Sports' Legends, Russia

In 2013, on two occasions, the Russian post issued stamps featuring Sports Legends who have participated in some of the Olympic Games or are anyhow related to them.
I know the world right now is in the midst of a football craze, so even though these are not football stamps, they are related to Russia, where the place of all that history is written these days (Personally, I couldn't care any less about it)

Up to this post, I wasn't familiar with any of these people featured here, so let's see what is it that they had done so that the Russian Post has decided to feature them on stamps.

-  Klavdiya Sergeyevna Boyarskikh (1939 - 2009),  was a Soviet cross-country skier who competed in the 1960s. In 1964, Boyarskikh won her first Soviet titles during thee Olympic Games held in Innsbruck where she had won the Gold Medal for both the 5km and 10km race as well as the one for the 3 x 5 km Women's Relay Team.



- Vsevolod Mikhailovich Bobrov (1922 –  1979) was a Soviet athlete, who excelled in football, bandy and ice hockey. He is considered one of the best Russians ever in each of those sports. After he quit football in 1953 he turned to ice hockey, which he had taken up when it was started in the Soviet Union in 1946. He was one of the first ice hockey players in the Soviet Union and internationally he participated with the Soviet national team at several World Championships, including their first tournament in 1954, as well as the 1956 Winter Olympics, where the Soviets won the gold medal.


- Tatyana Averin was born on June 25 1950 in Gorky. She was a Soviet athlete (speed skating, an honoured Master of Sports, an Olympic champion in skating (100 m and 3000 m, 1976), the absolute champion of the USSR (1979), as well as the world champion (1978).


- Pierre de Coubertin (1863 - 1937) was a French educator and historian, and founder of the International Olympic Committee, as well as its second President. He is considered the father of the modern Olympic Game.  The Pierre de Coubertin medal (also known as the True Spirit of Sportsmanship medal) is an award given by the International Olympic Committee to athletes that demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship in the Olympic Games.

- Sir Ludwig "Poppa" Guttmann  (1899 –  1980)  was a German-born British neurologist who established the Paralympic Games in England. The Jewish doctor, who had fled Nazi Germany just before the start of the Second World War, is considered to be one of the founding fathers of organised physical activities for people with a disability.
At the 1956 Stoke Mandeville Games, Guttmann was awarded the Sir Thomas Fearnley Cup by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for his meritorious achievement in service to the Olympic movement through the social and human value derived from wheelchair sports.


Nice to see not only athletes, but also people who have in other ways contributed to the development of the Olympic Games.

For more of the S-related posts, you know the drill, visit today's edition of Sunday Stamps!

British F1 World Champions, Guernsey

when the subject of sports was announced for Sunday Stamps, I somehow knew my post was going to be something about Formula 1...and since today it is Silverstone on the schedule, it does seem appropriate to go with an F1 post.....that though not related to Silverstone in particular, is about something British :)

well, I wont be watching the race today...with Raikkonen doing sooo terribly this season, I've barely followed a race, and with just 19 points in total and holding the miserable 12th position in the overall standings, I think that watching F1 for the rest of the year would be on stand-by...hopefully, next year he'll do better :)

anyways, today's FDC comes from Guernsey...yay, first time to post something from Guernsey here! And here you can take a look at the career highlights to date of the 2008 and 2009 British Formula 1 World Champions, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Lewis Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Kent on 7th January 1985. After graduating from karting to single-seaters, Hamilton then rose through the ranks of Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries and the GP2 championship eventually earning his maiden Formula 1 test and a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes race seat for 2007. His debut season was stunning and he appeared on the podium for his first nine races he ended 2nd in the Drivers' Championship by a single point. In 2008, aged just 23, Hamilton became the youngest World Champion in Formula 1's history.

