Word: boycotts
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Despite the U.S.-inspired boycott, the Olympics have generated plenty of news for the 5,500 foreign journalists on hand.* The International Olympic Committee met in Moscow's House of Unions for four days before the opening ceremonies, and members spent much of the time debating the boycott. The meetings also produced a flap over the American flag. I.O.C. officials want to run it up the pole at the Games' conclusion, as protocol dictates, to signify the U.S. as the site of the 1984 Olympiad. White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler last week sent the I.O.C. a letter objecting...
When Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in January urged Britain's athletes to boycott the Olympics, many of her countrymen found themselves torn between an urge to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and their desire to see Sebastian Coe bring home some gold. Coe, 23, is the world record holder at 800, 1,000 and 1,500 meters, and held the mile record as well until only two weeks ago. So intense was the public and press curiosity about whether he would join the majority of the 67-member British team in forgoing the trip to Moscow that...
...with another nonboycotting Brit, Steve Ovett, 24, who on July 1 shaved .2 second from Coe's mile record of 3 min. 49 sec. Hungry for an international sports success, most Britons seemed to support Coe's decision. Still, young "Seb" came under pressure from boycott backers to stay at home. He handled it with analytical detachment, as befits a scholar-athlete with a double bachelor of arts degree (he studied economics, social history and political science at Loughborough University). Asked by an interviewer if he cared at all about Afghanistan, Coe replied coolly: "I am absorbed...
...family's comfortable home in Sheffield, Coe spent hours discussing the boycott with his father (and trainer) Peter Coe, who owns a cutlery manufacturing firm. Said the elder Coe: "Often we would sit up until 1 in the morning, over countless cups of coffee, thrashing out the pros and cons." Ultimately, Seb Coe concluded that sports and politics should not be mixed. "It is a clash of two worlds," he declared. "Governments, politicians, are ruled by expediency. Athletes live in a world of natural...
...Some boycott supporters found the explanation a touch disingenuous. The thrill of competition, the glory of victory and the promise of lucrative endorsements must also have been powerful considerations. It was pointed out too that the Soviet press reported Coe's decision with great glee. Countered the middle-distance star: "I am not going to be used as a standard-bearer by people on either side of the debate...