The boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles was a follow-up to the
U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The boycott involved
14 Eastern Bloc countries and allies, led by the Soviet Union, which initiated
the boycott on May 8, 1984. The boycott affected a large number of Olympic
events that were normally dominated by the absent countries. Boycotting
countries organized another major event, called the Friendship Games, in July and
August of 1984. Announcement of boycott
The USSR announced its intentions to boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics on May
8, 1984, citing security concerns and stating that “chauvinistic sentiments
and an anti-Soviet hysteria [were] being whipped up in the United States.” A US
official said the country had ignored suggestive comments by the Soviets in
the weeks building up to the announcement and that, in spite of all
the indications, the United States was “absolutely dumbfounded” when the
official announcement arrived. After the announcement, six more nations
joined the boycott, including Bulgaria, East Germany, Mongolia and Vietnam, and
Laos and Czechoslovakia. China formally confirmed that it would be present at
the games in Los Angeles, while the Laotians and Czechoslovaks announced
their decision to boycott the event. Later, Afghanistan also decided to
boycott the event, becoming the eighth country to boycott the 1984 Summer
Olympics. Even later, Hungary and Poland became the ninth and tenth Marxist
countries to join the boycott. Hungary claimed the lives of its athletes would
be put in danger if they were to spend time in Los Angeles. On the other hand,
Poland said that the United States was engaging in a “campaign aimed at
disturbing the Games”. On May 24, Cuba became the eleventh
country to announce its participation in the boycott, making front page news in
the United States because it was a “serious blow to boxing and baseball”.
South Yemen was the twelfth country to remove itself from the event; the Los
Angeles Times stated that this was due to their “Marxist” connections. North
Korea was the thirteenth nation to boycott the 1984 Olympics. Ethiopia
became the first African state to participate in the boycott, followed by
Angola. Iran had earlier decided to boycott the
1984 Summer Olympics because of “United States interference in the Middle East,
its support for the regime occupying Jerusalem, and the crimes being
committed by the U.S.A. in Latin America, especially in El Salvador”.
Iran and Albania were the only countries to not attend both the 1980 Moscow and
the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Libya also boycotted the Olympics after Libyan
journalists were refused entry into the United States in July, along with the
1983 ban upon US exports to Libya and a renewal of bans upon travel to Libya by
holders of US passports Libya and Ethiopia were the only nations to
boycott both the 1976 Montreal and 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Revenge hypothesis Jimmy Carter declared that the United
States would boycott the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, with 59 other countries
joining the boycott. This was the largest Olympic games boycott ever. In
1984, three months before the start of the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles,
the Soviet Union declared it would "not participate" in the 1984 games, due to
the commercialization of the games and lack of security for the athletes. 13
other countries joined in the boycott. Howard A. Tyner of the Chicago Tribune
said "Deep down, it was undoubtedly the hurt and embarrassment of 1980 that lies
behind the stunning Soviet decision Tuesday to pass up this year’s Summer
Olympic Games in Los Angeles." Most of the world’s media interpreted
the Soviet boycott as retaliation for the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games,
which had been in response to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, whereas
the state-controlled Soviet media repeated the government line that the
boycott was a safety measure to protect their own athletes. However, no threat
to Eastern Bloc athletes was ever discovered, and the athletes from the
Eastern Bloc country that did attend the 1984 games in Los
Angeles—Romania—encountered no problems, and in fact were widely cheered above
all other visiting nations at the Opening Ceremonies when they marched
into the Coliseum. Romania ended up finishing third in overall medal count
at the Games. Among those subscribing to the “revenge
hypothesis” was Peter Ueberroth, the chief organizer of the 1984 L.A. Games,
who expressed his views in a press conference after the boycott was
announced, on the same day that the Olympic torch relay in the United States
began in New York City. U.S. President Ronald Reagan later stated his belief
that the Soviets feared some of their athletes might defect. As well,
President Reagan and his administration agreed to meet all of the demands of the
Soviet Union in turn for the Soviet Bloc's attendance at the 1984 Olympics,
marking a stark contrast in Reagan’s “hawkish” views on Cold War foreign
policy. As more countries withdrew, the IOC announced on the deadline week that
it would consider extending the deadline for entry into the Olympics. The three
top medal winners from the 1980 Games in Moscow were among the boycotters, and
media analysis noted this would weaken the field of competitors in a number of
sports. Boycotting countries
Listed in the chronological order of their withdrawal, not by alphabetical or
any geographical order. 16 or 18 in all. Soviet Union
Bulgaria East Germany
Mongolia Vietnam
Laos Czechoslovakia
Afghanistan Hungary
Poland Cuba
South Yemen North Korea
Ethiopia Angola
Three others did not compete: Iran
Libya Albania
One was largely unrecognized and therefore not allowed to compete,
whether or not it wished to: Kampuchea
Non-boycotting socialist countries Seven socialist countries, four from
Africa, did not join the Soviet-led boycott and instead sent teams to the
1984 Summer Olympics. Romania was the only member of the
Warsaw Pact that did not boycott the Games. Its leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu,
was famous for openly opposing various policies of the Soviet Union.
Yugoslavia was a non-aligned country that acted independently of the Soviet
Union. Yugoslavia shared friendly relations with both the Soviet Union and
the United States, therefore it did not participate in either of the boycotts.
It had just hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics.
China was somewhat hostile towards the Soviet Union at the time, but had been
experiencing a cordial relationship with the United States. In 1980, China had
sent a team to the Winter Olympics in the United States, while boycotting the
Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union. The 1984 Olympics became the first Summer
Olympics since 1932 at which China participated.
Somalia had broken relations with the Soviet Union after the latter’s support
for Ethiopia in the Ethio-Somali War. People's Republic of the Congo
People's Republic of Benin People's Republic of Mozambique
In popular culture In the Season 4 episode, ‘Lisa's First
Word’, of the U.S. television show The Simpsons, Krusty Burger is featured in a
promotion where the characters get free food if they receive a slip that
features an event that was "won" by the United States. The promotion was rigged,
as was said in the episode, where every game card was to be in an event that
“Communists never lose”. However, almost immediately after that is said, word of
the boycott is spread and the rigging backfires. Krusty Burger loses so much
money on the promotion that Krusty publicly states that he will “personally
spit in every 50th burger”. The Krusty Burger promotion paralleled a
real-life McDonald's scratch-card promotion from the 1984 Olympics. The
promotion was called “If the US Wins, You Win!” and gave away Big Mac
hamburger sandwiches for every gold medal, fries for every silver medal, and
Coca-Cola beverages for every bronze. References
See also 1986 Asian Games