- News>
- Newspapers
Glamor, cash, rock `n` roll - Athletics Moscow style: The Times of India
Moscow, Sept 21: A former Miss World, the Red Army Choir and a $1 million race - it was athletics Moscow style. The Moscow Challenge meet on Saturday was an opportunity for the host of the 1980 Olympics - and one of nine cities bidding for the 2012 games - to prove it still has what it takes to put on a good show.
Moscow, Sept 21: A former Miss World, the Red Army Choir and a $1 million race - it was athletics Moscow style. The Moscow Challenge meet on Saturday was an opportunity for the host of the 1980 Olympics - and one of nine cities bidding for the 2012 games - to prove it still has what it takes to put on a good show.
``We`ve got a stage that probably cost a king`s ransom to put together with an opening ceremony that would grace any major championship,`` British manager John Regis said. ``These guys are very serious about what they do.``
Former Miss World Oksana Fyodorova added a touch of glamor to the opening ceremony, welcoming an estimated 30,000 spectators to the vast Luzhniki Olympic Stadium.
And the Red Army choir belted out an extended version of Russia`s rousing national anthem - keeping the athletes standing a long time in the crisp evening air. The choir later accompanied local rock group Moralny Kodeks in a rendition of the Beatles hit ``Back in the USSR.``
With $2.4 million in total prize money, the eight-event meet attracted some of the world`s best athletes. The men`s 100 meters had a prize package of $1 million - one of the biggest in the history of the sport, with half going to winner Justin Gatlin of the United States.
Russian sports minister Vyacheslav Fetisov thanked Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov for the dry weather - Luzhkov is famous for guaranteeing rain-free events by having threatening clouds dispersed with chemical agents. However, not even Luzhkov could stop temperatures dropping to a chilly 7 degrees C (45 degrees F).
Officials have been careful not to promote Saturday`s event as part of Moscow`s bid to host the 2012 Olympics - official campaigning is not permitted until next year. Deputy Mayor Valery Shantsev, however, made no attempt to disguise Moscow`s motives. ``In the Moscow Challenge we see the first sign that the Olympic Games will come to our city,`` he said in the opening ceremony. Paris and New York are currently favorites to host the 2012 games. The other bidders include Havana, Cuba; Istanbul, Turkey; Leipzig, Germany; Madrid, Spain; London; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The IOC will select the host city in July 2005.
The Moscow meeting ended in even greater pomp than it began. Crowned and robed in gold, the eight winners were whisked away on horse-drawn carriages. At a closing press conference they were full of praise for the event and the hardy spectators.
``I felt the crowd,`` Gatlin said. ``They were always there for me.``
``We`ve got a stage that probably cost a king`s ransom to put together with an opening ceremony that would grace any major championship,`` British manager John Regis said. ``These guys are very serious about what they do.``
Former Miss World Oksana Fyodorova added a touch of glamor to the opening ceremony, welcoming an estimated 30,000 spectators to the vast Luzhniki Olympic Stadium.
And the Red Army choir belted out an extended version of Russia`s rousing national anthem - keeping the athletes standing a long time in the crisp evening air. The choir later accompanied local rock group Moralny Kodeks in a rendition of the Beatles hit ``Back in the USSR.``
With $2.4 million in total prize money, the eight-event meet attracted some of the world`s best athletes. The men`s 100 meters had a prize package of $1 million - one of the biggest in the history of the sport, with half going to winner Justin Gatlin of the United States.
Russian sports minister Vyacheslav Fetisov thanked Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov for the dry weather - Luzhkov is famous for guaranteeing rain-free events by having threatening clouds dispersed with chemical agents. However, not even Luzhkov could stop temperatures dropping to a chilly 7 degrees C (45 degrees F).
Officials have been careful not to promote Saturday`s event as part of Moscow`s bid to host the 2012 Olympics - official campaigning is not permitted until next year. Deputy Mayor Valery Shantsev, however, made no attempt to disguise Moscow`s motives. ``In the Moscow Challenge we see the first sign that the Olympic Games will come to our city,`` he said in the opening ceremony. Paris and New York are currently favorites to host the 2012 games. The other bidders include Havana, Cuba; Istanbul, Turkey; Leipzig, Germany; Madrid, Spain; London; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The IOC will select the host city in July 2005.
The Moscow meeting ended in even greater pomp than it began. Crowned and robed in gold, the eight winners were whisked away on horse-drawn carriages. At a closing press conference they were full of praise for the event and the hardy spectators.
``I felt the crowd,`` Gatlin said. ``They were always there for me.``