The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

become the first American woman since Babe Did-
rikson Zaharias to hold the world record in a multi-
ple-discipline event. Edwin Moses, two-time Olym-
pic gold medalist, was awarded the Goodwill Games
gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles. Sprinter Evelyn
Ashford, the holder of the U.S. world record, won
the 100-meter dash, and U.S. high jumper Doug
Nordquist achieved a personal best of 7 feet 8 inches
to secure his first win over Soviet world-record holder
Igor Paklin.
In the cycling competition, new world records
were set by Michael Hubner of the German Demo-
cratic Republic at 10.2444 and Erika Salumae of
the Soviet Union at 11.489. Meanwhile, led by Yuri
Korolev and Yelena Shushunova, the Soviet Union
swept the gold medals in both the individual and
team gymnastics competitions. The rhythmic gym-
nastics event was won by Bianka Dittrich of the Ger-
man Democratic Republic. In the boxing competi-
tion, the Soviet Union won eleven of the twelve gold
medals, with the United States’ Arthur Johnson be-
ing the only non-Soviet to win a gold medal.
The 1986 Goodwill Games featured thirty-five
hundred athletes from seventy-nine countries who,
in an invitational format, participated in eighteen
sports. Turner’s superstation in Atlanta, along with
other outlets, beamed 129 hours of coverage to
American households. The games continued in later
years, beginning with the 1990 Goodwill Games in
Seattle, Washington. Staged more for diplomatic
than for financial reasons, however, the games never
succeeded financially. The 1986 games lost $26 mil-
lion, setting a precedent that only continued until
the event was finally terminated in 2001.

Impact Despite Turner’s loss of money, he contin-
ued to stage Goodwill Games for the remainder of
the century, maintaining that his project was not
about money. A longtime student of history, Turner
envisioned himself working outside official networks
and accomplishing something of importance. He
maintained that his Goodwill Games provided a
fresh, exciting meeting ground for athletes, free of
political pressure, at which they could measure them-
selves against one another in a major international
sports competition. The games also evolved into char-
itable ventures, supporting an organization called
“Uniting the World’s Best” that provided assistance
to children and mothers in developing countries
through contributions to the United Nations Chil-

dren’s Fund (UNICEF) and to the Boys and Girls

Clubs of America.

Further Reading

Goldberg, Robert, and Gerald Jay Goldberg.Citizen

Turner: The Wild Rise of an American Tycoon.New

York: Harcourt Brace, 1995. Interesting look at

the more personal aspects of Ted Turner’s life.

Harrington, Geri.Jackie Joyner Kersee. New York: Chel-

sea House, 1995. Fascinating story of the gifted

athlete who suffered from asthma, was prevented

by the Olympics Committee from taking her pre-

scribed medication, and yet became a four-time

Olympic champion.

Senn, Alfred E.Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games.

Idaho: Human Kinetics, 1999. Account of the

Olympic Games since their beginning in 1896

and the political and social issues surrounding

them.

Mar y Hurd

See also Cold War; Lewis, Carl; Olympic boycotts;

Olympic Games of 1980; Olympic Games of 1984;

Olympic Games of 1988; Soviet Union and North

America; Sports; Turner, Ted.

Grant, Amy

Identification Contemporary Christian and pop

singer-songwriter

Born November 25, 1960; Augusta, Georgia

Besides being the best-selling Contemporar y Christian re-

cording artist of all time, Amy Grant became the first such

performer to make the transition to the mainstream without

sacrificing her audience.

By the time her 1984 albumStraight Aheadpeaked at

number 133 onBillboardmagazine’s album charts,

Amy Grant had already become a legend in Contem-

porary Christian music. Grant had released her first

album when she was just seventeen, and each of the

next five had demonstrated an increasing musical

sophistication and had sold better than the one be-

fore. HerAge to Age(1982) was the first Contempo-

rary Christian album to be certified platinum. Grant

thus found herself faced with a choice. She could ei-

ther continue her career as it was, marketing herself

to a niche audience, albeit a sizable one, or she could

attempt to cross over to the mainstream while still

The Eighties in America Grant, Amy
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