The Friendship Games, or Friendship-84 (russian: Дружба-84, ''Druzhba-84''), was an international

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

held between 2 July and 16 September 1984 in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and eight other

socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term '' communist state'' is ...

s which

boycotted A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. Although Friendship Games officials denied that the Games were to be a counter-Olympic event to avoid conflicts with the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

, the competition was often dubbed the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

's "alternative Olympics". Some fifty states took part in the competition. While the boycotting countries were represented by their strongest athletes, other states sent their reserve teams, consisting of athletes who failed to qualify for Los Angeles.

Background

On 8 May 1984, less than three months before the

were scheduled to begin, the

announced its decision to boycott the Games, citing lack of security for Soviet athletes in

. The

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...

news agency further accused the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

of trying to "exploit the Games for its political purposes" stating that the "arrogant, hegemonic course of the Washington administration in international relations is at odds with the noble ideals of the Olympic movement". In an article published by the ''

London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' several hours before the official announcement, Victor Louis – a Soviet journalist writing for the Western press, thought to be used by the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

as an unofficial means of leaking information to the West – first informed the world of the USSR's decision to boycott, adding that detailed plans for the "Soviet bloc's alternative games" had already been made. Louis claimed they would "probably be announced at the last minute to throw the American organization into chaos". The article named

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

as the possible host country. On 10 May, Bulgaria became the first Soviet ally to join the boycott, soon followed by

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

(also 10 May),

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

(both 11 May). Louis wrote another article on 13 May, for the French ''

Le Journal du Dimanche ''Le Journal du dimanche'' (English: ''Sunday's newspaper'') is a French weekly newspaper published on Sundays in France. History and profile ''Le Journal du Dimanche'' was created by Pierre Lazareff in 1948. He was managing editor of '' Fran ...

'', once again stating that the Soviet Union was contemplating counter-Olympic Games, possibly held in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, the capital of Bulgaria. However, this time he noted that the idea was unlikely, as the Soviets feared that organizing such an event might prompt the

to exclude the USSR. On the same day, Soviet sports commentator Vsevolod Kuskuskin, during an interview for ABC television program '' This Week with David Brinkley'', said the

would definitely not organize such games. Also on 13 May,

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

announced their decision to boycott the Los Angeles games. On 14 May, Marat Gramov, head of the Soviet Olympic Committee, called a press conference to discuss the boycott. During the conference, Gramov assured "Moscow would not support any alternative games staged to compete with the Olympics". On the same day,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

stated that, while Eastern Bloc officials had vetoed a counter-Olympics idea, the Bloc would instead "sponsor sports events in various nations as a substitute for participation in the Los Angeles games", holding them at a different time than the Olympics.

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

became the ninth country to boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics on 16 May, followed by Poland a day later. On 20 May, Olaf Brockmann of Austrian newspaper ''

Die Presse ''Die Presse'' is a German-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria. History and profile ''Die Presse'' was first printed on 3 July 1848 as a liberal (libertarian)-bourgeoi ...

'', citing Alexander Ushakov, head trainer of the Soviet decathlon team, said Eastern Bloc countries were hastily arranging a series of sports events. Brockmann named five competitions: two track and field athletics meets, one to be held in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czechoslovakia, and the other in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

and

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of ...

, East Germany; plus fencing, modern pentathlon and boxing events to be held in Poland. Ushakov reportedly said the events would be held either before or after the Olympics, to avoid conflicts with the IOC, which would ban any form of counter-Olympic Games.

Juan Antonio Samaranch Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch (Catalan: ''Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló'', ; 17 July 1920 – 21 April 2010) was a Spanish sports administrator under the Franco regime (1973–1977) who served as the seventh P ...

