Goodwill Games

When the city of Leningrad was selected in 1990 as the host city for the 1994 Goodwill Games, no one anticipated the changes that would affect not only the city, but also the whole country one year later. In just 11 months, a failed coup helped change the political structure of the Soviet Union, the host city was renamed, and the agencies and partners staging the Goodwill Games changed.

A new local organizing committee was formed-the St. Petersburg Organizing Committee (SPOC)-to work with the Russian Olympic Committee and sports federations to plan the third edition of the multi-sport event. Once Russian President Boris Yeltsin officially declared the Games open on July 23, 1994, venues had been renovated, landmarks refurbished, modern telecommunications and transportation systems installed and thousands of residents had volunteered to help host the Games.

The staging of such a large-scale international event in the "new" Russia appealed to both the Russian people and millions of television viewers around the world, as well as to sponsors who viewed Russia as an untapped marketing opportunity. In all, 30 international sponsors supported the Games, establishing a new Games record for sponsorship revenue. SPOC also signed 22 local sponsors to provide funding and "in-kind" products for the Games.

The spectacular backdrop of St. Petersburg-the palaces of the czars, museums, canals and waterways, historic landmarks-shared center stage with compelling athletic competition. Approximately 2,000 athletes from 74 countries participated, producing some of the most exciting moments in Games' history.

Both the opening and closing ceremonies were held before standing-room-only crowds of more than 70,000 at Kirov Stadium. The Closing Ceremony included the passing of the Goodwill Games scepter to then New York Governor Mario Cuomo, marking the end of the 1994 Games and the beginning of plans for 1998 and New York, New York. In all, the Games were broadcast to 129 countries, a Games record. In the United States, a first-time agreement between the ABC Television Network and TBS allowed the Games to be seen by every television household in the United States. TBS Superstation telecast 64 hours of original, prime time programming, and ABC Sports broadcast 17 hours of coverage over three weekends.

The USA's Melvin Stewart and Jackie Joyner-Kersee each won a third consecutive Goodwill Games gold medal, a feat neither athlete had achieved in any other international competition. Stewart defeated Russia's Denis Pankratov in the 200m butterfly; Joyner-Kersee won the heptathlon.
Weightlifting was dominated by Russian athletes, and a total of five world records were set in two weight classes. In the 99 kg weight class, Sergei Syrtsov set world marks in the snatch, clean-and-jerk and total. Teammate Andrei Chemerkin followed Syrtsov's performance with world record-setting lifts of his own in the 108+ kg weight class, setting new marks in the snatch and clean-and-jerk to finish well ahead of the field.
Figure skating saw local favorites capture gold medals in front of sell-out crowds. St. Petersburg native Aleksei Urmanov, the 1994 Olympic gold medalist, skated a near-flawless performance to take the men's title, finishing ahead of the USA's Todd Eldredge and France's Phillippe Candeloro. Natalya Mishkutyonok and Artur Dmitriyev, the St. Petersburg skaters who placed first at the 1992 and second at the 1994 Olympic Games, won their first Goodwill Games pairs title with a dazzling performance that brought the crowd to its feet.
Triathlon was also very popular with the local citizens and athletes as the running and cycling courses were lined with spectators. Great Britain's Simon Lessing won the men's competition, with the women's crown going to France's Isabelle Mouthon.
The debut of beach volleyball in a major international competition was a huge success, as sell-out crowds jammed the beaches at the foot of the Peter and Paul Fortress to watch Karolyn Kirby and Liz Masakayan of the United States, and Jan Kvalheim and Bjorn Maaseide of Norway take the gold medals in the women's and men's events, respectively.
Perennial boxing powerhouses Cuba and Russia continued their dominance of international competition by winning 11 out of 12 weight classes. Cuba won six gold medals and Russia took five. The USA claimed the remaining title.
In one of the most anticipated events of the Games, the men's 100m, the USA's Dennis Mitchell bested a stellar field that included world record-holder Leroy Burrell, eight-time Olympic gold-medalist and former world record-holder Carl Lewis, world silver-medalist Andre Cason and U.S. national silver-medalist Jon Drummond.
Women's cycling was swept by the U.S team, but the real story was the close finish of gold-medalist Brooke Blackwelder and silver-medalist Karen Bliss-Livingston. The two women finished the 25 km course-routed through the streets of historic St. Petersburg-at exactly the same time, and judges had to use the second tie-breaking criteria (winner of the final lap) to declare Blackwelder the champion.
Gymnast Aleksei Nemov of Russia won more medals than any other athlete in the Games: four gold, one silver and one bronze.