Jenson Button was born in Frome, Somerset on 19th January 1980. One of his first major racing achievements was taking first place in the Karting British Super Prix aged just nine. His journey to Formula 1 saw him compete in the British Formula Ford and British Formula Three Championships. Button made his Formula 1 debut with Williams in 2000, and went on to drive for Benetton, later renamed Renault, BAR subsequently renamed Honda and then following a management buyout : Brawn. After a number of difficult seasons, his talent and tenacity paid off as he won six of his first seven races during the 2009 season and ultimately became a World Champion.

well, we know well enough that in the last few years it's been all about Sebastian Vettel, having won all the last 4 championships (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)...however, the prospects for 2014 are not so promising for him, so we'll see what happens until the end.

Btw, when ordering this FDC, there were also two with just the stamps, not the sheet, signed by Hamilton and Button...but of course, they were sold out, so I had to comfort myself with this one....

for more sports entertainment, check out today's post at Viridian's!

Volleyball + Football, Argentina

Today's theme at Viridian's is sports and everything related to it....having quite a lot of sports' stamps, it was a but difficult to pick...and after changing my mind several times, i ended up with two sets of stamps Argentina issued in 2002

the first set consists of two stamps, each with a face value of 75c, issued on 27 April 2002 called 20th Century World Cup Football Champions, bearing the flags of championship winners (from 1930-2002). So on the left stamp you can see the flags of France, Germany, England, Argentina (of course), Brazil, Uruguay and Italy. So far, France have won in 1998, Germany in 1954, 1974 and 1990 (this last one, in the summer of 1990, i followed with great attention), England was a winner in 1966, Argentina has two titles, 1978 and 1986, Brazil is the record-holder with 5 titles - 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002, Uruguay was the best in 1930 and 1950 while Italy has won in 1934, 1938 and 1982. Following the 2002, two other championships were held, in 2006, with Italy winning and 2010, with Spain winning the trophy. The right stamp portrays Argentina in particular, and as I had already said, indicating the years it had won the championship, in 1978 and 1986.

the size of both stamps is 43.5 mm, in length and width, while the left one is also perforated on the inside in a round shape.

the second set for today shows the Men's World Volleyball Championship, 2002

there are four stamps in the set, each with a face value of 75c. issued in 28 September.

Width 33.5 mm
Height 43.5 mm
Perforations 13.6 by 13.5

The FIVB World Championship is an international men's and women's indoor volleyball competition. It is the oldest and most important of all the international events organized by the FIVB.
It is again held every four years, and Argentina was the host in 2002, where Brazil had won, beating Russia in the finals with 3-2. So far Argentina doesnt have any trophies, neither in men's nor women's competition.

Most trophies so far were lifted by the Soviet Union, 6 in total. Brazil and Italy follow with three each, Czechoslovakia has two, and Poland, US and East Germany have one. Funny to see three no more existing countries...


to get more of your sports' dose today, take a peek at Viridian's blog

World Champion in Water Polo - Melbourne 2007, Croatia

Apart from tennis and Formula 1, sport related stamps and cards are not really in my scope of collecting...but when something great is received, it is worth to show it, and this cover is a perfect example for that!

Goran used this mini sheet on his letter, which portrays the Croatian water polo team, the world champions of 2007, at the tournament held in Melbourne.

The event lasted from March 19 to April 1, where Croatia had not lost a single match throughout the tournament and had beaten Hungary 9-8 in the final game.
Stipe Karadžole says "Though it may sound unfair in respect to them, but all of the sudden, just like that – quite suddenly – the words “Croatian water polo players” came upon the lips of all of us and at this moment all the adjectives modifying these four words blend into one – magnificent"

