Chief coach of USSR talks
Here’s ‘inside story of
Soviet sports upsurge

By GABRIEL KOROBKOV

MOSCOW

How have we Russians attained athletics superiority in such a short time? Have

We any special training methods?

Are our track and field stars ‘‘full-time’’ athletes?

Many people blame us for wanting to win too much. » Well, what sportsman
8€s on to the track wahting to lose? I think all the foreign athletes we met wanted to win.

to believe.

oe athletes are ordinary peo-
They are very keen on sport
but have many other interests.

They do not in the least re-
Semble the fanatics some people
ave tried to paint them.

November, 1917, which trans-
formed our whole country, had
4 decisive influence on the de-
Yelopment of physical culture
and sport.

Those historical days were the
chief foundation of our present
Progress, ‘

From 1918 to 1922, athletics
Penetrated the most remote lo-
Salities, was brought to wide
Sections of the population and
Was included in the biggest sports
Meetings, ‘

By 1928, all pre-revolutionary
Tecords had been broken and
Seven Russian athletes had been
Numbered among the 10 best of
Urope in their events.

hese were the first Russian
athletes of international class.

Each year there were more and
More,

_ The standard of living was

Sing; more ang more stadiums
Bt Sports grounds were being

The level of sports achieve-
Ment in a country is directly
inated to the standard of liv-

s.

Besides, the care of our physi-
an education that the Soviet
ate has always shown has been
Invaluable help.
_The “GTO” set or tests (prac-
tal examinations of all-round
Physical development), the plan-
fed building of sports facilities,
€ network of state committees
°r physical culture and sport,
@d the millions of people who
€ part in the activities are
tors that help our sport, and
€tes especially.
Improvement of the health
vt the people—that, and noth-
ne else, is the main aim of
USsian physical culture and
Sport. >

fac

Our success in sport is merely
Natural result of this move-
ent.
ge Only these fundamental facts
N explain our progress.
sta yone who does not under-
u Nd this, or who does not want
5 aderstand it, tries to explain
oP Tise by “professionalism,”
@naticism,” and other fantasies.
Athletics developed particular-
Y Tapidly in the thirties.
Wace © rabid rise of our athletics
Checked by the war.
the mediately after the war, in
let Summer of 1945, our ath-
ana began to develop again,
an the events of recent years
© Well known.
ounnds finally, the greatest of
mili; achievements: nearly four
ing 0 Russian people are tak-
& Part in athletics.
Uch is ‘our progress.
main ave already mentioned the
fae fundamental source of this
ress,
ma me now speak about other
our ons — those which concern
ing System of training and coach-

thst me say first, however,

“ Be Our athletes’ general meth-
Samk training are much the

as those followed by the

f the world’s ‘outstanding
men,

We believe the main aims
Ining to be physical educa=

Testi o
SPorts

of tra

We have no secrets and we are not confirmed sports fanatics, as some folks seem

Nina Otkalenko, the fastest half-miler in the world of

women’s sports, is shown winning a race at this distance in
Moscow’s Dynamo Stadium last year, when she chopped 6.1
seconds off the existing record. She also holds world record

for 800 metres.

Women athletes from the USSR are expected

to win many gold medals at the 1956 Olympic Games in Mel-

bourne, Australia.

tion of the people and the im-
provement of their health.

@ We believe it must be car-
ried out under a coach. Training
is not a spontaneous process, but
a directed, educational one.

@ We believe sports training
should not, in any circumstances,
interfere with an athlete’s work
or studies.

@ We do NOT believe that
our athletes should become pro-
fessionals — people with narrow
sporting interests.

VLADIMIR KUCS

@ We believe athletics train-
ing should be carried out, syste-
matically and without interrup-
tion, over a lengthy period of
time — often over several years
— during which there is con-
tinuous development of the phy-
sical and moral qualities.

First-class results are obtain-
ed through a person’s all-round
development* which may take
many years.

Besides, it is impossible to ac-
quire high-level technique in a
short time. ;

Therefore we believe that
training should be not only of

several years’ duration, but
continuous and _— all-the-year-
round.

This training should be plan-
ned.

This means that an athlete
should know how» his training
will be made up for-several years
ahead, and in more detail: how
it will be made up in the cur-
rent year.

He should know exactly what
his daily training periods will be
for the next month, and what he
will do during them.

One of the biggest reasons for

‘the improvement of Russia’s ath-

letes is the continuous character
of their training.

Periods of passive rest during
their training year have’ been
gradually eliminated.

Our training has become con-
tinuous during the week as weil.

Athletes train almost every
day, giving themselves only the
necessary rest before competi-
tion.

It is usual to train on Tues-
day, Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday, resting on Saturday,
competing on Sunday and rest-
ing on Monday if the competi-
tion was strenuous.

Bert Whyte

SPORTLIGHT

Te fight for Canadian in-

dependence and_ against
U.S. domination is being
waged on all fronts, including
the sports front. This fact was
recognized by the delegates
attending the Labor-Progressive
party convention here
weekend when they unani-
mously- and enthusiastically en-
dorsed a resolution calling for
the reinstatement of Annis
Stukus as head coach of the
B: €. Lions:

Copies of the resolution were
sent to the directors of the foot-
ball ‘club, to Mayor Fred
Hume and the daily press.

The resolution reads:

“Whereas our people have
shown that they want sports
in Canada to be run by Cana-
dians,

“And whereas Annis Stukus
was the only remaining Canadian

coach in fast-disappearing Can- |

adian football,

“And whereas his emphasis
was one of development of Cana-
dian footballers,

“Therefore be it resolved that
this convention call for the
reinstatement of Annis Stukus
as head coach of the British
Columbia Lions.”

ete se og

The 13 Lions’ directors who
voted for the ouster of Stukus
are roaring in pain these days
as Vancouver citizens are mak-
ing it unmistakeably clear that
they feel Stukus was given a
raw deal.

Just look at the record.

Stukus came to this town on
a two-year contract to build a
football team and “sell” foot-
ball to the fans. No one ex-
pected that a Grey Cup win-
ner could be assembled in two
years, or that the team would
make money its first season.

Fast-talking Annis accom-
plished a miracle. In a matter
of months he turned Vancou-
ver into a football-mad metrop-
olis, and even with a team that
only won once in 16 games that
year, the club eash register
rang up a handsome profit on
operations.

This year Stukus had a bet-
ter team, and predicted that

Sete Se

last. -

the Lions would win five games.
The team won five games, set
new Canadian attendance
records and gave the club a
fat bank balance—while other
WIFU clubs wound up in the
red.

It must be said that Stukus
sought star U.S. imports with

the same zeal displayed by every

other coach. The way “Cana-
dian” football operates, he had
no choice. ‘

But in the time he has been
here, Stukus has _ repeatedly
stressed that the success of a

ANNIS STUKUS

team depends in large measure
on developing good Canadian
players, and he tried in every
way to encourage Canadian
talent.

Just as his hard work was
beginning to bear fruit, Stukus
was fired—by a 13 to 10 vote
of the board of directors.

It was a contemptible action,
and sports fans have reacted in
a characteristic Canadian man-
ner by demanding a reversal of
the unjust decision.

50 it so

Jim Peters has written a book,
In the Long Run, in which he
tells his version of the BEG
marathon.

If only he had known that
his nearest rival was three and
a half miles back, says Peters,
“T could have stopped at the
last feeding station, had a good
sponge down and _ trotted in
slowly.”

He was worried about Stan
Cox, who had been pressing him
but who fell out at 24 miles.

: z EE *

Highlight of the BEG marathon was collapse of, Jim Peters.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 4, 1955 — PAGE 11

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