In grainy black and white footage, an unlimited bust of Joseph Stalin might be seen floating previous the previous Soviet Union chief, who raises his arm in a salute to himself and the athletes carrying it by way of Pink Sq..
Marching behind are Russian Olympians in tight leotards, shirtless wrestlers from central Asia with oiled muscle groups gleaming in the summertime solar, and gymnasts from Ukraine, resplendent in conventional vyshyvanka shirts and vynok flowers of their hair — all stepping in unison to the tune of the Soviet empire.
Going down on Pink Sq. each August 12 from 1931 to 1945, the Soviet athletes’ parade was a spectacular show of choreography with floats to rival the Rio carnival, fastidiously designed to showcase communist beliefs and masks the