Soviet Indoor Athletics Championships
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| Sport | Indoor track and field |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1949 |
| Ceased | 1991 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
The Soviet Indoor Athletics Championships (Russian: Чемпионат СССР по лёгкой атлетике в помещении) was an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Soviet Athletics Federation, which served as the Soviet national championship for the sport. Typically held over two to three days in February during the Soviet winter, it was a later development to the national programme, supplementing the main outdoor Soviet Athletics Championships held in the summer.
Indoor athletics at a national level began to take shape in the Soviet Union from 1940 onwards, in the form of winter indoor matches between teams from Moscow and Leningrad, then expanding to cities including Kiev, Kharkov, and Odessa. The early history of event is linked to that of the All-Union Winter Competitions (Russian: Всесоюзные зимние соревнования), which were first held in 1949 and included outdoor throwing events and racewalking.
The event took the form of an indoor track and field championship in 1971 and a total of 22 athletics events (12 for men, 10 for women) were contested. The competition also featured a team element, with athletes' performances counting towards a points total for the Soviet Republic or major city that they represented. By the end of the competition's history, a total of 28 events (15 by men, 13 by women) were contested, with pole vault and steeplechase being the only events to remain for men only. With the exception of the indoor steeplechase, in its later years the championships programme roughly aligned with that of the IAAF World Indoor Championships (first held in 1987).
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