1994 Goodwill Games

International sports event held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1994 1994 Goodwill Games St._Petersburg1994logo.png 200px Official logo Saint Petersburg Russia 1994 7 23 y 1994 8 7 y Seattle 1990 New York City 1998 thumb|300px|Kirov Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1994 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.Past Goodwill Games – 1994 Games in the "New" Russia https://web.archive.org/web/20120305152635/http://www.goodwillgames.com/html/past_1994frame.html March 5, 2012 . Goodwill Games. Retrieved on 2010-06-23. In total, around 2000 athletes from 56 countries participated in the 16-day event.Bell, Daniel (2003). Encyclopedia of International Games (pgs. 164–168). McFarland and Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina. 0-7864-1026-4. The Russian president Boris Yeltsin opened the games at Kirov Stadium on July 23. 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. The hosting of the games provided a significant legacy of infrastructure within St. Petersburg. Around 500 km -2 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. 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. 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. Sports 22em Archery Athletics Basketball Beach volleyball Boxing Canoeing Cycling Diving Figure skating Football Gymnastics Handball Judo Rowing Short track speed skating Swimming Synchronized swimming Taekwondo Triathlon Volleyball Water polo Weightlifting Wrestling Yachting Participating nations 22em ALG ARM AUS AUT BLR 1991 BEL BRA BUL CAN CHN CRC CUB DEN EGY EST FIN FRA GEO 1990 GER HUN IRI IRL ITA JAM JPN KAZ KEN LAT MEX MDA MAR MOZ NAM NED NZL NGR NOR POL POR PUR ROM RUS SVK SLO SOM KOR ESP SWE SYR 1980 TUR UKR GBR USA UZB VIR ZAM Medal table RUS 68 50 53 yes 37 39 43 12 9 6 10 5 0 9 9 6 8 3 11 4 0 0 3 6 14 BLR 1991 3 5 3 3 4 5 3 3 6 2 7 13 2 1 4 2 1 4 2 1 3 1 3 2 1 3 0 1 2 4 1 2 3 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 4 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 GEO 1990 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 3 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 SYR 1980 References External links Official website (archived) Men Basketball Goodwill Games 1994 - Winner Puerto Rico Category:Goodwill Games Goodwill Games Goodwill Games Category:International sports competitions hosted by Russia Category:Sports competitions in Saint Petersburg Category:Multi-sport events in Russia Category:July 1994 sports events in Europe Category:August 1994 sports events in Europe Goodwill Games Category:July 1994 in Russia Category:August 1994 in Russia