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In the summer of 1936 a bit before HItler gained power, Hitler made it so that only Aryan athletes can compete for Germany. In response The U.S. played an African American athlete who cam home with some Gold.
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No Olympics during WWII
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Germany and Japan were not invited to London because of their war-time roles, while the Soviet Union was invited but did not show up. It was the first Olympic games to be shown on television.
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Marked the begining of the Cold war Tensions and Germany
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These Olympic games were the first to ever be hosted in an Asian country. The torch runner was a man who was born on the day Hiroshima was bombed!
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1968 was a busy year: Europe was full of student protests, the Vietnam war was going on, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. At the Olympics, East Germany competed separately for the first time. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who finished first and third in the 200 metres, gave the Black Power salute during the national anthem as a protest against racism in the US.
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The Munich Games were meant to represent peace, but are most often remembered for the terrorist attack that resulted in the death of 11 Israeli athletes.
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With an American led boycot the number of nations competing in the games went down from 120 to 80.
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This was one of few Olympic games where there was no organized boycot lead by any country!
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1st games to allow South Africa to compete since their 32 year ban.
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The Olympics return to their Greek home of origin Athens!
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The games in Beijing were a big deal because many countries thought that having the games there would give support to the oppressive regime.
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Russia had recently made laws against gays and it has sprung up a number of resonses. For example the U.S. played 3 gay athletes!
