Let's Not Walk Along the Edge of the Ditch

01.02.1995 (Neatkarīgā Cīņa)

ARTŪRS SLIEDE

Along with the pioneers and Komsomol members, record tables in schools and stands with photos of the best athletes - school graduates - have also disappeared. Teachers at the Latvian Academy of Sports Pedagogy claim that many students know nothing, for example, about the javelin thrower Jānis Doniņš - Jānis Lūsis's competitor. In my opinion, the Latvian Sports Hall of Fame could help. The premises should be found in the Sports Museum or somewhere else. The basics of sports history should also be included in school curricula. Sports agitation in schools must not disappear! 

The hours spent in the museum charged me emotionally again and therefore I could not remain silent. Since November 18 of last year, I have been tormented by doubts about the choice of recipients of the Three-Star Order. So many cultural workers were awarded, but nothing was awarded to representatives of sports or, as we said earlier, physical culture. By belittling sports, by not highlighting the human desire to improve oneself physically, we are denying our children the opportunity to experience the satisfaction that movement, strength, speed, flexibility, and endurance provide. With weak descendants, we will not be able to enter Europe and travel the world on the highway together with other nations. We will have to crawl along the edge of the ditch so as not to step on the feet of others because of our weakness.

How could it happen that no one even mentioned the inclusion of a sports great in the list of candidates for the Three-Star Order? We could discuss the suitability of one or another athlete for the status of a cavalier of the order, but forgetting our greats during the anniversary is a shame for our entire sports community. When the 65th birthday of the late basketball player Jānis Krūmiņš was commemorated at the Sports Museum anniversary, I thought that he could have been one of the candidates for the Three-Star Order. Unfortunately, it is now irretrievably overdue.

The press and elsewhere often mention the successes of today's Latvian greats in sailing, long jumping, and basketball. Maybe this year the ice will finally break. Maybe the wish of Grandmaster Jānis Karpov on the anniversary of the Sports Museum: "Let's not forget the sports of the little people!" will begin to come true. Not everyone can train in Belgium, Germany, St. Petersburg... Right here in Latvia, we need to produce fit people, play volleyball on the beach, do sports in every parish, and navigate the vast expanses of our forests...

I hope that the time will come when the Sports Museum will expand and we will be able to display the relics of our sports history for public viewing. Perhaps then, even more former, current, and future athletes will gather at the museum to recharge their batteries. Perhaps this moral doping will be what will allow one of our compatriots to stand on the highest step of the Olympic Games again.