White House

A Brief History of U.S. Presidents and the Olympics

Mitt Romney is not the only politician with an Olympic past. From Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama, the biennial games have been a fixture in politics. As the 2012 Summer Olympics kick off in London, TIME looks back at how America's Presidents have handled the world's premier sporting event.

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Jimmy Carter

By July 24, 2012
AP

Logo for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow overlaid with the word "Boycott."

President Jimmy Carter

Mark Wilson / AP

After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, President Carter called for a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to pressure the Soviets to pull out. It was a controversial decision. Fifty-five nations joined the boycott, leaving only 80 to compete in the Games, the lowest number of participating countries since 1956. Bert Shaw, head of the U.S. water polo national governing body, said that athletes were being held as “political hostages,” comparing them to the American embassy officials who were held hostage in Tehran. The Soviets’ war in Afghanistan continued, but there was some good news for Carter that year: the U.S. hockey team beat the Soviets 4-3 in a “Miracle on Ice” at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid on February 22, 1980.

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