The Workers' Olympiads were created as a counterweight for the Olympic Games, which were criticized for being confined for the upper social classes and privileged people. The international workers' sports movement did not believe that the true Olympic spirit could be achieved in an Olympic movement dominated by the aristocratic leadership.
Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the
International Olympic Committee, had always opposed women's participation and supported the cultural superiority of white Europeans over other races. His followers,
Henri de Baillet-Latour and
Avery Brundage, were openly anti-semitic and both collaborated with the Nazis. On the contrary, the Workers' Olympiads opposed all kinds of chauvinism, sexism, racism and social exclusiveness. The Olympic Games were based in rivalry between the nations, but the Workers' Olympiads stressed internationalism, friendship, solidarity and peace. The
Lucerne Sport International (later known as Socialist Workers' Sport International) was established in
Lucerne,
Switzerland in 1920. The first unofficial Workers' Olympiads were held a year later in
Prague,
Czechoslovakia. The IOC had banned the losing side of the
World War I from the
1920 Summer Olympics, but the Workers's Olympiads were open for the "enemy" side as well. The number of participating countries was thirteen. The first official Worker's Olympiads were the 1925 winter games in the
German town of
Schreiberhau, which today is a part of
Poland. They were followed by the first Summer Olympiads in
Frankfurt am Main. The visiting athletes stayed mostly at private accommodation of local families.
Praterstadion (now Ernst-Happel-Stadion) was constructed between 1929 and 1931 for the 1931 Olympiad. The last Workers' Olympiad at
Antwerp in 1937 was a joint event with the
Red Sport International organized
Spartakiads. == Olympiads, hosts and number of participating countries ==