Safety reasons were the declared reason for the boycott of the Soviet Union and 13 other communist countries. Preparations to the Olympics were on their way, but unexpected change of Soviet leader resulted in the boycott. However, evidence proves that there was no decision concerning communist boycott of Los Angeles Olympics until a few months before the Games. It is widely recognized, that Los Angeles Olympics were boycotted as a result of a similar action by Western countries towards Moscow Olympics in 1980. The subject of the article is the boycott of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, one of the most spectacular boycotts, which was conducted by communist countries. Sports boycott is one of the most important dimension of sport colliding with politics. Without entering into deep detail, the present essay provides a holistic overview of political conflict in the Olympic Games. In the present essay, we qualitatively study press articles and existing bibliography to analyse the fronts of conflict and protests since the beginning of the modern Olympic Games, to try to understand why they have been such arenas for contention, in what ways this conflict has materialized within the functioning of the Games, and around what topics and societal cleavages these confrontations have arisen.
In fact, the Olympic Games are the perfect context in which to understand the reflection of the real, social and political reality of the time, and, in many ways, they present a metaphor on the society within which they are celebrated. Specifically, from their creation in the 8th century before Christ until today, the Olympic Games have been the site of increasingly visible protests and demonstrations by a wide array of international actors.
Unluckily, in many occasions, international sport gatherings have produced boycotts, bans and even terrorist attacks, proving how sport has been linked to politics since its origin. “When the world gathers, there is always a chance for political change”1.
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