Political Defection
London was the first Olympics to have a political defection. Marie Provaznikova the 57-year old Czechoslovakian President of the International Gymnastics Federation refused to return home, citing "lack of freedom" after the Czech coup in February led to the country's inclusion in the Soviet Bloc.
Read more about this topic: 1948 Summer Olympics
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or defection:
“For aesthetics is the mother of ethics.... Were we to choose our leaders on the basis of their reading experience and not their political programs, there would be much less grief on earth. I believe—not empirically, alas, but only theoretically—that for someone who has read a lot of Dickens to shoot his like in the name of an idea is harder than for someone who has read no Dickens.”
—Joseph Brodsky (b. 1940)
“The most dangerous follower is the one whose defection would destroy the whole party: hence, the best follower.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)