Page 83 - Olympism in Socialism

It has been asserted that the spartakiads are
held for the sole purpose of spotting talents for
future Olympic Games. What little sense this
assertion makes is evident from this fact alone
that everywhere efforts are being made to extend
the program of district spartakiada—by including
non-Olympic events.
Thus, in the district of Zossen—situated in
the south of Berlin—the number of sports items
included for the spartakiad has reached 21. The
three new items added are billiards, tennis and
cycle ball. There is an emulation going on among
district towns with regard to extending the
competition programme, thus opening new sports
opportunities for the young. This is exactly the
aim and purpose of the spartakiad movement.
The more the number of schoolchildren who
participate in the spartakiads, the higher will be
the number of adults going in for sports in the
future.
It is a fact that many Spartakiad winners have
received medals at Olympic Games. Other
youngsters have had to content themselves with
lesser positions. They have, however, diligently
continued their training. It is true that a large
number of athletes gained their first experience of
competitions during the spartakiads, which only
later, on their way up to the world top, began to
pay. That was the case with Roland Matthes,
Kornelia Matthes-Ender, Roger Pyttel, Andrea
Pollack. in swimming; Falk Hoffmann in diving;
Renate Stecher, Marlies Goehr, Marita Koch,
Wolfgang Schmidt, Udo Beyer in track-and-field
events; and Ulrich Wehling in the Nordic
combination.

FULL SCOPE FOR ALL
It seemed almost incredible when in May
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