Founded on July 20, 1924, in
Moscow, it was the first sports newspaper of the
USSR, an official organ of the USSR State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports and
All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions. One of the major state-run Soviet newspapers, in 1975
Soviet Sports was distributed in 104 countries and had a circulation of 3,900,000 (which increased to more than 5,000,000 in 1988). Having the nominal price of three
kopeks, it was accessible to everyone in the country.
Soviet Sports provided daily coverage of major competitions in the USSR and abroad, of activities within national and international sports federations, published interviews with athletes, coaches and other sportspeople, and propagated a healthy lifestyle. It also organized traditional All-Union and international
ice hockey,
athletics,
volleyball,
swimming,
skiing and other tournaments. The newspaper was awarded the
Order of the Red Banner of Labour in 1974. After the breakup of the USSR,
Soviet Sports has been published by the
Russian Olympic Committee and Soviet Sports Publishing House. Since 2001 it has been printed in colour. In recent years the newspaper has shifted away from printed editions to publishing on its official website. ==Notable journalists==