Half a dozen countries have now joined the US in a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, which kick off in February. China, for its part, is furious and says it will retaliate. Still, not sending government officials to attend the Games is not as weighty as governments banning their athletes from competing altogether. And there’s plenty of precedent for this — particularly during the Cold War era. We take a look at state-ordered athlete boycotts at the Olympics since 1950.
