The II Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR was an all-Union multi-sport winter competition held from 1 to 12 March 1966 in several cities and regions of the country: Sverdlovsk, Gorky, Terskol, and Kyiv. The Spartakiad was dedicated to the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the USSR.[1] The ceremonial opening and closing ceremonies of the final were held at the Central Stadium in Sverdlovsk.[1]

Organization and Program

An official poster by artist A. Kushchenko, published by the Fizkultura i Sport publishing house with the support of the Executive Committee of the Union of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the USSR, was produced for the competition.[4] On 11 March 1966, the USSR Ministry of Communications issued a series of three postage stamps (catalogue numbers SK 2868–2870, denominations of 4, 6, and 10 kopecks) dedicated to the Spartakiad. The stamps were produced using the intaglio printing technique by artist A. Shmidshteyn and depict a speed skater, hockey players, and an alpine skier.[5] The print run of each stamp was 4,000,000 copies.[3] The ski jumping competitions were held in Sverdlovsk.[2]

The Hockey Tournament in Gorky

The ice hockey tournament was held in Gorky. Thirteen teams took part in the competition, divided into three groups in the preliminary stage; the top two from each group advanced to the medal final. The final was contested between the teams of Moscow and Sverdlovsk Oblast: the Muscovites won 6–4. The title of Spartakiad ice hockey champion was equivalent to the title of USSR champion; the winning Moscow team included Anatoly Motovilov, who subsequently played for Dynamo Moscow from 1965 to 1978, was named to the season's list of best players four times, and played 471 matches in the USSR championship, scoring 176 goals.[7][1] The Ukrainian SSR team failed to advance from the group stage, falling short of its result at the I Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in 1962, where it had finished 4th.[1]

Connection with Gorky

Gorky's selection as the venue for the hockey tournament was one of the first major all-Union sporting events to be held in the city as part of the Winter Spartakiads of the Peoples of the USSR. Its involvement in organizing a competition of this level reflected the development of hockey infrastructure in Gorky Oblast in the mid-1960s.[1]

Sources

  1. forum.faleristika.info — The champion's badge of the Spartakiad ice hockey competition was equated with the title of USSR Champion. Among those awarded was Anatoly Motovilov, who competed as part of the winning team
  1. web.archive.org — 1966. II Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. — 30 October 2010 — Ice Hockey of the Ukrainian SSR 1946–1992: photographs, historical essays. (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR 1966 (archive)
  3. volstamp.in.ua — Buy 1966 stamp series: II Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, nos. 3245–3247
  4. search.rsl.ru — The Second Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. 1966 [Visual material]: [poster] / artist A. Kushchenko; Executive Committee of the Union of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the USSR.
  5. stamps.ru — II Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR
  6. phalera.net — Lapel badge "2nd Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR 1966", USSR II Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR 1966