Spartak (sports society)
Encyclopedia
Nikolai Starostin
Nikolai Petrovich Starostin was a Russian footballer and ice hockey player, and founder of Spartak Moscow.-Early life and Spartak Moscow:...
.
Overview
Spartak was the first and the largest All-Union Voluntary Sports Society of workers of state trade, producers' cooperation, light industryLight industry
Light industry is usually less capital intensive than heavy industry, and is more consumer-oriented than business-oriented...
, civil aviation
Civil aviation
Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work together to establish common standards and recommended practices...
, education, culture, health service etc. Originated in 1925-26 as several physical culture groups by small producers' artels as an all-union physical culture and sports society it was established on April 19, 1935.
In 1960 the society was reorganized into the Voluntary Sport Society. There were 23,000 physical culture collectives in the society in 1975 (including 100 sport clubs), that united 6.2 million people. There were 40 sports disciplines cultivated in the society in 1975. The society possessed 238 stadiums, 89 swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
s, 1,800 sports halls, 1,300 football grounds, 2,600 sports camps, 264 Children and Youth Sport Schools (75,000 students).
In 1987 Spartak was abolished and all its assets were transferred back to trade unions. In 1991 the society was reorganized as an international. Currently the society has affiliation in six countries of the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
: Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. Each society's affiliation is subordinated to their respective country's government, Olympic and trade unions committees, while participating in collective events organized by the Spartak Central Council.
Presidents
- Nikolai StarostinNikolai StarostinNikolai Petrovich Starostin was a Russian footballer and ice hockey player, and founder of Spartak Moscow.-Early life and Spartak Moscow:...
- Semyon Privis
- Gennadiy Mikhalchuk
- Pyotr Sobolev
- Yevgeniy Arkhipov
- Vladimir Vekshin
- Nikolai Ozerov
- Anna Alyoshina
VSS Spartak was awarded Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
(1937).
Notable members (one per sport)
- Nellie KimNellie KimNellie Vladimirovna Kim is a retired Soviet gymnast who won three gold medals and a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, and two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics...
(artistic gymnasticsArtistic gymnasticsArtistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics where gymnasts perform short routines on different apparatus, with less time for vaulting . The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique , which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of international elite...
) - Vladimir GolubnichyVladimir GolubnichyVolodymyr Stepanovych Holubnychy was a Ukrainian race walker who competed for the Soviet Union.He was born in Sumy.Holubnychy dominated the 20 kilometre race walk in the 1960s and 1970s, winning the total of four Olympic medals. He trained at VSS Spartak in Sumy.Holubnychy began athletics in 1953...
(athleticsAthletics (track and field)Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
) - Aleksandr BelovAleksandr BelovAlexander Alexandrovich Belov was a Soviet basketball player who won gold with the Soviet basketball team in Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics, scoring the winning basket in the gold medal game.He was the star player of Spartak Leningrad, leading the club to the Soviet national league title...
(basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
) - Anatoly AlyabyevAnatoly AlyabyevAnatoly Nikolayevich Alyabyev is a retired Russian biathlete, who represented the USSR. He initially trained at Children and Youth Sport School of Spartak in Vologda, but competed as a senior while training at the Armed Forces sports society in Leningrad...
(biathlonBiathlonBiathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...
) - Boris LagutinBoris LagutinBoris Nikolayevich Lagutin was possibly the most celebrated of Soviet boxers. During his career as a boxer, he has won 241 fights and lost only 11. He won medals in three Olympic Games, including two golds, in 1964 and 1968. Lagutin also won at European championships in 1961 and 1963 and at USSR...
(boxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
) - Tigran PetrosianTigran PetrosianTigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
(chessChessChess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
) - Nikolay ZimyatovNikolay ZimyatovNikolay Semyonovich Zimyatov , name also spelled Nikolaj Zimjatov, was one of the most successful Soviet/Russian male cross-country skiers ever. He trained at Spartak and later at the Armed Forces sports society...
(cross-country skiingCross-country skiingCross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
) - Marina KlimovaMarina KlimovaMarina Vladimirovna Klimova is an ice dancer who competed for the Soviet Union and the Unified team. With skating partner and husband Sergei Ponomarenko, she is the 1992 Olympic champion, 1988 Olympic silver medalist, 1984 Olympic bronze medalist, three-time World champion, and four-time European...
(figure skatingFigure skatingFigure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
) - Nikolai StarostinNikolai StarostinNikolai Petrovich Starostin was a Russian footballer and ice hockey player, and founder of Spartak Moscow.-Early life and Spartak Moscow:...
(footballFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
) - Tetyana HlushchenkoTetyana HlushchenkoTetyana Grygorivna Hlushchenko is a former Soviet/Ukrainian handball player who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics.She trained at Spartak in Kiev. In 1976 she won the gold medal with the Soviet team. She played all five matches.-External links:*...
(handballTeam handballHandball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
) - Alexander YakushevAlexander YakushevAlexander Sergeyevich Yakushev was an ice hockey player for the Soviet Union.Born in Moscow, Soviet Union, Alexander Yakushev is best known to North American hockey fans as one of the stars for the Soviet team that played Team Canada in the famous 1972 Summit Series...
(ice hockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
) - Vitaly AbalakovVitaly Mikhaylovich AbalakovVitaly Mikhaylovich Abalakov was a Soviet/Russian mountaineer and inventor.Brother of Yevgeniy Abalakov, another famous alpinist, he made the first Soviet ascent of Lenin Peak in 1934 and two more ascents of this mountain. In 1936 he also made the ascent of Khan Tengri.In 1938, he and others from...
(mountaineeringMountaineeringMountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
) - Klara GusevaKlara GusevaKlara Ivanovna Guseva is a former speed skater. After her marriage, she was also known as Klara Nesterova .Born in the Russian SFSR, Klara Guseva competed for the Soviet Union. She trained at Spartak in Ryazan. She won a silver medal at the Soviet Allround Championships in 1960 and participated...
(speed skatingSpeed skatingSpeed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
) - Elena DementievaElena DementievaElena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...
(tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
)