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. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other Western countries to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, an act reciprocated when the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Luzhniki Palace of Sports, formerly the Palace of Sports of the Central Lenin Stadium, was a sports arena in Moscow, Russia, a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex. Built in 1956, it originally had a spectator capacity of 13,700. It was rebuilt in 2002, and eventually demolished in 2023, with plans to construct a replacement arena on the site.
James A. Pedro is an American retired World Champion and Olympic judoka, as well as a current judo coach. Pedro currently holds a 7th degree black belt in judo. He is the coach of Kayla Harrison, the first and currently only American to win an Olympic gold medal in judo.
The Druzhba Multipurpose Arena is an indoor arena in Moscow, Russia, part of the Luzhniki Sports Complex. It was built in 1979, and the first competition held there was the finals of the 7th USSR Summer Spartakiad. It hosted volleyball preliminaries of the 1980 Summer Olympics and was a venue of the 1986 Goodwill Games. The capacity of the arena is for 3,500 people and is the regular home venue of WVC Dynamo Moscow Volleyball team.
Yong Chin Pak is a 6th dan judo, 9th dan hapkido, and 8th dan taekwondo master and adjunct instructor in Exercise Sport Science and instructed students in the martial arts at Iowa State University from 1973 to 2013. He graduated from Yongin University with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and was President of the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association from 1986 to 2007.
Amiran Totikashvili is a Georgian judoka who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1988 Summer Olympics. There he won the bronze medal in the extra lightweight class. He is the current trainer of the Turkmenistan National Judo team.
Kim Hyuk is a South Korean judoka. He won a gold medal in the lightweight (65 kg) division at the 1997 World Judo Championships in Paris. In 1994, Kim won five international competitions including Paris Open, the Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan and the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Kelly Anne McCormick is a retired Hall of Fame female diver from the United States. She dove for Ohio State University and twice competed for her native country at the Summer Olympics, winning a silver (1984) and a bronze medal (1988) in the Women's 3m Springboard event.
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. In total, around 2000 athletes from 56 countries participated in the 16-day event. The Russian President Boris Yeltsin opened the games at Kirov Stadium on July 23.
The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. The Games were a response to the Olympic boycotts of the period, which saw the United States refuse to attend the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, and the Soviet Union refusing to attend the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Soviet athletes dominated the competition, winning 118 gold medals and 241 medals overall. The United States finished in second place, with 42 golds and 142 medals in total.
The Judo competition in the 1990 Goodwill Games were held in Seattle, United States 2 and 3 August 1990.
The Judo competition in the 1994 Goodwill Games were held in Saint Petersburg, Russia 26 July 1994.
Judo was one of the sports at the quadrennial Goodwill Games competition. Judo competitions were held at three of the five Goodwill Games, with it featuring for a final time at the Games in 1994.
The 1990 Goodwill Games was the second edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held between July 20 and August 5, 1990. Following an inaugural edition in Moscow, the second games took place in Seattle, United States, highlighting the competition's role in fostering good Soviet–U.S. relations. The games were opened at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium with a speech by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, as well as an address by Arnold Schwarzenegger and performances by the Moody Blues and Gorky Park. The top three nations in the medal table remained the same as in the previous edition: the Soviet Union won 66 gold medals and a total of 188 medals, the United States was a close runner-up with 60 gold medals and 161 medals overall, while East Germany was a distant third with 11 golds.
At the 1986 Goodwill Games, the athletics competition was held in July 1986 at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Soviet Union. A total of 42 events were contested, of which 23 by male and 19 by female athletes.
Aleksandra Grigoryeva is a Russian former racewalking athlete. She was the gold medallist at the 1985 Summer Universiade, becoming the inaugural women's walk champion at the event. She represented the Soviet Union at the 1986 European Athletics Championships.
Steven Jay "Steve" Cohen is an American former Olympic judoka and Olympic coach. He won the US National Judo Championships in 1974, 1975, 1977, 1985, and 1987. He won a gold medal at the 1973 Maccabiah Games, a bronze medal at the 1975 Pan American Games, and a silver medal at the 1986 Goodwill Games.
Kimberly Ann Santiago is an American Olympic athlete and professional rowing coxswain. She was a member of Team USA in the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Football has been included at two editions of the Goodwill Games. It was first held as a men's competition in 1994, and later as a women's competition in 1998. The sport was dropped for the 2001 Goodwill Games.
Handball has been included at three editions of the Goodwill Games. It was first held for both men and women in 1986.
Mikihiro Mukai (JPN)
Igor Zhuchkov (URS)
Khak Jon-Pak (PRK)
Raffaele Rennella (ITA)
Tamás Bujkó (HUN)
Wieslaw Blach (POL)
Kerrith Brown (GBR)
Marcel Pietri (FRA)
Jambalyn Ganbold (MGL)
Roland Borawski (GDR)
Jiri Sosna (TCH)
Steve Cohen (USA)
Dimitar Zaprianov (BUL)
United States (USA)