, President of the IOC, held a conference with Olympic Committees of eleven Eastern Bloc countries (eight of the boycotting states – Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, the Soviet Union and Vietnam – plus

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

) in Prague, Czechoslovakia, starting on 21 May. Samaranch hoped to convince the boycotting states to change their position, but while Romania assured him it would attend the Los Angeles Olympics, the remaining ten countries did not change their stance and even used the meeting to discuss "their own summer games". The official announcement was made by Antonin Himl, President of the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee, who appeared on Prague television on 24 May. Himl said that, after the Olympic Games ended, various Eastern bloc countries would hold their own sport events in Olympic disciplines. Himl stated that the games' intention would be to "give athletes who have conscientiously prepared for the past four years a possibility to sell their abilities". Thus, the Friendship Games idea was officially proclaimed. Himl said the games would be held after 12 August (i.e. after the Summer Olympics), and that his country, Czechoslovakia, would host gymnastics, archery, women's handball, and women's track and field athletics. He also gave assurances that the events would be open to all athletes, including those from non-boycotting nations. Soon after the meeting, Cuba also announced its decision to boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics. By the end of June,

South Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

had done the same. In June, the Soviet Union asked

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he ...

and his

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

to televise the events held in Hungary for American audiences. Turner eventually declined, but assured that his network would give spot coverage to the Games and treat it as any other sporting event.

Participating nations

Initial estimates placed the number of athletes participating in Soviet event venues at approximately 8,000. Later, the number of expected participants was lowered to 2,300, representing 49 countries. However, not all the expected athletes showed up. The exact number of athletes who took part in events held outside of the Soviet Union is unknown. While Olympic-boycotting countries were represented by their strongest athletes, other states sent their reserve teams, consisting of athletes who failed to qualify for the 1984 Summer Olympics. Some athletes competed at both the Los Angeles Olympics and the Friendship Games, such Claudia Losch of West Germany, who won the Olympic gold in the shot put, and the United States' Alice Brown, the Olympic 100m silver medallist: neither Losch nor Brown was able to place in the medals at the Friendship Games. In a 2021 interview, long jumper Joyce Oladapo, who competed for Great Britain at the Friendship Games, said that she had initially been under the impression that the event was to be more along the lines of a regular athletics meeting, and only realised its significance when she arrived at the hotel in Prague where athletes were staying: "Literally anyone who was anyone in the Eastern Bloc was there". *

* * * * * *

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

* * * * * * * *

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

* * * * * * * * *

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

* * * *

Opening ceremony

Although the Games began on 2 July with table tennis events held in North Korea, the official opening ceremony was held on 18 August in Moscow, soon after the first events hosted by the Soviet Union started. The two-hour ceremony held at the Central Lenin Stadium included "girls in white leotards pinningred and white beachballs in unison, (...) dozens of children in traditional costumes of the Soviet republics", a "squadron of young performers" which created "a human weaving machine by ducking and turning to mesh their colored banners" and "red-attired teenage girls with silver hula hoops", which spelled the words 'USSR' and 'peace'. The ceremony was described as being "reminiscent of Olympic galas". As in Olympic opening ceremonies, a torch bearer (Soviet runner and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

gold medalist

Viktor Markin Viktor Fyodorovich Markin () (born 23 February 1957 in the village of Oktyabrsky, Ust-Tarksky District, Novosibirsk Oblast ) is a former Soviet athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. After graduating from a ...

) carried the flame into the stadium and lit a giant bowl which had been built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The torch had been lit from an

eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which can ...

for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

victims located in the

. Teams marched onto the stadium behind flags, but unlike in the Olympics, they were not national teams but sporting organisations, such as

Dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundati ...

Spartak Spartak may refer to: In sports *Spartak (sports society), an international fitness and sports society that unites some countries of the former Soviet Union In Russia *FC Spartak Moscow, a football club *FC Spartak Kostroma, a football club *PFC ...

. Songs performed during the ceremony included a 1918 military march dedicated to the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

, "Stadium of My Dreams", written for the 1980 Olympics, and a specially composed song with the chorus "To a sunny peace – yes, yes, yes / To a nuclear blast – no, no, no."

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

Konstantin Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko uk, Костянтин Устинович Черненко, translit=Kostiantyn Ustynovych Chernenko (24 September 1911 – 10 March 1985) was a Soviet politician and the seventh General Secretary of the Commu ...

did not attend the ceremony as expected, but five

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contracti ...

members were present: Dimitri Ustinov,

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Com ...

Grigory Romanov Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov (russian: Григорий Васильевич Романов, scientific transliteration: ''Grigorij Vasil'evič Romanov''; 7 February 1923 – 3 June 2008) was a Soviet politician and member of the Politburo and Secre ...

