Olympic competitions returned to “Luzhniki” on August 8, when the whole country celebrated the XXXI Russian Olympic Day, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the XXII Olympic Games. The sports festival was held at the same time with the Athlete's Day. Famous Russian athletes, winners and prize-winners of the Olympic Games, World and European Championships, and, of course, the heroes of the Games in 80s have arrived at “Luzhniki”. Basketball player Nelly Feryabnikova, water polo players Yevgeny Sharonov and Yevgeny Grishin, volleyball players Vladimir Kondra, Lyubov Kozyreva and Alexander Savin, pentathlete Anatoly Starostin, gymnast Vladimir Markelov, shooter Igor Sokolov were happily sharing their memories of home Olympic Games and outstanding victories, including ones which happened on the territory of “Luzhniki”. An exposition dedicated to the 1980 Olympic Games was presented at “Luzhniki”: commemorative and award medals, Olympic roubles, badges, Olympic Bears of different shapes and sizes, tickets to competitions and tracksuits attracted the attention of even those who do not follow the world of sports very closely. Children and their parents looked at the pieces of Russia's sports history with undisguised interest, noticing the very familiar outlines of soft toys and other souvenirs with Moscow - 80s symbols.
Along with the known sports, the Olympic Day also introduced some exotic things so far. For example, mass-wrestling - the Yakutsk national wrestling, where the rivals sit down opposite each other, put their feet on the separating them board, and hold the same stick in the air with both hands. The winner is the one who manages to snatch it out of the hands of the other or pull the opponent over to his side.
The culmination of the day was two gala matches which were held at the Big Sports Arena. Teams of the Ministry of Sports and the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation played on one half of the field in 8×8 format, and the winners of Olympic medals in summer and winter sports played on the other half.
The Ministry of Sports team won with a minimum score at one go the match, and a real scoring excitement was at the match of the Olympians. The goal in the “summer” team was designed by Yuri Borzakovsky, another goal was scored by Dmitry Bulykin. Aleksandr Legkov and Aleksey Esin distinguished themselves in the “winter” team, while Sergey Gryaztsov scored a double. The final score is 5:4.
“I usually play football after work,”- said Yuri Borzakovsky, Olympic champion in the 800-meter race. - “I am very happy that I managed to enter the perfect lawn of the “Luzhniki” BSA. Our team played very harmoniously, but I would like to highlight Dmitry Bulykin, Andrey Karjaka and Stanislav Pozdnyakov, who needed just a bit more to distinguish himself. Thanks to the Russian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports for such a wonderful festival.”