no description can demonstrate what water polo players go through in their careers; along with that, they always find themselves shadowed by the more powerful sports and spend their time in swimming pools and fitness centres. Hours, weeks, months and years of training often remain unpaid for at the competition itself. Despite all this, the Croatian water polo had never lost its status in the world framework (or better to say in European frameworks because the almost complete top can be placed within them) but the medal was like the “forbidden fruit”. Particularly the golden one. In the seventies, the water polo players stepped onto the pedestal “only” three times – always a step below the gold: it was silver at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, and silver medals at the European championships in Florence and Kranj. But now the Croatian water polo touched the shiniest pedestal and this is what makes the gold from Melbourne historic. The goalkeepers Vićan and Pavić, the players Hinić, Smodlaka, Đogaš, Vrdoljak, Barač, Burić, Bošković, Bušlje, Kunac, Joković and Marković, the selector Ratko Rudić and the other numerous strong accompanying trumps, all these are the reasons why the Croatian water polo recorded the finest moments in its history in March 2007. The whole scenario had become even more perfect on account of the rivals who were part of their battling path. For years Hungary was the first letter in the ABC of water polo, and not infrequently they were flanked by Serbia. A rough qualitative description would even divide the representative world of water polo in two parts – Hungary and Serbia had made one and all other national teams made the other half of the world. In Australia, though, Rudić’s players managed to break through among the “elevated”. They had won against Serbia in the semi-finals in a wondrous way and then, in the great finals they beat Hungary. This is a team that can be best described in such a way as to compare them to the Brazilians in football. Because Hungary has dominated the water polo since the 19th century; this sport is their national pride, but in the finals Croatia was – “the water polo Brazil”. Frano Vićan rose to the surface from the swimming pool like an octopus and it is one of the unjust matters of this championship that he was not proclaimed the best goalkeeper. The offensive players Smodlaka and Hinić dealt with the foulest business in the swimming pool, Vrdoljak dragged on as a captain in some delicate moments, Bošković showed that what he held in his hands was a canon; Đogaš routinely used his great qualities, while Marković and Joković displayed the fact that they were the future of the Croatian water polo. Referring to Rudić, it suffices to say that he has 21 medals from great competitions to his credit and that he is the coach with the greatest number of trophies of all times. This is why his strong hand, in the water polo intelligence, was priceless. Along with all the individual qualities, what has been built upon, was a top-grade defence, a rationally conceived attack and what the team sport cannot do without: the water polo players have, from the very beginning been cast one into another – the positive team spirit and belief in success have led the thirteen players toward the greatest success of the Croatian water polo in history.


Technical details:

Value (of each stamp):       5 kn

Size:                                             105 x 68 (31,24 x 35,50) mm

Paper:                                          white 102g, gummed

Perforation:                                 Comb,14

Tehnique:                                    Multicoloured Offsetprint, Foil blocking

Date of issue:                              3.5.2007

XIII Games of the small states of Europe, Cyprus

Here is a nice FDC coming from Cyprus.

It was issued 1st of June in 2009, presenting the Games of the small states of Europe, where in 2009 these games were held.
The small countries of Europe are defined, for purposes of participating in the Games of the Small States of Europe, as those whose population is under one million. There are currently eight countries meeting this criterion and eligible to participate in the GSSE. The Faroe Islands, although recognised by FIFA, the governing body of football, do not have a separate Olympic Committee. Montenegro, whose National Olympic Committee was recognised in 2007, has not yet requested to join the GSSE.

The stamps issued show Tennis, Cycling and Sailing, although the games are not confined to these 3 sports only.

XXI Winter Olympic Games. Vancouver-2010, Ukraine

A FANTASTIC FDC/Cover!

I know the Olympics are way behind us now, but such great stamps are always more than appreciated.

The Ukrainian post office issued these on 05.02.2010, and the details about them are as follows, starting from left to right:
freestyle, face value – 2.00 UAH
ski race, face value – 1.50 UAH
luge, face value – 2.00 UAH
biathlon, face value– 1.50 UAH

Size of stamps – 24,36 х 50,46 mm.
Comb perforation – 11 1/2

Potection of stamps: microprint "В. Таран"; light elements of stamps luminesce under UV-light
Stamps are multicolored; printing process – offset, foil embossing

Ski Jumping, Austria

While the Winter Olympics are still going on, a nice cover from Austria from one of my former Austrian penpals....

the stamp issued in 1996, represents Ski jumping held at Tauplitz/Bad Mitterndorf, which back in 1996 was the host of Ski Jumping World Cup, held at the Kulm Ski Flying Hill.