Abstract

The aim of the article is to study how the theoretical guidelines of the leaders of the Soviet medicine and physical culture movement in 1923– 1926, especially N.A. Semashko, were practiced among young people and how the Komsomol participated in this process. In that period the foundations of the organization of the mass physical culture and sports movement were laid under the guidance of medical workers, and the main emphasis was placed on improvement of the health of the population in general and the health of young people in particular through scientifi c research and medical control. The experience gained in those years formed the basis for the subsequent offi cial policy of promoting physical education and sport among the population. By trial and error, the basic principles of the organization of the physical culture movement in the country were worked out through introducing amateur physical culture circles in enterprises, institutions and schools. The Komsomol was supposed to be involved in order to ensure control over the movement and take a leading role in the clubs. A number of important questions were also raised and resolved during this period, such as the permissibility of competitions and sports in Soviet physical education, the shortage of qualifi ed personnel and relevant equipment. The joint eff orts of the All-Union Council on Physical Culture under the All-Union Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR and the Komsomol bore fruit by the end of the period indicated, when the number of participants in the physical culture movement signifi cantly increased. At this stage Soviet sport was not yet the sport of great achievements and world records, but over time a network of amateur physical education groups covering the whole country was established. It helped to identify talented athletes at a young age and to make physical education and sport a part of the Soviet way of life for everyone.