Multisport
international competition, similar to the
Olympic Games, but with not as much
prestige.
The Goodwill Games were founded in 1986 by Ted Turner to promote goodwill (imagine that?) and peace during the Cold War period and to show the importance of sport. The United States and Soviet Union had each boycotted previous Olympics, so the Goodwill Games tried to bring them together.
Competitors are invited to attend based on rankings and past performances in other international events. There is prize money given out during competition.
The first four Goodwill Games were all featuring summer events, but in 2000 there was a winter Goodwill Games.
Below's a listing of past and future Games:
year location
1986 Goodwill Games Moscow, Soviet Union
1990 Goodwill Games Seattle, Washington, USA
1994 Goodwill Games St. Petersburg, Russia
1998 Goodwill Games New York, New York, USA
2000 Winter Goodwill Games Lake Placid, New York, USA
2001 Goodwill Games Brisbane, Australia
2003 Winter Goodwill Games Yet to be announced
2005 Winter Goodwill Games Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Also personally noteworthy, as I worked at the 1998 Games at the beach volleyball venue in Central Park.