Page 86 - Olympism in Socialism

organization (FDJ), and the sports organization
(DTSB) makes it possible for the young and old to
regularly go in for sports in the neighbourhoods
or during holidays. A lot of amateur competitions
for the work teams in the enterprises, for the
rural population, for women and families as well
as contests for the youth and children
considerably widen the range of sports
opportunities for everybody.
In 1979, the joint sports programme
embraced more than six million people. More
than five million people are active in 82,145
sports groups of enterprises and neighborhoods.
The trade unions sponsor 28 cup competitions,
the youth organization 21 and the children’s
organization 22. Other competitions include the
village telecompetitions, family competitions
organised by the magazine Fuer Dich, youth
cross, the shooting competition to obtain the
“golden ticket”, and canoe competitions. Many of
these competitions combine the skills and
popularity of top sportsmen with the idea of mass
sports. Thus the canoe Olympic winner, Ruediger
Helm, in the canoe competition “Chase the
Champion'' over the 500 metres distance,
demonstrated a time which many of the young
aspired to reach. Or the junior world champion in
hammer throwing, Roland Stuck, together with
other track-and-field athletes participated in the
100 metres race, shot—putting and long jump,
and now the youngsters and work teams arc
trying to excel his performance in a popular
sports contest. The most comprehensive
competitions, however, are the ones to qualify for
the fitness badge “Ready for Work and for the
Defence of Homeland''. In three stages — bronze,
silver and gold — it can be obtained by five
different age categories ranging from six to 45

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