Emma McKeon and other Aussie olympic greats left in angry silence

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Emma McKeon was among the Aussie Olympic legends who were left visibly dismayed by a speech by Federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. The athletes had gathered at Parliament House in Canberra to see 121 members of Australia's 1980 Olympic team finally get formally welcomed home.
They were denied such a welcome after they defied calls to boycott the Moscow Games due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. While Anthony Albanese's speech praising the team was warmly received, Ley's effort appeared to have the opposite effect.
Though she acknowledged the athletes in the chamber and said they should not have been subject to personal attacks, she also gave credit to those who abided by the boycott including sprinter Raelene Boyle and swimmer Tracey Wickham. 'For many Afghan Australians who emigrated here and are now part of our Australian family ... this boycott mattered,' she told the House of Representatives. 'The decision made by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to support the US-led boycott was the right one - and history has judged it so. That decision - correct as it was - takes nothing away from the Australians who did compete.'
The Olympians sitting in the public gallery greeted her words with stony faces, with some gasping during parts of the address. None applauded at its conclusion, and many of the team members told News Corp they were 'furious' over Ley's 'tone-deaf' remarks and accused her of politicising the event.
Ron McKeon, the father of retired swimming superstar and Australia's most decorated Olympian, Emma, was one of the 1980 competitors. Emma said she had been inspired by her dad, also a swimmer, and wanted to attend Thursday's ceremony to belatedly honour his Olympic participation. 'Dad coached me growing up but never really spoke much about his Olympic experiences,' Emma McKeon said. 'I couldn't imagine going through that - not having the ongoing support of the country - it would have been a huge struggle. I'm so proud of him.'
The boycott was the largest in Olympic history, with 45 countries pulling out of the Games as part of the long-running Cold War, leaving just 80 to compete. Though many countries, including the United States, Japan and West Germany took part in a full boycott, Australia supported the boycott in principle but allowed athletes to make up their own mind on whether to participate.
Many of the young sports stars were angry at copping backlash for defying the government's stance, even while the then Liberal government continued to trade with the Soviet Union. After most Olympic Games, Australia has celebrated its triumphs and welcomed its athletes back with open arms.
Albanese acknowledged their participation and their pain in his speech. 'When you choose to wear the green and gold, you should draw strength from knowing that the whole nation is with you,' he told parliament. 'Yet the returning athletes were met only by cold silence or cruel comments. Today, we fix that... you have earned your place in the history of the game and our nation.'
Decathlete Peter Hadfield was subjected to death threats and being spat on after he chose to compete in Moscow. He had previously won the Australian championship in 1976 but was not selected for that year's Olympics in Montreal. 'When the boycott was called in 1980, it looked like I was going to miss out on my second Olympics in a row,' he said. 'I was offered a bribe of almost my entire yearly salary not to go. There was death threats, we were called 'traitors' in the media, family members were spat on.'