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Opinion: For 1980 athletes, Olympic postponement brings bittersweet memories of boycott

SportsPulse: Mike Eruzione of the 'Miracle on Ice' hockey team spoke with USA TODAY Sports about the turmoil going on in American during their historic olympic run and whether or not it played a role on their psyche. USA TODAY

They once were elite athletes, some of the very best in the world, though you’ve never heard of most of them. They are now in their 50s and 60s, the age when people should be celebrating anniversaries, if only there were something to celebrate.

Forty years ago this week, the U.S. Olympic Committee’s House of Delegates, facing withering pressure from President Jimmy Carter and his aides, voted not to participate in the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow after Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan.