Goodwill Games

September 09, 2001
As they have for the past two weeks, thousands of Queenslanders joined visitors from around the world along the south bank of the Brisbane River Sunday afternoon, this time both for a celebration and an extended farewell.

September 08, 2001
The battle for skating supremacy at the Goodwill Games was nearly decided by a bloody nose Saturday night. Fortunately for Russia’s Irina Slutskaya, an ill-timed medical emergency did not follow her out of the dressing room. Once safely on the ice, she delivered a knockout punch.

September 07, 2001
For a few moments Friday night, it all belonged to Michael Johnson -- an entire stadium, the whole of Brisbane, a vast land mass called Australia and the universe of track and field, from world-class opponents to wide-eyed youngsters who marvel at his gifts.

September 06, 2001
With finality hanging heavy in the air here in Brisbane, this may be among the few times in a prolific career that American track icon Michael Johnson will fail to veil his emotions behind that famously stoic demeanor.

September 05, 2001
Brian Boitano is nearly 14 years removed from the performance of a lifetime that earned an Olympic figure skating gold medal. One of the skaters competing here at the Goodwill Games, Johnny Weir, was born the year of Boitano’s first Olympics appearance, 1984 in Sarajevo.

September 04, 2001
Notes, observations, assumptions and bizarre tales from Week 1 of the Games…

September 03, 2001
Lindsay Benko is one of those athletes whose competitive endeavors should be recorded exclusively on black-and-white Panavision film. She swims and conducts herself like someone from another era. Benko is patriotic, optimistic and undaunted by adversity.

September 02, 2001
This was no average Sunday in Brisbane.

September 01, 2001
A tiny hand brushes against the woman’s leg as she instinctively glances over her shoulder. In a flash, a slightly annoyed expression becomes a warm smile framed by freshly glossed lips.

August 31, 2001
Of the 1,300 Goodwill Games athletes competing in 14 sports and chasing a collective prize money pool of $5 million, none are happier to be gathered here in greater Brisbane than the men and women of “surf lifesaving”.

August 30, 2001
“Tatiana, can you tell us about your pajamas?”
“Yes, of course."
So it was, with one, brief press conference exchange, that Tatiana-mania officially was unleashed on the Goodwill Games. Who knew bringing these Games to Australia would leave the track and field competition so vulnerable to the celebrity funnel cloud known as Tatiania Grigorieva?

August 29, 2001
Big international sports events sometimes get mired in protocol and formality. There is stuff you simply are not allowed to do. If your credential or ticket is the wrong color or lacks a certain number, there are doors and sidewalks that are off limits.

August 28, 2001
Of the many ways to promote goodwill, here's one of the best:
Launch a two-week international sports event with an opening celebration that is as refined as Michelle Kwan, as bold as Ian Thorpe, yet begins and ends almost as quickly as a Marion Jones sprint.

August 15, 2001
All you really need to know about the 2001 Goodwill Games is captured by a lyric sung by four Irish sibling superstars, The Corrs. They own numerous globally popular hits, including The Right Time, which offers up a concise but profound reminder:
"This is the right time, once in a lifetime."