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On an episode of The Simpsons, for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles Krusty the Clown did a promotion that promised a free Krusty Burger when America won a gold medal in an event revealed on a scratch card. It was rigged because all the events were ones that “Communists never lose.” But then the Soviet Union and 14 Eastern Bloc countries and allies decided not to play.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: July 28, 1984--
“You people are pigs!” Krusty wailed, promising to spit in every 50th burger as he lost millions on the promotion. It was biting satire, because it’s pretty much exactly what happened to McDonald’s with its catastrophic 1984 Summer Olympics promotion. But the makers of Big Macs weren't the only ones who lost out. The roots of the Olympic boycott began four years earlier, when President Jimmy Carter broke the hearts of American athletes by refusing to allow Team USA to participate in the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.
It was done for what can be considered good reasons: to protest the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Dozens of countries joined the 1980 boycott, including Canada, West Germany, Japan, China, Chile, and Argentina. Muhammad Ali traveled to Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania to convince those countries to boycott the games.
In 1984, with the hawkish Ronald Reagan now occupying the Oval Office, the Soviets decided it was payback time. There weren’t any legitimate security concerns, but that’s what the Soviets said was the reason for not attending, along with “anti-Soviet hysteria.” However, most of the world saw the 1984 boycott for what it was: retaliation for 1980. Reagan tried to be accommodating to get the Soviets and Eastern Bloc to attend, but to no avail. The Games opened on July 28, 1984, with some of the most competitive (and often pharmaceutically enhanced) athletes in the world sitting it out.
My personal perspective is based on thinking that watching sports is boring as fuck. Unless it’s the Olympic Games. I love them. I’ve also interviewed several Olympic champions and have special insight into the life-controlling obsession and dedication it takes to reach an absolute physical peak for such a short period of time every four years. For many athletes, east and west, 1980 and 1984 represented their one and only shot at a medal, and politics ruined that.
Politics ruins a lot of things. At least the reasoning behind delaying the 2020 Games was based on protecting people from a global pandemic.
Get the book ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY SH!T WENT DOWN.
LOVE your stuff. Your book is great too!
When/if you have the time and desire -- the "received wisdom" I was taught in elementary school is that the original Olympics in ancient Greece were unmarred by politics. As in, they declared breaks in hostilities in wars to allow the games to proceed. Is this true?