History of the Polar Olympiad

In 1932 The Leningrad Regional Council of Physical Culture sends a letter to the Murmansk District in which "... categorically insists on strengthening the leadership over the work of district and city councils of physical culture and checking the fulfillment of control tasks by such on the delivery of standards and the deployment of mass educational work on the complex of the TRP badge."

On March 13, 1934, at a meeting of the presidium of the Murmansk okrprofsovet, the chairman of the inter-union Bureau of Physical Culture, Vladimir Lyapkin, made a proposal to hold a sports festival with the participation of teams from other districts of the Leningrad Region, thereby becoming the ideological inspirer and organizer of the very first Murmansk sports forum.

The Presidium, having heard his report, decided:

"In order to popularize Soviet physical education, introduction of physical elements (skiing) in the life of the people of the North and development of Amateur sports movement to ENDORSE the initiative of the Bureau of physical education of the district Council and supported by the Bureau of physical education of the Leningrad regional Council of the winter sports festival with the participation of Moscow, Leningrad, Karelia, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk railway team and teams of all districts of the Murmansk region".

On the basis of this resolution, the organizing committee for the preparation and holding of the first Northern Physical Education Festival was established. A lot of preparatory work has been done:

• The Inter-Union Bureau of Physical Education assumed responsibility for the accommodation of participants in dormitories.
• The Broadcasting Committee allocated time on the air for information about the holiday.
• The Kirov House of Culture was preparing the final evening.
• The newspaper "Polar Truth" was given the task to widely cover the course of the holiday, to allocate special correspondents for this.
• The professional organization of the railway ensured the passage of competitors from other districts.

The composition of the judging panel and the cost estimate of the holiday were also approved.

On April 3, 1934, a joint meeting of the Presidium of the Ministry of Sports and the organizing committee was held following the results of the first physical culture Holiday.

"The Presidium of the Ministry of Sports and the Organizing Committee note that the organized and held the first sports festival of the North was successful. As a result of this was:

• a). Revitalizing and improving the work of all physical education organizations of the city and the district, involving more people in passing the TRP standards.
• b). The holiday attracted the attention of the working public and the press to physical education, especially skiing. The participation of the Moscow and Leningrad teams is extremely valuable"

Further, the resolution approved an impressive list of further events developed on the basis of the results of the holiday. And the most significant were:

• petition to the ECSPC for the release of funds for the device of a ski jump,
• about inclusion in the construction program of the construction of a swimming pool in Murmansk,
• about expanding the program of the Holiday of the North by organizing figure skating and hockey competitions.
• petition of the district Council of Trade Unions:"Due to the duration of the winter period in Murmansk (7-8 months), in essence, the Holiday should be a summing up of the entire Soviet Union in winter sports. We believe that this Holiday should not only be consolidated, but also become a traditional annual holiday"

Source: The State Archive of the Murmansk region

In the photo: Report on the holding of the first sports festival in Murmansk. "Polar truth". April 3 , 1934

86 skiers from five Russian cities — Murmansk, Leningrad, Moscow, Petrozavodsk and Vologda — competed at the first Festival of the North, participating in both classic cross-country skiing and mass cross-country and special competitions in a paramilitary program that combined cross-country skiing with shooting, a kind of biathlon.

In 1937, the list of competitions held at the festival included reindeer sledding and ski slalom.

Since 1939, men's bandy competitions have been held.

The tradition of holding the Holiday of the North was not interrupted even by the Second World War, when athletes arrived at the competition straight from the front.

During the war years, the tenth Anniversary Olympiad took place, the winner of which was awarded the honorary title of "Absolute Champion of the Holiday of the North".

In addition, during the war, reindeer sledding competitions were added to the reindeer sledding races (600 kilograms per 5 kilometers), and in 1945 — the towing of a skier by deer.

Since 1961, in addition to sports competitions for adults, junior competitions began to be held - a Celebration of the North of schoolchildren, and in 1962 ice hockey was added to the sports held.

In 1970 The holiday of the North was added to the calendar of international sporting events, which greatly influenced its popularity. The Polar Olympiad was attended by participants from:

• GDR
• Germany
  
• USA
• Italy
• Sweden
• Poland
  
• Hungary
• Bulgaria
  
• Norway
  
• Finland
  
• Czechoslovakia
• South Korea and many other countries of the world

In 1971, competitions among parachutists were held for the first time.

In 1974, on the fortieth Holiday of the North, biathlon competitions and a mass ski marathon began to be held, in which more than 600 athletes, amateurs and professionals took part. The winner then was Ivan Garanin from the Kazakh SSR.

Since 1984 The Holiday of the North has taken over from the Olympic Games the tradition of the Olympic flame, lit since then at the Central Stadium of Murmansk.

Photo: Ministry of Sports of the Murmansk region

The Friendship Ski Run has been held annually since 1994 and is included in the program of the traditional Holiday of the North.

The start of the 12 km race is given in the small border village of Rayakoski, where skiing enthusiasts from all over the world come.

The ski track passes through the territory of three countries:

• 7 kilometers across the territory of Russia
• 4 kilometers through the municipality of Sør-Varanger in Norway
• 1 kilometer through Inari commune in Finland

The holiday has become a symbol of friendship between athletes and residents of the Barents region, participation in it does not require visas and passports.

In 1956, the commentator of the 22nd Holiday of the North was Vadim Sinyavsky, a well-known Soviet journalist, radio commentator, founder of the Soviet school of sports radio reporting.

In 2009 The Holiday of the North was included in the list of winners of the contest "7 wonders at the end of the world", held by the regional Murmansk TV company TV-21 by popular vote.

The only four-time winner of the ski marathon is Sergey Dolidovich from Belarus (in 1998, 2007, 2008 and 2009).

The best among women is Yulia Chepalova from Khabarovsk, who won in 1995, 1996 and 2004.