Australia’s Moscow Olympic athletes assembled in Canberra on Wednesday. Photo: Andrew McLaughlin.
More than 120 Australian athletes who competed in the Moscow Olympic Games have been formally recognised and welcomed home by the Australian Parliament, some 45 years after the event.
In 1980, at the height of the Cold War, the Moscow Olympic Games were boycotted by many countries, including the United States and Australia, because of the Soviet Union’s ongoing invasion of Afghanistan. Because of the boycott, athletes were forbidden from competing as sanctioned representatives of their sporting federations.
Many athletes chose to respect the boycott, including champion sprinter Raylene Boyle and swimmer Tracey Wickham. But despite fierce public and political opposition, 121 others refused to accept that sport and politics should be linked, and were supported by the Australian Olympic Federation to compete in Moscow under the neutral Olympic flag.
On Wednesday, about 50 Australian Olympians, officials, coaches and their families were formally acknowledged at the start of Question Time by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, and given a round of applause by all Members of Parliament and the public gallery.
Prior to Question Time, the members gathered at the front of Parliament House to reunite with their former teammates.
Canberra marathoner Robert ‘Deek’ de Castella was warmly welcomed by fellow athletes, as was Lisa Forrest, who at just 16 years of age was the captain of the women’s swim team in Moscow.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley told parliament that the athletes who competed in Moscow did Australia proud, but added her acknowledgement of those athletes who chose not to go.
“These are Australians who sacrificed much to become Olympic athletes,” she said.
“These are Australians who bore a personal cost for a principled decision – a decision to stand up against tyranny and stand up for democracy.
“The decision made by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to support the US-led boycott was the right one – and history has judged it so,” she added.
“That decision – correct as it was – takes nothing away from the Australians who did compete. They should not be personally attacked. They should never have been personally attacked.”
Australian Olympic Committee President Ian Chesterman said the parliamentary recognition acknowledges the courage and resilience of the Olympians who faced intense public pressure not to compete.
“In many ways, this recognition, from the floor of the Federal Parliament, [is] the welcome home celebration the athletes never got,” he said.
“Instead of the celebrations our Olympians normally arrive home to, they endured threats, feelings of shame, public condemnation, and arrived home to silence.
“Although it’s been 45 years in the making, I know how much today’s recognition will mean for the Olympians, coaches and officials, and how emotional it will be for many.”
The AOC said some of the athletes who competed were still traumatised by the treatment they received when they returned, and said swimmers Michelle Ford and Max Metzker, and decathlete Peter Hadfield have led the charge for formal acknowledgement while the organisation liaised with the Government and Opposition to support the recognition.
“We were preparing to represent our country at the Olympic Games, the world’s greatest sporting event, but instead of support, we were met with hostility and abuse,” said Michelle Ford, who turned 18 during the Games.
“We were branded traitors, vilified, shamed and ridiculed. I even received a death threat.
“When the time came to depart, we were forced to sneak out of the country to avoid media and protestors,” she added.
Max Metzker (front blue shirt) said some of the athletes who competed in Moscow still carry the mental scars from the vilification they were subjected to when they returned. Photos: Andrew McLaughlin.
Australian Olympic flag-bearer in Moscow Max Metzker said the mental toll was crippling.
“Our hope is that the recognition today helps heal those mental scars,” he said.
Peter Hadfield added, “While it has taken 45-years, and sadly a number of our teammates have passed, the fact that 50 Moscow Olympians, now in their 60s, 70s and even 80s, are coming to Canberra to hear the speeches from the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, tells you how much it means to us all.”
