Britannica Sources used in this answer

Why did the Soviet bloc boycott the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

A woman in a white pleated dress lights the Olympic torch from a large flame in a gold cauldron, with a crowd seated in the background at Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. — Olympic Games An actress playing the role of an Athenian high priestess lights the Olympic flame in Athens, October 31, 2017. The torch was later carried to Pyeongchang, South Korea, for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The Soviet bloc's boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games was a retaliatory action against the U.S.-led boycott of the Moscow 1980 Games.12

In 1980, the United States and approximately 60 other nations refused to participate in the Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When the Games returned to the United States four years later, the Soviet Union, along with other communist countries such as East Germany and Cuba, chose to stay away.3412

These nations officially cited concerns regarding the safety of their athletes, claiming that the United States provided a hostile and fiercely anticommunist environment. This boycott resulted in reduced competition in several events, particularly in track and field, gymnastics, and boxing, and led to an unbalanced distribution of medals, with the U.S. team benefiting significantly from the absence of their primary rivals.12