The 1984 Friendship Games, or Friendship-84 (Russian: Дружба-84, Druzhba-84), was an international multi-sport event held between 2 July and 16 September 1984 in the Soviet Union and eight other Eastern Bloc states which boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

[9] In an article published by the London Evening Standard several hours before the official announcement, Victor Louis – a Soviet journalist writing for the Western press and thought to be used by the Kremlin as an unofficial means of leaking information to the West[10][11] – 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.

[13] Louis wrote another article on 13 May, for the French Le Journal du Dimanche,[10] once again stating that the Soviet Union was contemplating counter-Olympic Games, possibly held in Sofia, 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 International Olympic Committee to exclude the USSR.

[10] On the same day, Soviet sports commentator Vsevolod Kuskuskin, during an interview for ABC television program This Week with David Brinkley, said the Eastern Bloc would definitely not organize such games.

[16][17] On 20 May, Olaf Brockmann of Austrian newspaper Die Presse, citing Alexander Ushakov, head trainer of the Soviet decathlon team, said Eastern Bloc countries were hastily arranging a series of sports events.

[18] Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the IOC, held a conference with National 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, North Korea and Romania)[19] in Prague, Czechoslovakia, starting on 21 May.

[19] 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".

[30][33] The two-hour ceremony held at the Central Lenin Stadium[33] included "girls in white leotards [spinning] red and white beachballs in unison, (...) dozens of children in traditional costumes of the Soviet republics",[33] a "squadron of young performers" which created "a human weaving machine by ducking and turning to mesh their colored banners"[33] and "red-attired teenage girls with silver hula hoops", which spelled the words 'USSR' and 'peace'.

"[4][30] General Secretary Konstantin Chernenko did not attend the ceremony[33] as expected,[34] but five Politburo members were present: Dimitri Ustinov, Mikhail Gorbachev, Grigory Romanov, Vitaly Vorotnikov and Viktor Grishin.

[33] 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.

In an interview shortly before the events began, the Soviet team's coach Igor Ter-Ovanesyan said his athletes beat more than ten world records during the preparations for the competition.

The only new world record was set by East German Irina Meszynski in women's discus throw, with 73.36 m. In an unusual feat, Alberto Juantorena (Cuba) and Ryszard Ostrowski (Poland) both crossed the finish line at exactly the same moment in the men's 800-metre run.

This caused a minor controversy, as the United States Marine guards of the American embassy, who usually took part in it, withdrew after learning it would be treated as a Friendship Games competition.

A team representing the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan also competed in the men's event, but lost all its matches, including a 0:27 loss to East Germany.

In artistic gymnastics, Olga Mostepanova achieved perfect "10" scores ten times: four in individual competitions, and six in team events.

[35] All fifteen medals in rhythmic gymnastics were won by just four athletes: Bulgarians Anelia Ralenkova and Diliana Gueorguieva, and Soviets Galina Beloglazova and Dalia Kutkaitė.

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.

Dominated by Bulgaria and the Soviet Union, the event saw thirty world records broken,[37] including two in the super heavyweight category, set by Anatoly Pisarenko.

[40] Had Li Yuwei, 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.

[2] "It is like saying Carl Lewis was faster than Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali would have beaten Joe Louis or Secretariat would have outrun Man o' War", Sam Lacy of The Afro-American concluded.

While Friendship Games organizers repeatedly assured the press that their event was not an "alternative Olympics",[1][2][45] presumably to avoid punitive IOC measures,[1][3][4] Soviet state-run media often alluded to such comparisons.

In 2023, facing international sporting isolation in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia announced plans to revive the Friendship Games and host its second edition in 2024.

[47] In May 2023, Russia announced it would be reviving the event as the World Friendship Games, initially planned to take place shortly after the 2024 Summer Olympics[48][49] but suspended indefinitely as of December 2024[update].