Vitaly Vorotnikov Vitaly Ivanovich Vorotnikov (russian: Вита́лий Ива́нович Воротнико́в; 20 January 1926 – 19 February 2012) was a Soviet politician and diplomat who was the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Rus ...

and Viktor Grishin.

Summary

ImageSize = width:400 height:420 PlotArea = top:20 bottom:50 right:40 left:20 AlignBars = late Colors = id:grid value:rgb(0.85,0.85,0.85) DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/06/1984 till:01/10/1984 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = unit:month increment:1 start:01/06/1984 gridcolor:grid BackgroundColors = canvas:oceanblue TextData = textcolor:black fontsize:M pos:(50,20) text:"June" pos:(130,20) text:"July" pos:(210,20) text:"August" pos:(290,20) text:"September" textcolor:purple fontsize:S pos:(180,35) text:"1984 OG" BarData = barset:PM TextData = pos:(150,420) textcolor:red fontsize:M text: Friendship Games PlotData= width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-3) anchor:till barset:PM color:orange textcolor:yellow from:06/06/1984 till:10/06/1984 text:" " from:16/08/1984 till:18/08/1984 text:"athletics" from:02/07/1984 till:10/07/1984 text:"table tennis" shift:(-80,-3) from:05/07/1984 till:15/07/1984 text:" " from:13/07/1984 till:15/07/1984 text:"Greco-Roman wrestling" shift:(-120,-3) from:15/07/1984 till:20/07/1984 text:"fencing" shift:(-60,-3) from:17/07/1984 till:21/07/1984 text:" " from:20/07/1984 till:22/07/1984 text:"freestyle wrestling" shift:(-100,-3) from:21/07/1984 till:22/07/1984 text:"canoeing" shift:(-50,-3) from:16/08/1984 till:19/08/1984 text:"diving" from:17/08/1984 till:19/08/1984 text:"rhythmic gymnastics" from:18/08/1984 till:22/08/1984 text:"track cycling" from:18/08/1984 till:26/08/1984 text:"sailing" from:19/08/1984 till:21/08/1984 text:"trap and skeet" from:19/08/1984 till:24/08/1984 text:"boxing" from:19/08/1984 till:25/08/1984 text:"swimming" from:19/08/1984 till:25/08/1984 text:"shooting" from:19/08/1984 till:26/08/1984 text:"water polo" from:19/08/1984 till:21/08/1984 text:" " from:20/08/1984 till:26/08/1984 text:"artistic gymnastics" from:20/08/1984 till:26/08/1984 text:"tennis" from:22/08/1984 till:30/08/1984 text:"basketball" from:23/08/1984 till:23/08/1984 text:" " from:23/08/1984 till:25/08/1984 text:"rowing" from:24/08/1984 till:26/08/1984 text:"judo" from:01/09/1984 till:02/09/1984 text:"sambo wrestling" from:05/09/1984 till:09/09/1984 text:"modern pentathlon" from:12/09/1984 till:16/09/1984 text:"weightlifting" barset:break from:06/08/1984 till:26/08/1984 text:"equestrianism" from:20/06/1984 till:21/06/1984 text:" " barset:skip from:19/08/1984 till:26/08/1984 text:"volleyball" barset:skip barset:skip from:21/08/1984 till:25/08/1984 text:"handball" barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:28/08/1984 till:30/08/1984 text:"hockey" barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:26/08/1984 till:26/08/1984 text:"road cycling" LineData = at:28/07/1984 color:green width:1 at:12/08/1984 color:green width:1

Events were hosted by nine countries (Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, North Korea, Mongolia, Poland, and the Soviet Union) between 2 July and 16 September 1984. With the exception of equestrian jumping, no events were held during the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles (held between 28 July and 12 August). The Games were contested in 22 Olympic disciplines (all except

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

), and in non-Olympic

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

, and sambo wrestling.

