Czechoslovakia and the Boycott of Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984

Abstract This article aims to explain the history of the Czechoslovak decision to boycott the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles against the broader background of the social and political role of sport in Czechoslovakia during the normalization period, that is, in the 1970s and 1980s. Based on an assessment of relevant archival documents, press from the period, and memoirs, this article reconstructs and analyzes the decision to join the boycott—and concludes that sports organizations and institutions in Czechoslovakia were operating, to some degree, autonomously and perhaps authentically; however, once the leadership of the Communist Party took a political decision, they fell in line implicitly, even in cases when such an action completely contravened their own interests. The same applied to the relationship between the political leadership of the country and the Soviet Union.