Eurosportstamp 2021

(Above) Franceska Tecardi presenting winner Fabio Abbiati with his award.

 

2nd Edition of the Maurizio Tecardi International Award “Eurosportstamp 2021”

Today we celebrate the awarding of the 2nd Edition of the Maurizio Tecardi International Prize “Eurosportstamp 2021.” The award is given biennially at the end of the Olympic cycle to the artist who has designed the best postage stamp or Olympic sports-themed card. The award is made by the special Commission of UICOS, the Italian Union of Olympic Sports Collectors.

This initiative arose with the aim of renewing the memory, however indelible, of our Maurizio Tecardi, the first president of the association who was forceful in establishing UICOS as a part of CONI’s “Meritorious” Societies. And the best way to honor Maurizio is to associate him with his passion — Sport & Olympic Philately — that marked him throughout his life as an internationally renowned philatelist and expert.

The Prize is awarded in this less than “happy” year of 2022 due to the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Games to the following year. As a result, Olympic and sports emissions of the year 2021 have also been included in the competition.

The special Commission, which carefully monitored the stamp programs of the European countries belonging to the Universal Postal Union in the period 2019-2021, has arrived at the difficult final selection of the three best designs.

Before revealing them, the same Commission considered worthy of note three other designs that can be considered ex aequo for 4th place, namely: Italy (2020), Motoring, 50th anniversary of the 1970 Pininfarina “Modulo”; Italy (2020),  Cycling,  on the 20th anniversary of Gino Bartali’s death; Belgium (2020), Participation of the Olympic National Team in the Tokyo Games.

Finally… the podium finish was as follows:

3rd place: Armenia (2020), Tokyo Olympic Games

2nd place: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Olympic Games Block Sheet – Women’s Sport

The Maurizio Tecardi “Eurosportstamp 2021” Award, in its second edition, went to the artist Fabio Abbati, the artist behind the Italian stamp created in 2020 to honor a great Champion, Pietro Mennea, on the 40th anniversary of his splendid gold medal in the 200 meters at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. The stamp was printed by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato.