The Philatelic Olympics (PO) were held for the first time in 1973, four years after the founding convention of the Union of Slovak Philatelists (ZSF), which became part of the Union of Czechoslovak Philatelists. The chief activity of the Clubs of Young Philatelists (KMF) is the collection of postage stamps according to the interests of the individual young member. The leaders of the KMF teach both the specialist and practical basics of philately to the club members. And of course, they prepare their wards for the Philatelic Olympics.
The PO takes place every year, as a rule in May or June. The first rounds are held at club level, followed by the regional rounds, and finally by the national round. When there was still a joint Czechoslovak state, all-state finals were held every five years. The young people prepare under the supervision of their leaders in the individual Clubs of Young Philatelists. This preparation is focused on a specific topic which is announced a year in advance by the ZSF Youth Committee. Over the course of the 47 years of the existence of the PO, the topics have varied, focusing on various fields of social, cultural and sports life. Please allow me to mention some of them from the years between 1973 and 1989: The Beauties of Our Homeland, Building the Socialist State, The Successes of Our Agricultural Workers, The 30th Anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s Liberation, The Successes of Our Sports People at the Olympics and others. From 1993 onwards, as the independent Slovakia, we have had such topics as: The Culture of Our Nation, The History of Slovakia’s Cities, Philately and Schools, Youth and Technology, Sport and Olympism, The Postage Stamp Day, The 100th Anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s First Stamp, and others.
In recent years, as the number of KMF has decreased, along with a decrease in the number of young people involved, the regional rounds have been cancelled and only the club rounds and the national round have been held. The competition takes place in five age categories Z, A, B, C, D, from 8 to 21 years. The topic, which is announced every year, is the same for all age categories, the only difference is the degree of difficulty of the tests that focus on the specialist philatelic area and the specific topic for that year. The PO competition itself has two parts: theory (the philatelic area in question and the particular topic) and practise, which requires the creation of a mini-exhibit from postage stamps and other philatelic material related to that years topic. The chief sponsors of the POs are Slovenská pošta, a. s. (Slovak Post), and the Ministry of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic.
Postage stamp devoted to PO is part of a series youth Olympics issued from 2017. KMF planned to promote this stamp on National Round of the 48th Year of the PO during Bratislava Collectors Day in Incheba. But unfortunately, this year the Philatelic Olympics have been cancelled due to the pandemic coronavirus COVID-19.
Jozef Oško
