Shunned for competing, Moscow 1980 Olympians welcomed home at last
The world was deep in the Cold War when the Soviet Union, due to host the Olympics in some seven months, invaded Afghanistan. US president Jimmy Carter announced America would boycott the Games, sending shockwaves around the world and prompting other nations to follow suit. In all, more than 45 countries withdrew in protest.
Then Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser called on the Australian Olympic Federation to join the boycott, despite continuing to trade with Soviet government. Although the AOF (now the Australian Olympic Committee) voted 6-5 to reject such a move, the Fraser government pressed on with a campaign that pressured athletes to make the decision themselves, offering individuals $6000 payments to stay home.
'How many lives is a medal worth?' Fraser asked at the time. 'How many people have to be killed by Soviet armies before we will have total unity in this country on whether or not to compete in Moscow?'
Some did stay home, finding the pressure all too much, while the entire hockey and equestrian teams withdrew. The 121 athletes remaining from the original team of 273 were effectively smuggled out of the country. 'We were like thieves trying to get away, not [even] allowed to tell our parents,' says Ford. 'We became political pawns in this game, and I think that weighed heavily because we didn't know what the game was.'
Ron McKeon, the swimmer and father of Australia's most decorated Olympian Emma McKeon, was 19 and contesting his first Olympics. 'A lot of us were kids, and trying to fathom and navigate our way through that was certainly difficult,' he recalls. 'People started to take sides politically. There were protests … it was confusing. But I think back and it was like, well, it would be un-Australian not to fight to go.'
Emma says her dad's Olympic experience was 'extremely different' from her own, and that she and siblings David and Kaitlin never heard the in-depth story about what happened – a deliberate move by Ron to keep his children's view of the Olympic movement positive.
'[I'm] very proud,' Emma said. 'We've always been inspired by the fact that he went to the Olympics and we wanted to do the same thing. It's something that's so special.'
The Australians returned home from Moscow with nine medals and Max Metzker, the team's flagbearer, likened the experience of being ostracised to that of returning Vietnam veterans.
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Ford joined fellow athletes Metzker and Peter Hadfield in lobbying for Wednesday's recognition in Canberra, which was attended by 50 Moscow Olympians, their families, team officials and coaches. For some, the past remained too painful even to go.
'The returning athletes were met at a nearby cold silence or cruel comments,' Albanese acknowledged. 'Today we fix that. Today, on the 45th anniversary, we recognise all that you have achieved and acknowledge all that you have overcome.
'Take pride in both. You are Olympians. You are Australians and you have earned your place in the history of the game and our nation. Welcome to parliament and welcome home.'
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