Best of the Olympics part 4

MEXICO CITY 1968: The IOC ignored the Mexican military when they killed hundreds of unarmed students a fortnight before, but hit the roof when John Carlos and Tommie Smith made a Black Power protest on the podium. Dick Fosbury flopped but landed gold. Mark Spitz boasted about winning six swimming golds, but only got two. As if anyone could ever win six golds in a single Games.

MUNICH 1972: Mark Spitz won seven golds. Korbutmania swept the world, Mary Peters is a 33 year old golden girl and it's Lasse Viren at the double. Then the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes threatened the end for the Games. IOC president Avery Brundage compared the tragedy to an earlier boycott threat by black African nations (when the IOC expelled the Rhodesian team) and insisted the show go on.

MONTREAL 1976: From tragedy to shambles. Strikes, planning errors, black African boycott and a giant security bill led to a Games they are still paying for. Borys Onyschenko took cheating to new heights, wiring his epee with a circuit breaker which allowed him to register hits at will. He was sent home and never seen again. Alberto Juantorena opened his legs and showed us class, Nadia Comeneci got seven perfect tens and Lasse came home again in 5,000m and 10,000m.

MOSCOW 1980: The (Soviet) invasion of Afghanistan so shocked the US they boycotted Moscow. Only unprincipled imperialists would ever dream of occupying Kabul. But Seb Coe defied his blessed Margaret to lead team GB. The British Olympic Association has never received a penny of government money since. Allan Wells became the oldest ever sprint champ and Duncan Goodhew went baldly where no Briton has gone before.

LOS ANGELES 1984: You boycott ours, we'll boycott yours said the Kremlin. Immigration legislation came a poor second to Zola Budd's passport. The well-known Brit only went and upended America's darling Mary Slaney in the 3,000m. Daley Thompson won his second decathlon crown but lost us with his talk of having babies with Princess Anne.