downhill sports
No athlete from Togo has ever competed in the Winter Olympics, though they have participated in the Summer games since 1972. That didn't stop the country from participating in Olympic stamps. Here are two from the 1960 Games held in Squaw Valley.
On the left is the slalom
and on the right, bobsled. Interestingly, there was no bobsleigh event in 1960 as the officials decided that it would not be cost effective to build a venue for the nine countries sending teams, but Togo still issued a stamp featuring a four man bobsleigh! I know the style has changed much over the decades, but this looks more like a toboggan to me. I like the stylized drawing that engraver Jacques Combet chose for these stamps.
For the Sochi games, there is this rather bland grey on grey series from 2012
that includes a snowboarder and alpine skier. Others in the set include skeleton, luge and speed skating. Snowboarding was only introduced in the 1998 games in Nagano, but alpine skiing has been included since 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
I know this was last week's theme for Sunday Stamps, but as I accidentally slept through the weekend in a flu-ish stupor and forgot to post...
Oh, my beau is gonna love these stamps! He's fan of monoski and we also like this movie Cool Runnings (1193) about the first Jamaican bobsled team.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing them Violet Sky despite feeling unwell. I hope you'll get better soon!
I was going to mention the Jamaicans, but ... forgot ...
DeleteAre you completely recovered now? Better late than never...I love the old stamps with the toboggan (yes it does look exactly like a toboggan.
ReplyDeletenot really recovered... but at the last stages
Deletelove the Togo stamps...always wanted to get into a bobsleigh and *fly* down! There is something both fascinating and terrifying in it...and I guess that's where the adrenaline is going to come from :)
ReplyDeletewishing you speedy recovery!
thanks,. adrenaline would be a definite asset. mine would be sheer terror!
DeleteI rather like the Sochi Games stamps. They certainly convey a feeling of movement.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they will grow on me. Actually, when I enlarged them, I rather liked the details, but, for the size of the stamp those details still seem lost.
DeleteI like the Togo stamps, but I am opposed to countries issuing Olympic stamps for sports that they don't participate in.
ReplyDeleteI fee the same way and I have quite a few African stamps for Olympics sports that they were not a part of - still trying to understand the reasoning (beyond making money?)
DeleteI hope you are feeling much better. I personally find the downhill sports, going way fast, to be very scary. I guess they are exciting, but not for me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating!
They are way too scary for me to ever try, but I love to watch! I think snowboard events are my favourite.
DeleteLove those Togo line drawings. How things have changed since the 1960 games. I usually don't like countries that issue stamps nothing connected to them but the exception is Olympic Games which somehow think belong to the world.
ReplyDeleteThe drawing make me think of simpler times, and pencil crayons!
DeleteThe Olympics do belong to the world, but the summer games more so than the the winter. There seems little connection to subsaharan Africa and downhill skiing!
Nice examples of winter sports. Get Well soon.
ReplyDeletethanks. and I'm feeling much better now.
DeleteLove to have the Togo stamps. A real treasure!
ReplyDeletePostage Stamp:My Sunday Stamp#75M
They are rather nice - one (two) of my favourite Olympics stamps.
DeleteA wonderful selection. I'm generally not one for watching the Olympics as such, but I find the winter sports more watchable, especially the bobsleigh.
ReplyDeleteI much prefer the winder games. Though every time I say I'm not going to watch, I always get sucked into the excitement, eventually.
DeleteNever mind the Togo stamps, I like them all. Glad you decided to post them this week. Get well soon.
ReplyDeleteCool stamps.
ReplyDeleteHope you're feeling better!