
Why Australians shunned these1980 Moscow Olympic athletes | ABC Radio National
Australia’s 1980 Moscow Olympics athletes were labelled “traitors”. Now they've finally been recognised.
When they came back from the Games, there was no fanfare, just "cold silence" due to the controversial Cold War boycott.
Now, 45 years later, the Prime Minister acknowledged the athletes in parliament and gave the welcome home they never had.
121 of the original 273 athletes made it to the 1980 Games after the Australian Olympic Federation voted against withdrawing.
Peter Hadfield and Michelle Ford were two of them. They told Radio National Breakfast the recognition was well received by the athletes, but for some, the scars run too deep.
“They were calling on us to do something that touched our years of training. Our dreams,” Michelle said.
Hear the interview on Radio National Breakfast on the ABC listen app: https://bit.ly/3HmRPN3
#RadioNational #MoscowOlympics #OlympicsBoycott1980
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When they came back from the Games, there was no fanfare, just "cold silence" due to the controversial Cold War boycott.
Now, 45 years later, the Prime Minister acknowledged the athletes in parliament and gave the welcome home they never had.
121 of the original 273 athletes made it to the 1980 Games after the Australian Olympic Federation voted against withdrawing.
Peter Hadfield and Michelle Ford were two of them. They told Radio National Breakfast the recognition was well received by the athletes, but for some, the scars run too deep.
“They were calling on us to do something that touched our years of training. Our dreams,” Michelle said.
Hear the interview on Radio National Breakfast on the ABC listen app: https://bit.ly/3HmRPN3
#RadioNational #MoscowOlympics #OlympicsBoycott1980
Subscribe: https://ab.co/3yqPOZ5
Welcome to ABC News In-depth, where you'll find our long-form journalism and other videos to help you understand what's going on in the world around you.
Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1
For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY
Get breaking news and livestreams from our ABC News channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NewsOnABC
Like ABC News on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au
Follow ABC News on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au
Follow ABC News on Twitter: http://twitter.com/abcnews
Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated.
#ABCNewsIndepth #ABCNewsAustralia
ABC News In-depth
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