Archery

The Soviet Union won five out of six possible medals. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1984-0603-003, Uwe Hohn

Athletics

In an interview shortly before the events began, the Soviet team's coach

Igor Ter-Ovanesyan Igor Aramovich Ter-Ovanesyan (russian: Игорь Арамович Тер-Ованесян, born 19 May 1938) is a Ukrainian former competitor and coach in the long jump. Competing for the Soviet Union, he was a five-time European and two-time O ...

said his athletes beat more than ten world records during the preparations for the competition. While the Soviet athletes set no new records during the Games, they still dominated, winning more than a half of the gold medals. The only new world record was set by East German

Irina Meszynski Irina Meszynski (born 24 March 1962 in Berlin) is a retired East German discus thrower. On 17 August 1984 Meszynski set a world record in women's discus throw at boycott inspired Friendship Games of 73.36 meters. Her record lasted barely a ...

in women's discus throw, with 73.36 m. In an unusual feat,

Alberto Juantorena Alberto Juantorena (born 3 December 1950) is a Cuban former runner. He is the only athlete to win both the 400 and 800 m Olympic titles, which he achieved in 1976. He was ranked as world's best runner in the 400 m in 1974 and 1976–1978, a ...

(Cuba) and Ryszard Ostrowski (Poland) both crossed the finish line at exactly the same moment in the men's 800-metre run. After the officials were unable to decide who came first – even after examining a

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

– both were declared winners. The annual Moscow Marathon was declared to be a Friendship Games event in 1984. This caused a minor controversy, as the

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

guards of the American embassy, who usually took part in it, withdrew after learning it would be treated as a Friendship Games competition.

Basketball

The Soviet Union won the men's final against Czechoslovakia 105:70, and Cuba came in third ahead of Poland. The USSR also finished first in the women's event, but since it was a

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Me ...

, there were no semifinals or finals.

Boxing

The host nation, Cuba, fully dominated the event, winning eleven out of twelve gold medals. East German Torsten Schmitz in the

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

category was the only non-Cuban to win gold.

Teófilo Stevenson Teófilo Stevenson Lawrence (29 March 1952 – 11 June 2012) was a Cuban amateur boxer who competed from 1966 to 1986. He won the Val Barker Trophy (1972) and was honored with the Olympic Order (1987). Stevenson is one of only three boxers to w ...

, three-time consecutive Olympic gold medalist who lost the chance to win his fourth gold when Cuba boycotted the Los Angeles Games, won the super heavyweight category. Boxing was one of just three disciplines in which the Soviet Union did not win a gold medal, the others being modern pentathlon and table tennis.

Canoeing

Hosts East Germany and the Soviet Union won all twelve gold medals, six apiece.

Cycling

The Schleizer Dreieck in

Schleiz Schleiz is a town in the district of Saale-Orla-Kreis in Thuringia, Germany. The former municipality Crispendorf was merged into Schleiz in January 2019, and Burgk in December 2019. Location Schleiz is in the Thuringian Vogtland area, an ar ...

, East Germany, usually used as a car or motorcycle race track, served as cycling venue for the individual road race. The event saw participation of top cyclists of the era, including numerous

Peace Race The Peace Race (german: Friedensfahrt, cs, Závod míru, sk, Preteky mieru, russian: Велогонка Мира (), pl, Wyścig Pokoju , french: Course de la Paix, it, Corsa della Pace, ro, Cursa Păcii) was an annual multiple stage bicycl ...

veterans such as

Uwe Ampler Uwe Ampler (born 11 October 1964) is a retired track and road cyclist who competed for East Germany at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There he won the gold medal in the men's team time trial, alongside Jan Schur, Mario Kum ...

and

Uwe Raab Uwe Raab (born 26 July 1962) is a German former professional cyclist born in Wittenberg, East Germany. He is most known for winning the Points classification in the 1990 and 1991 Vuelta a Españas. He also competed in the road race at the 198 ...

Diving

Diving was yet another event dominated by East Germans and Soviets. Gold medalists included Aleksandr Portnov and Brita Baldus.

Equestrian

Equestrian events were the only discipline contested at the same time as the 1984 Summer Olympics, as jumping events took place between 6 and 10 August. It was also the only discipline in which West German and Italian athletes won medals. In individual dressage,

Yuri Kovshov Yuri Aleksandrovich Kovshov (russian: Юрий Александрович Ковшов; born 5 September 1951) is a former Ukrainian Soviet equestrian and Olympic champion. He was born in Kushka, Turkmen SSR, and was affiliated ...

won both gold and silver, riding two different horses.

Fencing

Soviet fencers won most of the men's events, while Hungary won both women's events, thanks to Gertrúd Stefanek and Edit Kovács.

