The Czech Association for Olympic and Sports Philately OLYMPSPORT
The Czech Association for Olympic and Sports Philately OLYMPSPORT was founded in 1966 by Václav Robin Bušek from Strakonice and Jaroslav Justýn from Milevsko, making it the second association of its kind in the world, after the American society SPI.
It all began in Chocerady. In early April 1966, dedicated philatelists from across the country gathered there for the first seminar on thematic philately, and it was there that, under the leadership of Václav Robin Bušek and Jaroslav Justýn, that the first independent thematic section with a sports-oriented focus was established in Europe. Around the same time, the Polish Olympic Collectors’ Club was founded in Warsaw. Only a month later, in May 1966, a similar organization was established in neighboring Germany under the name IMOS. Later, similar institutions began to emerge in other countries without mutual coordination.
of the President of the IOC, J.A. Samaranch, in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne (1994)
on the occasion of the reorganization of FIPO
FIPO
Thanks to J.A. Samaranch, the International Olympic Committee took on the role of coordinator and, in 1983, founded FIPO – the International Organization for Olympic Philately, which it also headed. Initially, the members of this organization were individuals, but in 1994, it was transformed into an organization bringing together individual national associations for Olympic philately. OLYMPSPORT was among the 30 founding associations.
In 2010, the IOC decided to dissolve FIPO and at the same time initiated the creation of a working group composed of former FIPO members. The working group unanimously recommended the establishment of a new international organization that would include all areas of Olympic collecting, not just philately. The IOC then invited representatives of 19 Olympic collectors’ clubs, which were involved in the process, to participate in the founding of the new organization.
AICO (Association Internationale des Collectionneurs Olympiques) was founded on May 22, 2014, at a meeting of representatives from 19 clubs in 17 countries at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. And OLYMPSPORT was there again.
An integral part of the activities of the international organization AICO and the former FIPO is the organization of world exhibitions of Olympic philately under the name OLYMPHILEX. The first one took place in Lausanne in 1985, followed by Rome (1987), Seoul (1988), Varna (1990), Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), Athens (2004), and Beijing (2008). Members of the OLYMPSPORT society have also successfully participated in all these exhibitions with their exhibits.
While the first OLYMPHILEX took place in 1985, the first special thematic exhibition with an Olympic and sports theme, OLYMPSPORT, took place in our country as early as 1970. The venue was the South Bohemian metropolis, České Budějovice. A similar OLYMPSPORT ’80 exhibition took place ten years later, in 1980, the year of the Olympic Games in Moscow, again in České Budějovice.
Throughout its existence, OLYMPSPORT has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions with Olympic and sports themes, such as VERSO (Tokyo 64, Mexico 68, etc.), OLYMPHILEX, OLYMPIAFILA, SLOVOLYMPFILA, and more recently WOCF. In Czech Republic, OLYMPSPORT cooperated in organizing the first virtual competitive philatelic exhibition in the world called “Sport-O-net’07”, which took place on the JAPHILA website as part of a long-term virtual exhibition. Its exhibits can still be viewed at www.exponet.info. A year later, OLYMPSPORT realized another virtual promotional exhibition in honor of the 110th anniversary of the founding of the Czech Olympic Committee called OLYMPSPORT’2008. It can also still be seen on EXPONET.
In 2012, the IOC decided to award a commemorative J.A. Samaranch medal for contributions to Olympic collecting every year of the Olympic Games. Jaroslav Petrásek, the long-standing chairman of the OLYMPSPORT club (1986-2018), was the first in the world to receive this medal for the field of Olympic and sports philately from J.A. Samaranch, the son of the former IOC president.
Since 2017, OLYMPSPORT has been a registered association in the Prague Municipal Court. As a thematic society, like other specialized societies, it is a member of the Czech Philatelic Association and a collective member of the Czech Olympic Academy. It unites enthusiasts of Olympic and sports philately. In the future, in line with the focus of the AICO organization, it aims to engage collectors of other Olympic and sports collectibles.
OLYMPSPORT issues 3-4 newsletters per year for its members with information from the history and present of the Olympic and sports movement and philately. It organizes regular meetings of members (spring-autumn) with important personalities from the world of sports. It prepares postal artifacts with sports and Olympic themes – special cancellations, postmarks, mether cancellations, all on postcards or envelopes with a corresponding motif.
Members can participate in written auctions, exchange experiences in creating exhibition exhibits, borrow specialized literature, and advertise for free on the OLYMPSPORT website.
In 2024 OLYMPSPORT board applied for the opportunity to organize the Olympic collectors’ fair in 2025. OLYMPSPORT succeeded in the selection process organized by AICO, the selection was approved by the IOC and olympsport entrusted with organizing the 28th World Olympic Collectors Fair “WOCF Prague 2025” from May 30 to June 1, 2025. The motto of our Fair is to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the “VIII International Olympic Congress” held in Prague in 1925 on the same days.
Here is a small sample of OLYMPSPORT’s publishing activities:
For more information about the activities of OLYMPSPORT, exhibitions and publications, meetings of members and organized auctions, visit www.olymp-sport.cz or the website of the international association of Olympic collectors AICO (International Association of Olympic Collectors): https://aicolympic.org/wp-content/uploads/Olympsport-Publications/.