The Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR (Russian: Спартакиада народов СССР, Spartakiada narodov SSSR[1]) was a mass multi-sport event in the Soviet Union which lasted from 1956–1991. The competition was a descendant of the international Spartakiads, named after the classical escaped slave leader Spartacus. The USSR Spartakiad comprised two separate quadrennial competitions: the Summer Spartakiad and the Winter Spartakiad. The competitions were conducted between the constituent Republics of the Soviet Union.
In 1952 the Soviet Union decided to join the Olympic movement, and international Spartakiads ceased. However the term continued to exist for internal sports events in the Soviet Union of different levels, from local up to the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. The first Soviet Spartakiad was held in 1956.[2] The competition had local level qualifying competitions, with the summer finals traditionally staged in the capital, Moscow, and the winter finals in Sverdlovsk.
^Catalogue of Postage Stamps of the USSR 1918–1974, [Wikidata] (CPA) of the Ministry of Communications of the USSR publisher, Moscow, 1976. See also subsequent yearly catalogues.
