Sunday 4 August 2024

Sports

 

1956: Sports (Design - Raoul Seres; Engraver Charles-Paul Dufresne)
The sevens version of rugby appeared at the Olympics (the French won gold)

and basketball is yet to be decided
but Basque pelote was only an official sport at the 1900 Paris Games where only two teams took part, France and Spain, in essence  the Basque Country.  So lets find some more small countries
2015: 15th Island Games (Photographs: Andy Le Gresley)

The first of what would become the  Island Games were first arranged as part of the Isle of Man's International Year of Sports to offer sports people the opportunity to compete against islanders of a similar standard. 700 islanders from the British Isles, Mediterranean, St Helena, Iceland and Scandinavia travelled  to take part.  It was such a success that the competition now takes place every two years with various islands playing host.  2015 was the second time Jersey had hosted the games and it welcomed 3000 competitors and 1000 officials.  Between 12 and 14 sporting events are selected by the host island. As you will notice the 14 sports chosen  all have a postcard rate to send a card home.
Handball

The Faroe Islands, who hosted in 1989, had a special combination of postcards and stamps.

Sunday Stamps theme this week - Sports - See It On A Postcard



7 comments:

marina said...

The French stamps are really beautiful!

violet s said...

I watched a rugby sevens a couple of Olympics ago and was hooked, after resisting for so many years! That is a lot of athletes and officials for these island nations to hosts. Ooh, just checked, and Orkney hosts in 2025. I want to go!

Mail Adventures said...

It would really surprise me that Basque pelote becomes Olympic again!

viridian said...

Thanks for sharing these stamps.

Joy said...

Yes Marina I think so too
Oh yes Violet a trip to Orkney would be great and could combine sport with visiting their amazing neolithic sites.
True Eva although I think a few Latin American countries also play it so at least there would have enough teams to award gold, silver and bronze medals:)

Lisa said...

The Basque pelote is an interesting one, I didn't recognize what they were playing.

Four-eyed-missy said...

That pelote stamp brought back such nostalgia! In the Philippines, we call it both pelota and jai alai, though I'm not entirely sure if they're the same. I have fond memories of watching jai alai matches with my uncles and cousins on TV. As a kid, I didn't quite understand the game compared to basketball or boxing, our country's most popular sports. Nonetheless, it was a beloved pastime by until the unfortunate ban in the 80s due to illegal activities associated with it. It's a shame it hasn't regained its former popularity since its revival.

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