SAN FRANCISCO -- Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin, the winner of a record eight medals and the first perfect 10 for men at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, should have one of the best known names in Olympic history.
Unfortunately, outside the Eastern Bloc, he doesn't.
Dityatin won his medals in relative obscurity because of the American-led Olympic boycotts. The United States and many of its allies decided not to go to Moscow in protest of the Soviets' invasion of Afghanistan.
In 1984, the situation was reversed. The Soviet Union and many of its allies decided to boycott the Los Angeles Summer Games. In the process, Dityatin was forever robbed of the opportunity to prove he indeed was one of the greatest male gymnasts of all time.
Now a coach, Dityatin is touring the United States promoting the Goodwill Games, an Olympic style sporting event, to be held in Moscow from July 5-20. Athletes from more than 40 countries and complete teams from both the United States and Soviet Union will compete in the Games in 18 events ranging from basketball to yachting.
Although Dityatin does not stray far from the standard Soviet line concerning the 1984 boycott, the disappointment is evident in his face.
'Of course, I would have been happy to be able to compete in the Los Angeles Olympics,' he said through an interpreter. 'But certain measures were not met so our Olympic committee decided not to come.
'The athletes that would have come to the Olympics instead competed in a national sports festival. Of course, the Olympics are the Olympics. Nothing can replace that.'
Dityatin said he thought he and his teammates would have done very well in Los Angeles.
'I did not watch much of the program (Olympics) on television,' he said. 'But I did watch the gymnastics. I think we would have won, but so many things can happen in sports.'
Dityatin wasn't the only member of the Goodwill Tour who spoke out about the subject of Olympic boycotts. American athletes Willie Banks, the world record triple jumper, and water polo medalist Terry Schroeder both said they hoped the era of using sports as a political weapon was over.
'I feel strongly about what these Games stand for,' Schroeder said. 'The Goodwill Games are being held for the athletes. In 1980 and '84 we were about to realize our dreams, but politics got in the way.'
Banks said he is still trying to understand the U.S. boycott of the 1980 games.
'It really doesn't make any sense to me,' he said. 'In 1981, just a year after the boycott, nearly every nation that stayed home from the 1980 games had track teams visiting Russia.'
Dityatin, Banks and Schroeder all said the Olympic boycotts have intensified their desire to see the idea of holding the Goodwill Games every two years after the 1988 Olympics.
'This is a very important event for athletes,' Banks said.
The Goodwill Games are the brainchild of Ted Turner. While watching the Summer Olympics, the idea for the Goodwill Games came to Turner.
The media mogul first contacted the state department and then reached an agreement with the USSR State Committee for Television and Radio (Gosteleradio) and the USSR State Committee for Physical Culture and Sport (Soyuzsports) concering the Games.
The three will share advertising and sponsorship revenues equally while underwriting the cost of the competition.
Already 42 independent television stations have paid for broadcast rights to the games in the United States. Add to that the large audience of Turner's Cable News Network and Atlanta superstation WTBS, and games spokesman Ken Bastien says you come up with about 1 billion viewers. There are also satellite uplinks in place throughout Europe.
However, Bastien said it is going to take some time before the games turn a profit.
'What you have here is three groups who think they might be able to eventually make money on this,' Bastian said. 'But it won't be in 1986. Maybe by 1990 there will be some profits involved.'
