With our people in Paris 2024: Boycott of the Olympic Games Moscow 1980

Special sports program on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. teleSUR

Transcript

00:00The Soviet Union in 1979 had sent troops to Afghanistan in support of the government installed

00:08there.

00:09President Jimmy Carter was seeking re-election in his campaign against the Republican Ronald

00:14Reagan and placed his ship on Afghanistan.

00:17The US government gave the then Soviet Union a one-month ultimatum to withdraw its troops.

00:23The USSR did not respond in the affirmative way and the United States declined the invitation

00:29and pushed for a boycott of the Moscow Olympics.

00:33International Sports Federation protested the US pressure.

00:36They argued that the victims would end up being the athletes themselves.

00:40US hypocrisy overlooked its military intervention.

00:44After World War II, US troops invaded Guatemala in 1954, Cuba in 1961, and the Dominican Republic

00:52in 1965, as well as supporting all South American dictatorship during the so-called Condor Plan.

00:59However, 66 countries serving Washington dictates joined the boycott.

01:04The US president threatened to revoke the passport of any of his athletes who tried

01:09to reach Moscow.

01:10In some of the allied countries, those who disobeyed government orders and decided to

01:15attend marched without their national flag and competed under the Olympic banner.

01:20When they won gold, the notes of the Olympic hymn were played.

01:24Nearly 1,000 athletes participated, representing 81 countries out of the 143 recognized by

01:32the International Olympic Committee at the time.

01:34The mayor of Montreal, the previous host city, Jean Dupreux, was unable to attend the inauguration.

01:41Although tainted by the political decision and by the absence of outstanding athletes,

01:46the game went off with a major setback.

01:49Many disciplines had their best exponents, and 36 world records, 74 Olympic records,

01:56and hundreds of continental and national records were broken.

02:00The closing ceremony at Lenin Stadium changed Olympic history forever in front of more than

02:06100,000 people.

02:08Instead of flying the American flag, an insignia of the city of Los Angeles was ready to start

02:14the road to the 1984 Games.

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