Yet sport can be incredibly political; from Naomi Osaka's Black Lives Matter masks, to sports stars taking a knee during national anthems.

The impact of politics on sport could not be denied leading up to the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

At the height of the Cold War then prime minister Malcolm Fraser was putting pressure on the Australian Olympic Federation to boycott the upcoming Games.

This followed a push by US president Jimmy Carter to boycott the games in retaliation against the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

The Canberra Times reported on this day in 1980 the federation was holding firm in its belief they were not bound by Mr Fraser's push for a boycott.

"You haven't read the letter, " Australian Olympic Federation vice-president David McKenzie, told reporters.

"He didn't ask us to boycott the Games.

It was a request to pass on the government's view to the International Olympic Committee."

Ultimately some Australian athletes chose to be involved in the Games, but did so under the Olympic flag rather than the Australian flag as part of a partial boycott.

Mr Fraser later said in 2008 said he regretted his campaign to boycott the Moscow Olympics.

His statements came while similar boycott discussions raged on leading up to the Beijing Olympics.

"Not only was it divisive between different sports, but also within sports," he said in 2008.

"The individual choices that were made created divisions within sports and between sports. It's not something I would want to see repeated.

See https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/16213979