From 24 nations, a muscular army of 10,000 descended on Stuttgart, pitched their tents in public parks, and ate the city out of fresh fruit. Their weapons were the Indian club, the skipping rope and the trampoline; their uniforms were the leotard, the sweatshirt, and the bloomer; their hearts were uncompetitive and simon-pure. It was amateur night all week. In Stuttgart's commodious Nechar Stadium (capacity 90,000) and in 15 overflow halls around town, the third world festival of amateur gymnasts, the Gymnaestrada (the "way to gymnastics"), was under way.
For five days and nights, the jumping, grunting, lifting, leaping and writhing went...
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