With the exception of Romania, the entire Eastern bloc and Cuba joined the boycott – 14 countries in all.
Although a record 140 nations did turn up – including China which had not taken part since 1932 – the level of competition was somewhat lopsided with the absence of so many world-class athletes.
As a result the USA won a record 83 gold medals.
The Los Angeles Summer Games were highly commercialised – they were the first privately financed games ever and made a profit of $225m thanks to corporate sponsorship and extensive use of unpaid volunteers. Forty-three companies were licensed to sell “official” Olympic products.
Los Angeles launched a bid to host the Olympic Games for a record third time in 2012 but the US Olympic Committee chose New York as its candidate.
LA will however host the 2006 athletics world cup.
