The Daciad ( ro, Daciada) was a multi-sport competition held every two years in the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian People ...

meant to encourage mass participation in

amateur sports Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with givi ...

."Daciada, Olimpiada românilor"
, ''

Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Bucharest ...

'', December 24, 2008 Only six editions were held, the first being held in 1977–1978, when 6 million people participated (of which 2,000 were selected to participate in

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

). The last Daciad was the Winter Daciad of 1989; it was disbanded after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

History

Created at the initiative of president

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

, the name refers to the ancient province of

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...

, being part of the nationalist ideology promoted by the state in the 1970s and 1980s (''see National Communism in Romania''). The competitions were organized starting 1977 in all companies, schools, universities, military units, communes, cities and counties, in two editions: summer (March–October) and winter (November–February), with finals every two years. The Daciad promoted sports at a school level and the organization of competitions for all age categories, which encouraged school-children to practice sports and become part of the selection pool for various sports. Under the name of the Daciad, the state built

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

sport venue A sports venue is a building, structure, or place in which a sporting competition is held. A stadium (plural: stadiums or stadia) or arena is a place or venue for sports or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely ...

s, as well as company and county-level clubs. Even today, many of the sport venues and

sports complex A sports complex is a group of sports facilities. For example, there are track and field stadiums, football stadiums, baseball stadiums, swimming pools, and Indoor arenas. This area is a sports complex, for fitness. Olympic Park is also a kind ...

es in use in Romania date from that period. A number of Romanian champions and Olympic medal winners, including

Nicu Vlad Nicolae "Nicu" Vlad (born 1 November 1963) is a retired heavyweight weightlifter from Romania. He competed for Romania at the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal. He won the world title in 1984, 1986 an ...

, Traian Cihărean (weightlifting),

Maricica Puică Maricica Puică (née Luca on 29 July 1950) is a retired Romanian middle-distance runner. She is the 1984 Olympic champion in the 3000 metres. One of the greatest female middle-distance runners of the 1980s, she also twice won the World Cross Co ...

Ella Kovacs Ella Kovacs (born 11 December 1964) is a retired Romanian middle-distance runner of Hungarian descent who specialized in the 800 metres.

Alina Astafei Alina Astafei (known before 1995 as Galina Astafei; born 7 June 1969) is a Romanian-German track and field athlete who attained German citizenship in 1995. She was one of the world's leading high jumpers in the 1990s. Representing Romania, sh ...

Paula Ivan Paula Ivan (born 20 July 1963 as Ionescu, later known as Ilie) is a retired Romanian middle-distance runner. Born in Herăști, Giurgiu County, she graduated from the Gheorghe Șincai High School in Bucharest in 1982. In 1987, Ivan won gold ...

(athletes), Sanda Toma (canoe), and

Vasile Pușcașu Vasile Puşcaşu (born 2 May 1956) is a retired heavyweight freestyle wrestler from Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, So ...

(judo) first competed and were discovered during the Daciads."Olimpiada româneasca"
''

Evenimentul Zilei ''Evenimentul Zilei'' is a formerly physical and now exclusively online newspaper in Romania. Its name means "today's even (news)". History and profile ''Evenimentul Zilei'' was founded by Ion Cristoiu, Cornel Nistorescu and Mihai Cârciog, an ...

'', August 20, 2005 In 2013, Minister of Youth and Sports announced that he intends to revive the Daciad to encourage young people to practice sports."Daciada reînființată. Ministerul Tineretului și Sportului a pregătit proiectul"
''

Mediafax Mediafax ({{IPA-ro, ˌmedi.aˈfaks) is a Romanian media company headquartered in Bucharest and founded in 1991. It is a part of the MediaPro Group and its primary line of business is a news and photography service. The company's ''Mediafax Busines ...

'', August 7, 2013

References

External links

*{{Cite journal , last=Petracovschi , first=Simona , date=2020-12-11 , title=Daciada and Mass Sport during Communism in Romania as Reflected in the Sport Magazine: A Propaganda Tool , journal=

The International Journal of the History of Sport ''Stadion '' is a multilingual academic journal covering the history of sport. The editors-in-chief are Manfred Lämmer, Thierry Terret, and Maureen Smith (German Sport University Cologne German Sport University Cologne (German: Deutsche Sporth ...

, volume=37 , issue=15 , pages=1569–1587 , doi=10.1080/09523367.2020.1845156 Multi-sport events in Romania

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Youth sport in Romania Socialist Republic of Romania Recurring sporting events established in 1977 1989 disestablishments in Romania 1977 establishments in Romania Politics and sports Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1989