Politics in the Olympics
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The Olympic Games were created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin for two reasons:
1) A way for the countries of the globe to become more connected.
2) It was a reason for men to become more "vigoureux" or vigorous. (This was in answer to the Franco-Prussian War in which Germany defeated France)
However in the years to come this began to change. In 1900 the Olympics became a great honor for countries who partook.
1936
The 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, were the first games in which politics had a major role. They were Hitler's Olympics and he took them as a chance to show off the new Germany after WWI. Hitler also wanted to put forward his view of the Aryan race as being the best in every aspect, he viewed black people to be so far below the Aryans they could not possibly stand a chance. Unfortunately for him, US athletes like Jesse Owens proved otherwise. boner
1956
The 1956 Summer Olympics, held in Melbourne, were affected by numerous boycotts. Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon boycotted in protest of the Israeli invasion of Egypt. The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland boycotted in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Budapest, Hungary.
1968
The 1968 Summer Olympics were held in Mexico City. At these games Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gold and bronze medalists, gave the black power salute during the Star Spangled Banner. This led to the two athletes being expelled from the games because their action was against the principles of the Olympic Games. See 1968 Olympics Black Power Salute
Students in Mexico City tried to make use of the media attention for their country to protest against the authoritarian character of the Mexican government. The Mexican government reacted with violence, culminating in the Tlatelolco Massacre of October 2 in which more than two hundred protesters were gunned down by government forces.
1972
The 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich Germany were probably the most negatively affected games. Eleven Israeli athletes were kidnapped and ultimately killed by Palestinian terrorists. The terrorists demands was the release of 234 Palestinians.
See Munich Massacre
1976
Held in Montreal, the 1976 Summer Olympics were marred with more boycotts as well as drug allegations against the East Germans. The boycotts were held out by 26 African countries because New Zealand's rugby team toured South Africa.
Another political note is that Taiwan was not allowed to compete because Canada would not recognize them as the Republic of China.
1980
Moscow's 1980 Summer Olympics was the year of the largest boycott in Olympic history. The boycott included the USA and 61 other countries in response to the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan. The 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York stirred controversy because of plans to convert the Olympic athletes' dormitory facilities into a state prison afterwards. This made legal history when the National Moratorium on Prison Construction won a court ruling allowing its use of the Olympic symbol on a poster as protected speech.
1984
Solely in retaliation of the 1980 boycott, the USSR, East Germany, Cuba and 14 other countries boycotted the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics.
This was also the first year the People's Republic of China participated, having protest the Republic of China's presence in previous Olympics.
2008
Since the beginning of 2008, especially during the torch relay of 2008 Olympic Games, the prospect of boycotting has grown. The protesters' aims are not only the human rights of China Mainland, but also the independent campaign and violence of Tibet. US president George W Bush has committed to attending the opening ceremonies, but many countries are in a tenuous relationship due to protests of the relay. However, none of the countries have yet to announce boycotts of the games.