Soviet Athletes Exploited Amateur Rules

For much of their modern history, the Olympic Games excluded professional athletes under rules intended to preserve amateur competition. The Soviet Union entered athletes who were officially students, soldiers, or workers, while the state actually paid them to train full time. This system placed self-financed American and Western European athletes at a major disadvantage and significantly contributed to declining American medal totals during the 1970s and 1980s. The Olympics moved toward admitting professional athletes during the 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed.

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