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By Marty Mulcahey - 28 years ago, American politicians halted the life's work of hundreds of patriotic athletes, crushing dreams and rendering years of intense training inconsequential. Among them were eleven boxers, whose futures were negatively impacted by not participating in the 1980 Summer Olympics.
On March 21st, 1980, the United States announced it would not participate in the Summer Olympics because of Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. There would be no "Miracle on Ice" (yes, American politicians had no moral objections to competing against Russians at the 1980 Winter Olympics hosted by America) for an American boxer against a formidable rival from Russia or Cuba. Imagine how the career of James Broad would have been boosted if he were to have upset legendary Cuban heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson.
The specter of the 1980 USA Olympic boxing team entered my mind again because of recent calls from human rights organizations to boycott this year’s Olympics in China. The cause - human rights in China and Tibet - is certainly worthy and impossible to argue against. However, the effectiveness of athletic boycotts, and the ensuing discourse over the reasons for the sporting prohibition are unclear. Did America's boycott of the Moscow Olympics, and Russia's ensuing withdrawal from the Los Angeles Olympics have any real world effect? If so, it is not apparent at first sight, since Russia did not have its beleaguered military retreat from Afghanistan until 1989. [details]
On March 21st, 1980, the United States announced it would not participate in the Summer Olympics because of Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. There would be no "Miracle on Ice" (yes, American politicians had no moral objections to competing against Russians at the 1980 Winter Olympics hosted by America) for an American boxer against a formidable rival from Russia or Cuba. Imagine how the career of James Broad would have been boosted if he were to have upset legendary Cuban heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson.
The specter of the 1980 USA Olympic boxing team entered my mind again because of recent calls from human rights organizations to boycott this year’s Olympics in China. The cause - human rights in China and Tibet - is certainly worthy and impossible to argue against. However, the effectiveness of athletic boycotts, and the ensuing discourse over the reasons for the sporting prohibition are unclear. Did America's boycott of the Moscow Olympics, and Russia's ensuing withdrawal from the Los Angeles Olympics have any real world effect? If so, it is not apparent at first sight, since Russia did not have its beleaguered military retreat from Afghanistan until 1989. [details]
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