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
Opening23 July 1994 (1994-07-23)
Closing7 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

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Participating nations

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Medal table

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  *   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)831122
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 entries)186175212573

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c 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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