The general idea of the Olympics was ALWAYS to set aside political and national interests for a time. This was not a modern invention - this was part of the ancient Greek tradition.

In 1980 the U.S. excluded itself to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and in 1984 the Soviet Union excluded itself in turn - but to the best of my knowledge this is the first time a host nation has excluded another nation's athletes.

But of course the Olympics was already dead. Without the decent gymnasts, who cares about the rest?