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THETRUTHOFSPORT
personwasoutoftheauthorities)favor,sometimesevenjailedorkilled,his
namewasautomaticallyerasedfromanydocuments.Quiteofen,anymention
ofsuchapersonwasprohibitedincontemporarywritings,etc.Tiswas,for
instance,thecaseofthefamousPolishfencerJerzyPawłowski,whowasac-
cusedofcooperationwiththeCIA,andthenarrested,sentenced,andjailed.
InallsubsequentPolishstatistics,sportencyclopediasandothersourceshis
namewasomitted,despitethefactthatearlier,duetohisnumerousachieve-
ments,Pawłowski)snamehadbeenextensivelyusedtoprovethesuperiority
oftheCommunistsystem.Itwas,bytheway,veryfunnytoseeOlympicstatis-
ticsstartingwithnamesofrunners-up,becausePawłowski)snamewasomitted.
SovietfootballerJurijStrelcovwas,attheturnofthe1950s,thesuper-heroof
Communistpropaganda.Butatthepeakofhiscareerhewasaccusedofraping
ayounggirlandforthisreasonhisnamedisappearedfromsportspublications
andstatisticsformanyyears.Butthiswas,atleast,tosomeextentunderstand-
ableduetothefootballer)simmoralbehaviour,althoughhisnameshouldnot
havebeenerasedfromofcialdocumentsandnotappearedinpublicwithout
propercommentary.Buttherearemoretragiceventsinthehistoryofsport,
whichduetoitsnaturewerenotincludedintheofcialhistoryofaparticu-
larcountry.Forinstance,inEstoniaunderSovietoccupation(since1940),all
ubourgeois”ofcialsoftheEstonianOlympicCommitteewerearrestedandsent
tougulags”whilesomeofitsmembersalongwiththePresidentJoakhimPuhk
weresimplyexecutedonthespotwithoutatrailwhenSovietNKVDofcers
enteredtheOlympicOfce.Later,onecouldhardlyfindanyinformationabout
itinofcialSoviethistoriesoftheOlympicMovement.TebestathleteofEsto-
niawasthedecathlete,HeinoLipp,whoseworldrecordsweremuchbetterthan
theresultsofAmericanathleteBobMathias,achampionofthe1952Helsinki
Olympics.ButLippwasnotallowedtocompeteinHelsinki,becauseheheroi-
callyrefusedtowearanoverallandashirtwiththenameandtheemblemofthe
SovietUnion.FactsofthiskindrarelyfindanyplaceeitherinSovietorWestern
historiesofOlympism.Intheformeritwasomittedduetoafalseunderstand-
ingoftheCommunistsystem)sprestige.Inthelatter,intheso-calledfreeworld,
itwassometimesignoredduetoalackofknowledgeandinordernottoir-
ritateSovietandlaterRussianmembersofinternationalsportfederationsand
committees.Tehistoryofsportintotalitariancountriescontainsinnumerable
examplesofsuchdisfavoredfigures,facts,andevents.Terearestillcountries
ruledbytotalitariangovernments,andwecanbesurethatsuchthingsstillhap-
penofen.
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