Goodwill Games
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The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. The 1979 invasion of Afghanistan caused the USA and other Western countries to boycott the 1980 Olympics, an act reciprocated when the Soviet Bloc boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
The first Games, held in Moscow in 1986, featured 182 events and attracted over 3,000 athletes representing 79 countries. World records were set by Sergey Bubka (pole vault), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (heptathlon), and both the men and women's 200m cycle racing, by West Germany's Michael Hübner and the Soviet Union's Erika Salumäe, respectively. World records also fell at the 1990 games in Seattle, to Mike Barrowman in the 200m breaststroke and Nadezhda Ryashkina in the 10km walk.
The 1994 Games were held in St. Petersburg, Russia, with the Soviet Union replaced by now independent republics. Russians set 5 world records in the weightlifting section, and the games were the first major international event to feature beach volleyball, which would appear at the Olympics for the first time at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Ted Turner's last games were in 1998 in New York City, with memorable highlights including Joyner-Kersee winning her 4th straight heptathlon title, and the US 4x400m relay team setting a world's best time.
The games were later bought from Turner by Time Warner Australia, who organised the 2001 event, before announcing that it would be the last. The 2001 edition saw Australia win the most medals with 75, but it was all but ignored by the most of the American media and TV audiences. However, critics praised Turner Network Television for showing the games live, rather than on tape delay.
Summer Goodwill Games
- 1986 - Moscow, USSR
- 1990 - Seattle, USA
- 1994 - St. Petersburg, Russia
- 1998 - New York City, USA
- 2001 - Brisbane, Australia
- 2005 - Phoenix, USA (cancelled)
Winter Goodwill Games
- 2000 - Lake Placid, USA
- 2005 - Calgary, Canada (cancelled)
External link
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