List of Olympic Games boycotts

The Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event.

South Africa were not invited to the 1964 Games, while its invitation to the 1968 Games was withdrawn after several other African countries threatened to boycott the Games due to apartheid. South Africa would not be permitted to return to the Olympics until 1992.

Rhodesia was also prevented from entering the 1972 Summer Olympics when its invitation was withdrawn by the International Olympic Committee following protests by other African countries.

Possibly the most famous Olympic boycotts occurred in 1980 and 1984, due to the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

In 2021, several nations announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics to protest against Chinese mistreatment of the Uyghur population, thus prohibiting many government officials from attending the games in an official capacity, while still permitting athletes to compete.^[1] Later, India joined the boycott over China's decision to choose Qi Fabao, a regimental commander in the People's Liberation Army, as a torchbearer for the event.^[2][3]

List of full boycotts of an Olympic Games or full non-attendance

Olympiad	Year	Host Country	Host City	Boycotting countries
				List	Map
XI	1936	Germany	Berlin	Ireland (IAAF ruling on ineligibility of Northern Ireland athletes)[4] Spain (Withdrew due to Spanish Civil War) Soviet Union
XVI	1956	Australia	Melbourne	Egypt Iraq Lebanon Netherlands Cambodia Spain Switzerland People's Republic of China
XVIII	1964	Japan	Tokyo	North Korea Indonesia People's Republic of China
XXI	1976	Canada	Montreal	Algeria Benin Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma Cameroon Central African Republic Chad PR Congo Egypt Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guyana Iraq Kenya Libya Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mali Morocco Niger Nigeria Republic of China Somalia Sri Lanka Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Upper Volta Zambia
XXII	1980	Soviet Union	Moscow	Albania (no reason given) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina The Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados British Honduras Bermuda Bolivia Canada Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Egypt El Salvador Fiji Gabon Gambia Ghana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Indonesia Iran Israel Ivory Coast Japan Kenya South Korea Liberia Liechtenstein Malawi Malaysia Mauritania Monaco Mauritius Morocco Netherlands Antilles Niger North Yemen Norway Pakistan Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Somalia Sudan Suriname Swaziland Chinese Taipei / Taiwan (protesting the Nagoya Resolution designating it as "Chinese Taipei") Thailand Togo Tunisia Turkey United Arab Emirates United States United States Virgin Islands Uruguay West Germany Zaire
XXIII	1984	United States	Los Angeles	Soviet Union Bulgaria East Germany Mongolia Vietnam Laos Czechoslovakia Afghanistan Hungary Poland Cuba South Yemen North Korea Ethiopia Angola Albania (no reason given) Iran Burkina Faso Libya
XXIV	1988	South Korea	Seoul	Ethiopia (did not respond to invitation) Nicaragua (financial) Madagascar (financial) Cuba Albania (did not respond to invitation) North Korea Seychelles (did not respond to invitation)

List of COVID-19 pandemic non-attendance of government officials or diplomatic boycotts of the Olympic Games

• Countries that due to COVID-19 concerns or diplomatic boycotts did not send official delegations to the Games, however athletes were permitted to participate.

Games	Year	Host Country	Host City	Boycotting countries
				List	Map
XXXII Olympic Summer Olympics	2020	Japan	Tokyo	North Korea (medical)[5]
XXIV Olympic Winter Games	2022	China	Beijing	Lithuania[6] United States[7] Australia[8] United Kingdom[9] Canada[10] Kosovo[11] Belgium[12] Estonia[13] Taiwan[14] Denmark[15] India[16]

Note: During the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Russia, due to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the violation of the Olympic Truce, the United States and United Kingdom diplomatically boycotted the event, and the entire Ukrainian delegation except for their flagbearer boycotted the opening ceremony.

References

1. "2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: Australia joins US diplomatic boycott". BBC News. 2021-12-08. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
2. "India announces diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics". The Hindu. 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
3. "India launches last-minute diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics over Chinese soldier".
4. • O'Sullivan, Patrick T. (Spring 1998). "Ireland & the Olympic Games". History Ireland. 6 (1). Dublin. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011.
   • Krüger, Arnd; William J. Murray (2003). The Nazi Olympics: sport, politics and appeasement in the 1930s. University of Illinois Press. p. 230. ISBN 0-252-02815-5.
5. "Tokyo Olympics: North Korea to skip Games over Covid-19 fears". BBC News. 2021-04-06. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
6. "Lithuania confirms diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics". ANI News. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
7. Allie Malloy and Kate Sullivan. "White House announces US diplomatic boycott of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing". CNN. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
8. "Australia joins diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics". ABC News. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
9. "UK 'effectively' plans a diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics, joining the United States, Australia and Lithuania". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
10. Tasker, John Paul (8 December 2021). "Trudeau announces diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics". CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
11. "Kosovo boycotts Beijing Winter Olympics". Alsat News. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
12. "Which Countries Are Boycotting China's Winter Olympics? Full List". Newsweek. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
13. "Estonian government officials in no mood to attend Beijing Olympics". Baltic News Network. 18 January 2022. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
14. "Taiwan to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics: source". taipeitimes.com. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
15. "Denmark to join diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics over human rights". Reuters. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
16. IndiaToday, Geeta Mohan 3rd Feb'22. "Indian diplomats to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics after China makes Galwan PLA soldier torchbearer". IndiaToday. Retrieved 3 February 2022.