1986 Goodwill Games

Ted Turner of Turner Broadcasting created and funded the inaugural Goodwill Games

A total of 3000 athletes from 79 nations took part in events in eighteen different sports. The Goodwill Games was the first time in ten years that elite athletes from Soviet Union and United States competed against each other in a major summer multi-sport event. In contrast to the selection methods of other major competitions, the Games was an invitation-only event. The event was broadcast over 129 hours on TBS in the United States.[1]

The Games themselves were subject to political issues, as the USSR banned teams from Israel and South Korea (two close allies of the US) from the competition. The organizers also closed the city to non-Muscovites.[2] The Goodwill Games, although commercial in nature, were not successful financially and Turner Broadcasting suffered millions of dollars of losses through its support of the event.[3]

A number of sporting world records were set over the course of the Games. In the athletics competition, Sergey Bubka broke the pole vault record with a mark of 6.01 m, Jackie Joyner-Kersee broke the heptathlon record with a score of 7148 points,[1] while Ben Johnson defeated Carl Lewis in the 100 metres to win his first major international title.[3] Vladimir Salnikov broke the 800 m freestyle world record in the swimming competition with a time of 7:50.64. In the cycling events, Michael Hübner and Erika Salumäe set world records in the men's and women's 200 m flying start race, respectively.[1]

The 1986 FIBA World Basketball Championship in Madrid was broadcast on Ted Turner's network and were thus classified as the official Goodwill Games event for the men's sport. In the women's basketball competition, the United States team broke the Soviets' undefeated international run, which had grown to 152 victories. The 1986 Games also saw the first ever international motorcycle polo, or motoball, competition.[3]

• Official website