Why did so many countries skip the 1980 and 1984 Olympics?

In 1980 and 1984, each side of the Cold War kept its teams away from the other's Games. The United States led a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and more than 60 countries joined to varying degrees. Four years later, the Soviet Union and its allies stayed away from Los Angeles.

The 1980 story starts in December 1979, when Western governments discussed the idea at a NATO meeting after the invasion. The Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov called for a boycott in early January 1980, and President Carter joined the appeal, setting a deadline for Soviet withdrawal. Carter even proposed moving the Games permanently to Greece to avoid politicisation, but the IOC rejected it. The IOC opposed the boycott, arguing that the Games should remain independent of political disputes. It did not punish either side, and it allowed athletes from some boycotting countries to compete under the Olympic flag. Athletes from 16 countries competed without their national flags, and at medal ceremonies the Olympic flag and anthem replaced them. The boxer Muhammad Ali travelled to Tanzania, Nigeria and Senegal without success, but convinced Kenya to join.

For athletes, the cost was personal. The absence of top competitors changed event outcomes, and alternative competitions such as the Liberty Bell Classic could not match the Olympics' prestige. Swimmer Jesse Vassallo recalled telling Carter that in Moscow he would have won two golds and a silver.

In 1984 the Soviet Union announced on 8 May that it would not go to Los Angeles, citing security concerns and "anti-Soviet hysteria". Nineteen countries boycotted: fifteen from the Eastern Bloc led by the Soviets, and four non-aligned countries. They held their own Friendship Games, and 140 nations still took part in Los Angeles, a record at the time.