Defiant Olympians honoured decades after Moscow boycott
About 50 members of the 1980 Australian Olympic team will be recognised by the prime minister and opposition leader in Parliament House on Wednesday, more than four decades after defying public pressure and taking part on the controversial Moscow Games.
Contemporary athletes including triple Olympic champion Jessica Fox and Australia's most decorated Olympian Emma McKeon will also attend, with the latter supporting her father Ron McKeon, who swam in the Moscow event.
The boycott, which was the largest in Olympic history, was a protest against the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970s.
Though many countries, including the United States, Japan and West Germany took part in a full boycott, Australia opted to support the action but allowed athletes to make the final call over whether they would participate.
Many faced intense pressure from the government and commentators to snub the games, and only 121 out of the 204 possible athletes ended up attending.
The Australian Olympic team's website states it was a "sad time, with the onus on young athletes to do the dirty work of politicians".
Those in attendance did not march behind Australia's national flag in the opening ceremony, with athletics competitor Denise Boyd and swimmer Max Metzker instead carrying the Olympic flag.
Australia won nine medals in Moscow: two gold, two silver and five bronze.
In total, more than 45 countries boycotted the games while 80 competed.
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