ABSTRACT
The Melbourne protests were part of a general pattern established long before 1956 and which continue to the present day. In fact, since 1956, every summer Olympics has been implicated in some sort of political controversy. The most common form of political gesture has been the boycott. Countries absenting themselves from the Olympic Games, either as a sign of protest, or because of exclusion, have been a feature of Olympic history. Boycotts usually make headlines and attract the rhetoric of interested parties who talk regretfully about how unfortunate it is that sports and politics have become mixed up. But, then again, they mix so well. Why?
