Olympics and the Politics

Olympics were always full of political tiffs -

1936, Berlin
The 1936 Olympic Games were intentionally awarded to Germany so the republic could show that it had regained its status among European countries. With the Nazis in power, however, Adolf Hitler used the event as a platform to prove his theory of racial superiority. His attempt failed as African-American Jesse Owens became the hero of the Games winning four gold medals.
During the long jump competition, Owens' German rival, Luz Long, publicly befriended him in front of the Nazis. Luz Long was killed during WWII, but Owens kept in touch with his family for long after the war.

1948, London
Following world war two, the Olympics took on a greater political significance as participation came to symbolise political recognition and legitimacy. Germany and Japan were not invited to London because of their war-time roles, while the Soviet Union was invited but did not show up. To limit Britain's responsibility to feed the athletes, it was agreed that the participants would bring their own food. No new facilities were built, but Wembley stadium had survived the war and proved adequate. The male athletes were housed in an army camp in Uxbridge and the women housed at Southlands College in domitories.
The 1948 London Games were the first to be shown on television, although very few people in Great Britain yet owned sets. Though there had been much debate as to whether or not to hold the 1948 Olympic Games, they turned out to be great popular success. Approximately 4,000 athletes participated, representing 59 countries.

1952, Helsinki
The Helsinki Games marked the beginning of Cold war tensions. West Germany participated for the first time, and the USSR returned to the Olympics after a 40-year absence. The USSR initially planned to house its athletes in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) and fly them into Finland each day. In the end, separate housing facilities for Eastern bloc athletes were set aside.

Following world war two, the Olympics took on a greater political significance as participation came to symbolise political recognition and legitimacy. Germany and Japan were not invited to London because of their war-time roles, while the Soviet Union was invited but did not show up. To limit Britain's responsibility to feed the athletes, it was agreed that the participants would bring their own food. No new facilities were built, but Wembley stadium had survived the war and proved adequate. The male athletes were housed in an army camp in Uxbridge and the women housed at Southlands College in domitories.

1956, Melbourne
Three separate protests affected the Melbourne Games. China withdrew after the International Olympic Commission recognised Taiwan, and would not return to the Olympics before 1980. Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon sat out to protest at Israel's invasion of the Sinai Peninsula, while Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands boycotted over the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
The conflict between USSR and Hungary was brought on-stage when they faced each other for the water-polo semi-final. The game was terminated by the referee after a fierce exchange of kicks and punches. Hungary who was leading at the time, was credited with a victory.

1960, Rome
The Rome Games marked the end of South African participation in the Olympic Games. Its racist apartheid regime meant the country was excluded until the 1992 Barcelona Games. At the 1960 Olympics, marathon-runner Abebe Bikila, running barefoot, became the first black African Olympic champion. Free of other major political disruptions, the Rome Games became a showcase for Italy, attracting a record 5348 athletes from 83 countries.

1964, Tokyo
The first Asian country to host the Olympics, Tokyo spent $3bn rebuilding the city to show off its post-war success. The Yoshinori Sakai was chosen as the final torchbearer, who was born on the day that Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb.

1968, Mexico City
1968 was a year of universal unrest: Europe was rocked by student protests, the Vietnam war raged on, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated and the USSR invaded Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile at the Olympics, East Germany competed separately for the first time. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who finished first and third in the 200 metres, gave the Black Power salute during the national anthem as a protest against racism in the US.

1972, Munich
The largest Games yet staged, the 1972 Olympics were supposed to represent peace. But the Munich Games are most often remembered for the terrorist attack that resulted in the death of 11 Israeli athletes. With five days of the Games to go, 8 Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village, killing two Israelis and taking nine others hostage. The Palestinians demanded the release of 200 prisoners from Israel. In an ensuing battle, all nine Israeli hostages were killed, as were five of the terrorists and one policeman. IOC president Avery Arundage took the decision to continue the Games after a 34-hour suspension

1976, Montreal
Around 30 African nations staged a last-minute boycott after the IOC allowed New Zealand to compete. New Zealand's rugby team had recently played in the racially segregated South Africa, who had been banned from the Olympics since 1964. Taiwan withdrew when Communist China pressured the host country (and trading partner) to deny the Taiwanese the right to compete.

1980, Moscow
Over 60 nations including West Germany and Japan boycotted the Moscow Games to protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The American-led boycott reduced the number of participating nations from 120 to 81, the lowest number since 1956. Countries such as Britain and France supported the boycott, but allowed their Olympic committees to participate if they wished. Probably due to a lack of competition, the Moscow Games became the most successful for the British athletes, who finished ninth overall.

1984, Los Angeles
Following the western boycott of the 1980 Games, the USSR led a boycott of the US-staged event by 14 socialist nations. The absentees claimed the Los Angeles Olympic Committee was violating the spirit of the Olympics by using the Games to generate commercial profits.

1988, Seoul
For the first time since the Munich Games, there was no organized boycott of the Summer Olympics. Though North Korea stayed away from the Olympics, joined by Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Cuba.