Sports Showdown: 11 Politically Charged Olympic Games

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1984 Summer Olympics – Los Angeles, USA

1984 Summer Olympics - Los Angeles

The Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif., where part of the 1984 Summer Olympics. (Image credit: Christian de Araujo | Shutterstock)

The 1984 Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles, Calif., but the Soviet Union and 14 of its allies sat out the event. The countries cited security concerns for their lack of participation, but the move was largely seen as retaliation for the U.S.-led boycott against the Olympics in Moscow four years earlier.

Denise Chow
Denise Chow
Live Science Contributor

Denise Chow was the assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. Before joining the Live Science team in 2013, she spent two years as a staff writer for Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University.