Page 126 - Olympism in Socialism

athletics meets of LZS clubs were being held.
Cycling is by far the most popular summer
sport in the countryside, for which credit goes to
Jozef Tropaczynski, a dedicated trainer who later
became coach of the Polish national cycling
squad. There was a time when the entire Polish
team for the Peace Race consisted of cyclists from
the LZS clubs. Also the sport of weightlifting
quickly spread throughout the countryside.
Janusz Przedpełski, who helped to promote
weightlifting, has been for several years now
President of the Polish Weightlifting Union.
Such famous cyclists as Ryszard Szurkowski
and Janusz Kowaiski, both world champions.
began their career in the LZS clubs and the first
Olympic gold medal for Poland in weight- lifting
was won in 1960 by Ireneusz Palinski, also an
LZS member. LZS skiers have won much success,
too; in 1962, Antoni Laciak did well in ski-
jumping. Many famous athletes hailed from the
LZS.
There is a two-level organizational structure
within the LZS. The first level is that of teams,
while the second consists of clubs grouping the
best sportsmen. Agricultural schools are under
the patronage of’ the LZS as a result of an
agreement with the SZS School Sports
Association.
In 1975, the LZS’s had 881,000 members in
17,563 teams. All the talent which the above
clubs and associations fail to find is discovered
during military and university meets.
The basis of Polish competitive sports is
provided by sports clubs operating under the
auspices of trade unions and various civic,
cooperative, militia, army, LZS, AZS and other
organizations, and grouped in the Polish Sports
Federation.

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