1994 Goodwill Games

The 1994 Goodwill Games was the third edition of the multi-sport event, created by Ted Turner, which was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia between July 23 and August 7, 1994. The event – designed to improve Soviet Union – United States relations over the Cold War period – was originally awarded to Leningrad, but the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 saw the city return to its former name within a new Russia.[1] In total, around 2000 athletes from 56 countries participated in the 16-day event.[2] The Russian President Boris Yeltsin opened the games at Kirov Stadium on July 23.[1]

1994 Goodwill Games
Official logo
Host citySaint Petersburg
CountryRussia
Opening ceremony23 July 1994 (1994-07-23)
Closing ceremony7 August 1994 (1994-08-07)
Kirov Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1994 Games

Russia topped the medal table with 68 gold medals and 171 medals in total from the competition. The United States was the runner-up having won 37 golds and 119 medals overall, while the People's Republic of China took third place with 12 golds and 27 medals. In addition to Russia, nine other former Soviet republics won medals at the games: Ukraine and Belarus were among the top-8 in the medal table, and Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Moldova and Kazakhstan were the other new states to medal at the games.[2]

The hosting of the games provided a significant legacy of infrastructure within St. Petersburg. Around 500 kilometres (300 mi) of road was repaved, venues and landmarks were renovated, computer equipment was installed and donated, and 70 purpose-built Games buses were later integrated into the city's public transport system.[1][2] The prospect of a Russia more open to foreign investment sparked growth in the level of sponsorship and the games attracted 30 international sponsors. Television coverage also expanded; the games was broadcast throughout the United States on both TBS and the ABC Television Network, and the games events were shown in a total of 129 countries.[1]

The weightlifting events saw five world records broken as Russia lifters took a clean sweep of the gold medals. In the gymnastics competition, Alexei Nemov set a Goodwill Games record for the number of medals won at a single edition, having won four gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze.[1]

Sports

Medal table

  *   Host nation (Russia)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russia (RUS)*685053171
2 United States (USA)373943119
3 China (CHN)129627
4 South Korea (KOR)105015
5 Cuba (CUB)99624
6 Ukraine (UKR)851225
7 Norway (NOR)4004
8 Belarus (BLR)361423
9 Great Britain (GBR)35311
10 Canada (CAN)34512
11 France (FRA)33612
12 Germany (GER)271322
13 Italy (ITA)2147
 Spain (ESP)2147
15 Kenya (KEN)2136
16 Poland (POL)1326
17 Romania (ROM)1304
18 Japan (JPN)1247
19 Turkey (TUR)1236
20 Sweden (SWE)1225
21 Denmark (DEN)1113
22 Costa Rica (CRC)1102
 Ireland (IRL)1102
24 Belgium (BEL)1045
25 Puerto Rico (PUR)1012
26 Algeria (ALG)1001
 Georgia (GEO)1001
 Mexico (MEX)1001
 Morocco (MAR)1001
 Mozambique (MOZ)1001
 New Zealand (NZL)1001
 Slovenia (SLO)1001
 U.S. Virgin Islands (VIR)1001
34 Armenia (ARM)0303
35 Latvia (LAT)0202
 Nigeria (NGR)0202
37 Australia (AUS)0134
38 Finland (FIN)0123
39 Austria (AUT)0101
 Brazil (BRA)0101
 Estonia (EST)0101
 Iran (IRI)0101
 Namibia (NAM)0101
 Portugal (POR)0101
 Somalia (SOM)0101
 Zambia (ZAM)0101
47 Uzbekistan (UZB)0044
48 Bulgaria (BUL)0022
 Hungary (HUN)0022
 Jamaica (JAM)0022
 Moldova (MDA)0022
 Netherlands (NED)0022
 Slovakia (SVK)0022
54 Egypt (EGY)0011
 Kazakhstan (KAZ)0011
 Syria (SYR)0011
Totals (56 nations)186177213576

References

  1. Past Goodwill Games – 1994 Games in the "New" Russia Archived March 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Goodwill Games. Retrieved on 2010-06-23.
  2. Bell, Daniel (2003). Encyclopedia of International Games (pgs. 164–168). McFarland and Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina. ISBN 0-7864-1026-4.
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