Page 42 - Olympism in Socialism

Physical culture and sports occupy an
important place in the curricula of the Bulgarian
schools. Swimming, light athletics, skiing and
some other sports items have become compulsory
at school. Furthermore, several residential sports
schools have been opened in Bulgaria for
promoting the sporting talents of young boys and
girls. There are also hundreds of extra-mural
sports schools for children and teenagers.
The Bulgarian university has its own club,
“Akademik”, which brings together sporting
students and trains them for competitions. The
trade unions organize sports activities among
industrial and office employees as a means of
keeping them fit and improving their working
capacity. Workers’ spartakiada in which
thousands of industrial and office workers take
part has become a regular feature in this country.
Athletes in the villages have their sports clubs
which organize various events and meets. They
also take part in the national spartakiada which
are held periodically.
Nearly three million people, including the
young conscripts in the Bulgarian people’s army,
took part in the 5th National Spartakiad on the
occasion of the 35th anniversary of the socialist
revolution in Bulgaria. As a matter of fact the
Bulgarian people’s army is the centre of most
lively sports activities. The competitions and
army championships show that the army men,
along with their military and political training,
take an active part in sports events on a mass
scale and try to improve their skills.

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