ON THIS DAY

January 26, 1980

Then-prime minister Joe Clark announced that Canada would boycott the Olympic Games in

Moscow unless Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan by Feb. 20, the same date set by then-u.s. president Jimmy

Carter. In the end, both Canada and the U.S. stood by their boycotts and did not participate in

the Games. Not many did, as it turns out. Only 80 nations made it to Moscow, compared to 140 who attended the Los Angeles

Games in 1984.