Field hockey

The Soviet Union "A" team won the men's tournament, and while the Soviet Union "B" team came in third, fourth-place finishers

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

were awarded the bronze medal. A team representing the

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. The PDPA came to power ...

also competed in the men's event, but lost all its matches, including a 0:27 loss to East Germany.

Gymnastics

In artistic gymnastics,

Olga Mostepanova Olga Vasilyevna Mostepanova (russian: Ольга Васильевна Мостепанова, born 3 January 1970) is a retired former Soviet gymnast. She won three gold medals at the World Championships. Personal life Mostepanova's birth year ...

achieved perfect "10" scores ten times: four in individual competitions, and six in team events. All fifteen medals in rhythmic gymnastics were won by just four athletes: Bulgarians

Anelia Ralenkova Anelia Ralenkova ( bg, Анелия Раленкова; born December 25, 1963) became one of Bulgaria's most distinctive rhythmic gymnasts. She is one of the "Golden Girls" of Bulgaria that dominated rhythmic gymnastics in the 1980s. Biogra ...

and Diliana Gueorguieva, and Soviets

Galina Beloglazova Galina Beloglazova (russian: Галина Павловна Белоглазова; born June 10, 1967 Astrakhan, Soviet Union) is a Soviet individual rhythmic gymnast. She was the 1983 World All-around silver medalist and the 1984 European A ...

and

Dalia Kutkaitė Dalia Kutkaitė (born 11 February 1965 in Vilnius, Lithuania) is retired Lithuanian rhythmic gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. She is the 1982 European all-around champion and the 1983 World Cup Final all-around silver medalist. She is ...

Handball

East Germany won the men's event, thanks to an 18:17 win over the Soviet Union, while Poland came in third. Péter Kovács of Hungary was the top scorer with 26 goals. The USSR finished first in the women's tournament.

Judo

The Soviet Union again won most of the gold medals. The event was also particularly successful for Poland, which won seven medals.

Modern pentathlon

Hungarian László Fábián won the individual competition, and Hungary also won the team event.

Rowing

The USSR took 11 out of 14 gold medals, while East Germany captured the remaining three.

Sailing

Sailing took place on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

, near

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an National delimitation in ...

(where the

sailing at the 1980 Summer Olympics Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece). With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The ...

also took place), with the exception of 470 and Finn classes, which were contested on

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and ...

in Hungary. Soviets and East Germans won all of the gold medals.

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

won their only Friendship Games medals.

Shooting

While most disciplines mimicked the Olympic Games in terms of events, women's shooting included non-Olympic competitions, namely the 10 metre air pistol and

50 metre rifle three positions 50 meter rifle three positions (formerly known as one of four free rifle disciplines) is an International Shooting Sport Federation event, a miniature version of 300 meter rifle three positions. It consists of the kneeling, prone, and standing ...

events.

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0619-033, Sylvia Gerasch

Swimming

Five new world records were set during the competition.

Sergei Zabolotnov Sergei Valentinovich Zabolotnov (also Sergey, russian: Серге́й Валентинович Заболотнов; born 11 August 1963, is a former backstroke swimmer from the USSR. Career In 1983, he set a European record in the 200 m backst ...

's result of 1:58.41 in men's 200 metre backstroke excited the crowd, as it was some one and a half seconds better than Rick Carey's result during the Olympics. Fifteen-year-old Sylvia Gerasch of

set the world record in women's 100 m breaststroke and was also part of the relay team that beat the 4 × 100 m medley record.

Table tennis

Table tennis, a non-Olympic sport at that time, was the only event hosted by North Korea, which won four out of seven gold medals. Notably, the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, which was at odds with most socialist states following the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the China, People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by Doctrine, doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications ...

, took part in the event.

Tennis

Soviet players dominated the singles category, and also won the men's doubles event. The Czechoslovakian women's double team was the only non-Soviet team to win gold.

Volleyball

Not surprisingly, the Soviet team finished first in the men's event, over Cuba and Poland. In women's tournament, Cuba won the final against the USSR.

Water polo

The Soviet team – composed mostly of the players who won gold during the 1980 Summer Olympics – finished first, while Hungary and Cuba took the second and third spots.

