U.S. Olympic Committee Chiarman spokesman Darryl Seibel said, in reference to Olympic boycotts staged in 1956, 1976, 1980 and 1984, that, “as has been demonstrated in the past, boycotts accomplish absolutely nothing other than to unfairly penalize athletes who have spent decades preparing for that moment.”[1]
Kevin B. Blackistone. “U.S. should boycott Beijing Olympics”. The Politico. June 18, 2007 – “It is true that we’ve walked this road to boycott before and it led to nowhere. President Jimmy Carter infamously pressured the United States Olympic Committee to stay home from the 1980 Moscow Games in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviets reacted by escalating their occupation of Afghanistan and, in a tit for tat, boycotted the Los Angeles Summer Games four years later.
The only losers, critics said, were the athletes who lost what may have been their only chance to play the Olympics. As a result, critics said, and athletes concurred, Olympians should never be used again for political leverage.”
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