8 Times Countries Were Banned from the Olympics

1920 Summer Olympics Turns out that starting a world war is a good way to find yourself ostracized from society. The 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium were a celebratory return to normality following the unending nightmare that was World War I. The 1916 games didn’t take place on account of the war, which finally concluded in November of 1918. Pain and resentment still lingered, and as a result, those that made up the Central Empire were not invited to compete in the Antwerp games. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire were all banned from the games as the Quadruple Alliance was deemed responsible for igniting the war. In fact, Germany was banned until 1928, so they hosted their own Olympics called the German Combat Games in response.

2000 Summer Olympics To mark the Games of the New Millennium, the Summer Olympics were taken to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time since 1956. 199 nations competed in 300 events. It would have been a nice, round 200 if Afghanistan was included, but alas, that was not the case. The country was banned from Sydney, and they were the only member of the International Olympic Committee not to appear at the games. They were vehemently rejected over the Taliban’s totalitarianism, which ran from 1996 to 2001. The country oppressed women and forbade the playing of sports, so, naturally, they were not invited to compete in the world’s biggest sporting event.

#6: India

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2014 Winter Olympics Back in 2012, the Indian Olympic Association was suspended by the International Olympic Committee due to corruption. Its Secretary General, Lalit Bhanot, was allegedly involved with the 2010 Commonwealth Games controversies. As a result, India was banned from competing under its flag at the Olympics. Indian athletes were permitted to play in the 2014 Sochi games, but they were forced to compete as Independent Olympic Participants. Three athletes competed at the games and flew under the Olympic flag during the opening ceremony. However, the IOA’s suspension was lifted in the middle of the games following the election of a new president of the Indian Olympic Association. As such, the Indian athletes were permitted to compete under India, and one of the participants was even allowed to bear his country’s flag at the closing ceremony.

2016 Summer Olympics Rio 2016 was the first Olympics to be held in South America, and it saw the introduction of Kosovo and South Sudan. What it didn’t see was the inclusion of Kuwait. Kuwait was originally prohibited from competing in 2010 but allowed to participate in the 2012 London games. However, their relationship with the IOC collapsed owing to political interference within the country’s sports organizations. Kuwait was again banned from competing, and it did not appear at the 2016 Rio games. However, Kuwaiti athletes were allowed to compete as independents. This actually resulted in history being made, as target shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani won gold in men’s double trap, making him the first independent to win a gold medal.

#4: South Africa

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1964-88 For over 40 years, South Africa was plagued by Apartheid. This was a system of institutionalized racism that gave the minority white population complete control over the country. To boycott this system, virtually every sporting organization banned South Africa from competing. This included the International Olympic Committee, whereby South Africa wasn’t invited to participate in the Olympics between 1964 to 1988. It was finally allowed to compete upon the dissolution of Apartheid in March of 1992. The country returned to the Olympics for the 1992 Barcelona games. 93 athletes competed and won two silver medals. Elana Meyer won for Women's 10,000m, and Wayne Ferreira and Piet Norval won for Men's Doubles tennis.

1972 Summer Olympics The Munich 1972 games are largely remembered for the Munich massacre, in which a group of Palestinian militiants killed members of the Israeli team and a West German cop. But there was drama before the games even started, and that was with the ban of Rhodesia. Various African nations were threatening to boycott the games if Rhodesia - which they considered an illegal regime - was allowed to play. With just four days left before the games commenced, the IOC buckled to political pressure and banned Rhodesia from competing. This, despite the country having sent 44 athletes to Munich. They were all banned from participating, but they were permitted to remain in the country to watch.

#2: Russia

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2016- Russia currently holds the record for most Olympic medals stripped, with 43. This is the result of the infamous doping scandal, which saw Russian state officials giving steroids to its athletes. As many sporting organizations have anti-doping legislations, the Russian Federation has been banned from virtually every big sporting event since the scandal was uncovered. This includes the Olympics, and Russia hasn’t competed as a country since 2016. In the 2018 games, Russian athletes were permitted to compete as the Olympic Athletes from Russia. In 2022, they will play as Russian Olympic Committee athletes, just as they had at the ​​2020 Summer Olympics, which took place in Tokyo in 2021.

#1: Germany & Japan

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1948 Winter & Summer Olympics Just as the 1920 Summer Olympics barred the countries blamed for starting the war, so too did the 1948 Games. This year actually saw dual Winter and Summer games, taking place in Switzerland and London, respectively. These were the first Olympics in 12 years, since World War II had raged between 1939 and 1945. Understandably, these games were tinged with a tense political atmosphere. Both Germany and Japan were banned from the games, with Bulgaria added to the list for the Summer Olympics, where German POWs were actually forced to help build the London facilities. Their ban didn’t last nearly as long as it did following World War I, as both countries returned for the Oslo 1952 games.