27 years after Preisdent Jimmy Carter banned the 1980 US Olympic Team from competing in Moscow, they are now getting their so-called recognition, 27 years after the fact.
Too little, too late.
If I was an athlete, I would have been furious at the events of the last couple of days. Getting some sort of cheesy "gold" medal after being used as a pawn in a cat and mouse game with the Soviets wouldn't make up for the lost opportunities, both business and financial.
Who's fooling whom? And what brought this on all of a sudden?
The athletes of 1980 were innocent bystanders in a political crisis they had no control over. Why oh why 27 years later is our government trying to make it up to them when the right thing to do was to let them compete? Some who had dual citizenship were able to compete in other country's Olympic teams. Those folks had some measure of recourse. The Americans didn't.
Why the guilt all of a sudden? Wouldn't it be better just to admit we made a mistake and acnowledge the decisions made in 1980 were not in the best interests of the athletes, many of whom had been preparing for years for that one moment in the spotlight.
The Soviets were laughing---all the way to the bank. The Games that year made money, even without the presence of the big-name stars from the States.
How about if we as a nation insure by word and deed the right of an athlete to compete without interference from his/her government?
In fact, I could think of a lot of situations a "no interference" policy could apply to nowadays.
It sure would save us embarassment---and public scorn in the future.
