Medal to De Frantz 27 years on

	The United States boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow meant many American athletes never got the chance to test their Olympic medal winning abilities. One of these athletes was FISA’s vice president Anita De Frantz.
FISA vice president Anita De Frantz

Now, 27 years later, a consolation medal is being awarded to those American athletes who were not able to participate. The Congressional Gold Medals were handed out to the 461 Olympic athletes who were to have gone to Moscow.

At the time De Frantz was extremely vocal about her opposition to the involvement of politics in sport and strongly protested against the then Carter administration who chose to boycott the Moscow Games due to the Soviet Union’s military involvement in Afghanistan.

The medals were originally awarded during the Carter administration but a technical glitch in the making of the medals meant the recipients were never officially recorded.

“This is long overdue recognition for a group of Olympians who unfairly were denied the opportunity and honor of representing our country at the 1980 Games”, United States Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said to the Associated Press.

Recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal include George Washington who received the medal in 1776.

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