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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Luca Ittimani

Australia’s 1980 Moscow Olympians were ‘labeled as traitors’. Now they’re finally being recognised

Australia United States Moscow Anthony Albanese AOC Malcolm Fraser Soviet Union Afghanistan
The crowd forms a picture of Vladimir Lenin during the Opening ceremony of the 1980 summer Olympic Games in Moscow.
The crowd forms a picture of Vladimir Lenin during the Opening ceremony of the 1980 summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Photograph: Tony Duffy/Getty Images

Australian Olympians who were called traitors and faced death threats will be recognised by the prime minister, 45 years after they defied the government and competed in the controversial 1980 Moscow Games.

The team of 96 men and 25 women went to the Soviet Union-hosted Games in the face of the Australian government’s support for a US-led boycott over the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

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