I was thinking about the 1980 Moscow Olympics today and I was wondering how other countries/athletes reacted to a major nation not participating in it because of the Cold War. Were there any smaller nations whose athletes won medals because they had a better chance?
It's well worth noting that the US was not the only country to boycott the Olympics. Sixty-five countries participated in the boycott with sixteen other countries either nominally participating or participating under altered conditions (the Netherlands, for instance, was one of seven countries that participated in the Olympics without participating in the opening ceremony, and Ireland was one of five that participated under the Olympic flag rather than its own).