Weightlifting

Dominated by Bulgaria and the Soviet Union, the event saw thirty world records broken,Chmielewski (1987), p. 186 including two in the super heavyweight category, set by

Anatoly Pisarenko Total Total Total Total Anatoly Grigor'evich Pisarenko ( uk, Анатолій Григорович Писаренко, russian: Анатолий Григорьевич Писаренко; born January 10, 1958) is a former Olympic ...

Wrestling

In addition to

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Lab ...

and

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

events, non-Olympic

sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , olymp ...

wrestling events were also contested. Sambo was the only event hosted by Mongolia.

Medal table

The following table is based on statistics from the books ''Na olimpijskim szlaku 1984'' and ''Gwiazdy sportu '84'' and does not include sambo wrestling results.

Comparisons to the Olympic Games

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1984-0602-003, Marlies Göhr

Media on both sides of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its ...

frequently compared the results of 1984 Summer Olympics and the Friendship Games.Chmielewski (1987), p. 151 Over sixty Friendship Games results would have secured medals at the Olympic Games. East Bloc athletes outperformed Olympic winners in 20 of 41 track-and-field events and eleven of 29 swimming events. Had

Li Yuwei Li Yuwei ( Chinese: 李玉伟; born July 20, 1965 in Shenyang, Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenya ...

, who won the 1984 Olympic gold medal in 50 metre running target shooting, obtained the same score in the Friendship Games, he would have only placed sixth.Chmielewski (1987), p. 183 Indeed, in events such as weightlifting or wrestling, the Friendship Games had almost all of the top athletes of the time. It is also important to mention that Eastern bloc countries had massive state-sponsored doping programs at the time. However, some journalists noted that making such comparisons was unjustified, because of differing conditions and equipment. For example,

Marlies Göhr Marlies Göhr (née Oelsner, born 21 March 1958 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a former East German track and field athlete, the winner of the 100 metres at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She ranked in the top 10 of the 100 m world r ...

's result of 10.95 in women's 100 metre run was slightly better than

Evelyn Ashford Evelyn Ashford (born April 15, 1957) is an American retired track and field athlete, the 1984 Olympic champion in the 100-meter dash. She ran under the 11-second barrier over 30 times and was the first to run under 11 seconds in an Olympic Game ...

's winning time of 10.97 at the 1984 Olympics, but when the two met head-to-head a week after the Friendship Games, Ashford was much faster than Göhr and set the new world record. Similarly, Eastern Bloc results in track cycling were better than Olympic results, but Friendship Games cyclists competed on an indoor wooden track, while the Olympic events took place on an outdoor concrete track. "It is like saying

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 ...

was faster than

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lif ...

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

would have beaten

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He re ...

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

would have outrun

Man o' War Man o' War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Several sports publications, including ''The Blood-Horse'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ESPN, and t ...

Sam Lacy Samuel Harold Lacy (October 23, 1903 – May 8, 2003) was an African-American and Native American sportswriter, reporter, columnist, editor, and television/radio commentator who worked in the sports journalism field for parts of nine decades. Cre ...

of ''

The Afro-American The ''Baltimore Afro-American'', commonly known as ''The Afro'' or ''Afro News'', is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the flagship newspaper of the ''AFRO-American'' chain and the longest-running Africa ...

'' concluded. The comparisons also had political significance. While Friendship Games organizers repeatedly assured the press that their event was not an "alternative Olympics", presumably to avoid punitive IOC measures, Soviet state-run media often alluded to such comparisons. The TASS agency declared that the Eastern Bloc's games were a "major event in the Olympic year", while the Sovietsky Sport newspaper described the Games as the "main event of the Olympic

quadrennium A unit of time is any particular time interval, used as a standard way of measuring or expressing duration. The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) and by extension most of the Western world, is the second, defined as ab ...

". Marat Gramov, head of the Soviet Olympic Committee, said that the "socialist nations remain faithful to the task of strengthening the unity of the Olympics movement", while describing the Los Angeles Games as full of "chauvinism and mass psychosis". When asked about the Friendship Games, Monique Berlioux, then director of the IOC, said she had "no reaction whatsoever" to the competition.

Aftermath

In 2006, the

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct s ...

party in Poland proposed granting Friendship Games medalists sports retirement benefits similar to those given to Olympic medalists. It was signed into law in 2007.