At the solemn ceremonies in honor of the opening and closing of the Olympic Games, teams from some countries marched not under the flags of their powers, but under the flags of the International Olympic Committee. These included Australia, Andorra, Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, San Marino, Ireland. When the Olympic medals were presented to the athletes of these countries, not national anthems were heard, but the official Olympic anthem. Of all the countries of Western Europe, only teams from Greece, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Malta performed under their national flags.
Despite the boycott by such a large number of states, Moscow received athletes from 81 countries of the world. During the sports battles, the participants of the Moscow Olympiad set more than 70 Olympic records, 36 world and 39 European ones. In total, these achievements exceeded the results of the previous Olympics, held in Montreal in 1976.
