The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow

I was in high school (or rather on my summer break) when the 1980 Olympics took place in Moscow. Unfortunately, Brezhnev had invaded Afghanistan several months earlier and President Carter (along with 61 other nations) wanted painful consequences - a boycott- to follow. In return, the Soviets boycotted the LA Olympics in 1984 (though it perhaps backfired, with many more American athletes winning olympic medals).

Feature: The Moscow Olympics are featured in this photo gallery found at the IOC website (scroll down to bottom)

Other athletic competition pics. Finally, really cool old postcards relating to the 1980 Olympics says alot about how the Soviet Union viewed itself. Also, 1980 Olympic gold coins (depicting the Lenin Stadium) and Olympic posters (Misha, the 1980 Olympic mascot pictured, is still a very popular teddy bear).

Some British athletes went anyway, Canada's CBC News broadcast that the CBC would abandon plans for televising the Moscow Olympics. I was unaware that President Carter was trying to move the 1980 summer Olympics to the Ivory Coast.

Today, others would like to boycott the 2008 Olympics taking place in Beijing, China

Amazon Recommendation:The Political Olympics : Moscow, Afghanistan, and the 1980 U.S. Boycott