The Boycotts That Reshaped the Olympics

Political fights have repeatedly emptied the field. In 1976 more than twenty African nations stayed home from Montreal over a New Zealand rugby tour of apartheid South Africa.

Moscow 1980 lost dozens of delegations led by the United States after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and Los Angeles 1984 lost the Soviet bloc in reply, with Romania defying the boycott to attend. Since Seoul 1988 every invited committee has eventually taken part, a streak the IOC guards carefully, though neutral athlete statuses in recent Games keep the politics alive..