the olympics first allowed professional athletes in 1988.
the olympics first allowed professional athletes in 1988.
when did the olympics first allow professional athletes?
1988
the olympic games were originally intended for amateur athletes. however, the advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the eastern bloc countries further eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the western countries at a disadvantage. the soviet union entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis. in 1986, the international olympic committee (ioc) voted to allow professional athletes to compete in the olympic games starting in 1988. the national hockey league (nhl) was initially reluctant to allow its players to compete because the olympics are held in the middle of the nhl season, and the league would have to halt play if many of its players participated. eventually, nhl players were admitted starting in 1998. however, the nhl again refused to release its players starting in 2018, citing financial reasons.
ice hockey at the olympic games
ice hockey is a sport that is contested at the winter olympic games. a men's ice hockey tournament has been held every winter olympics (starting in 1924); an ice hockey tournament was also held at the 1920 summer olympics. from 1920 to 1968, the olympics also acted as the ice hockey world championships, and the two events occurred concurrently. from 1920 until 1984, only amateur athletes were allowed to compete in the tournament, and players from the national hockey league (nhl) were not allowed to compete. the countries that benefited most were the soviet bloc countries of eastern europe, where top athletes were state-sponsored while retaining their status as amateurs. in 1970, after a disagreement over the definition of amateur players, canada withdrew from the tournament and did not send a team to the 1972 or 1976 winter olympics. in 1986, the international olympic committee (ioc) decided to allow professional athletes to compete in the olympics, and starting in 1998, the nhl allowed its players to participate. women's ice hockey was added in 1992 and the first tournament was held at the 1998 winter olympics. both events have been held at every olympic games since.
list of olympic medalists in ice hockey