The Olympics in adversity

With the 2020 Games postponed a year by the coronavirus pandemic, Pippa Roome looks back on other Olympics that have been affected by world events, from wars and boycotts to terrorism

THE Tokyo Olympics, pushed back a year by Covid-19, is the first to be postponed in the history of the modern Games, but several other Olympics have been affected by wider world events.

Forty years ago, some 50 nations followed the US lead to boycott the Moscow Games in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The equestrian events drew riders from just 11 countries and “alternative Olympics” in all three disciplines had a much stronger field than the real Games.

Italy’s Federico Roman took the individual eventing gold and team silver in Moscow.

“There were fewer competitors than normal, but it was tough psychologically,” says Federico, who was also ninth at the fully attended 1976 Games. “For the last month and a half before the Games, we needed to prepare ourselves and our horses for competition, but we were surrounded by the political problem.

“Our government said no to participation, but the Olympic committee said yes, but our federation said no. The Olympic committee said the federation had to let the athletes decide and they said we could go – but without our horses as they belonged to the federation. But the Olympic committee said the horses had been bought with money given by them.

“The federation didn’t help with anything and I became the chef d’équipe as well as a rider because I was the oldest. In the end, it was fun and we were lucky we were able to go and have this result.”

Federico’s mount was his partner of only a year or so, the eight-year-old Rossinian.