Metzker: 1980 Australian Olympic Team "Did the Right Thing" -- ATRadio

(ATR) It is, in Olympic swimmer Max Metzker's words, the Olympics "no one wants to talk about."

In an interview with Around the Rings on July 2, Metzker said the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games brings to mind one of the worst disputes in the history of Australian sport.

The 55-year-old Olympian says that even though three decades have passed, he can still feel the pain brought on by his participation in the Moscow Games.

At the time, the United States had called for a boycott of Moscow in retaliation for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.Australia's Prime Minister at the time, Malcolm Fraser, supported his allies in the States.

The row split the country and split the Australian Olympic Federation, later to become the Australian Olympic Committee.

A handful of athletes withdrew from Australia’s delegation in the lead-up to the Olympics.

In the end, Australia sent a team of 124 athletes. Metzker carried the flag in the opening ceremony alongside Olympic sprinter Denise Robertson-Boyd.

Metzker also took home a bronze medal in the 1500m freestyle.

Despite the adversity the Australian team faced in the lead up to the Games, Metzker says he is proud of what they ultimately accomplished in Moscow.

Written and produced byNicole Bennett

Sound: YouTube; User Gordao44/Photos: Getty Images

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