The Athletics Week started in Moscow with races on Nikolskaya Street. Especially for the competition in the very center of the capital, not far from Red Square, a platform was installed, on which four tracks were laid for a 60-meter race.
The competition was originally conceived and perceived by the participants more as a show that should draw the attention of fans to the queen of sports. In this regard, stars from other sports, as well as eminent athletes of the past, were invited to the tournament. The host of the event was Dmitry Guberniev, who was assisted by Olga Buzova at the very beginning. For a couple, they even staged an impromptu race.
The idea of the organizers fully justified itself: by the beginning of the competition, a lot of spectators gathered at Nikolskaya, who actively supported the participants. Of course, fans of figure skaters stood apart, who brought posters and flags depicting favorites, as well as huge bouquets of flowers. However, even after the star races, the audience did not decrease, which made the athletes very happy. Many of them noted that they received an incredible charge of emotions and really miss such an atmosphere at the competitions.
In each type of program - smooth and hurdle 60 meters among men and women - there were two qualifying races, the winners of which went directly to the final. Two more places were awarded according to the best results.
The tournament began with a surprise: the 2017 world champion in the 200-meter Ramil Guliyev did not make it to the final. He became only the third in his race, where Danila Ten won. A fierce battle unfolded among the second four. Ertan Özkan could not even brake after the finish and flew over the soft fence. Fortunately, there were no injuries, but thanks to this speed, the Turkish sprinter managed to break into the decisive round of the competition. It also included Igor Obraztsov and Yaroslav Tkalich, who were hacked to death with each other in the final. As a result, the victory went to Tkalich, who was ahead of his opponent by 0.02 seconds. The Smolensk athlete presented himself with a solid birthday gift - a personal best at a distance of 60 meters (6.58 seconds).
"It's unusual to run on a platform. So many spectators, so much support, the emotional background is prohibitive. If you cope with these emotions, you get to show a good result. The organizers did their best, attracted many stars, Olympic champions, world champions. We just had to not hit the dirt in the face and show beautiful seconds," said the runner after the performance.
In other sports, the victories were won by the deliberate favorites. So, in the smooth running among women, the 15-time champion of Russia Kristina Makarenko excelled. She was accompanied by Victoria Maksimova, Natalia Kombarova and Vera Filatova.
The girls admitted that for the first time they took part in competitions outside the stadium and were very impressed.
"It's great to feel like you're in a different environment. Abroad, such an atmosphere is present in stadiums, we, unfortunately, do not have this, but here we felt this adrenaline a little," the winner said.
In the women's hurdles, the victory went to the guest from Belarus Elvira Graborenko, and among men, Sergey Shubenkov expectedly climbed to the top step of the podium. The athlete, like his colleagues, said that he enjoyed the performance in an unusual location, although he had not run a short sprint for nine years.
"Initially, I had an attitude to this race as a show, a party. We gathered to have fun almost on Red Square. It was clear from the beginning that it would turn out to be a cool event. Thanks to the organizers. The event is cool and necessary for athletics, especially now. It was necessary to come up with something like this earlier. But now they did great, I want more," the former world champion told reporters.
He also shared his feelings about running on the platform. According to him, it is not easy to get used to such a path.
"It's so elastic and springy, but it's different all the time. Her reaction is completely unpredictable, so she had to run carefully, she does not forgive mistakes at all. It was necessary to gather the will into a fist and work perfectly. And even this is not a guarantee that a good result will be obtained. But by the way, I am also pleased with the result," Shubenkov emphasized.
As for the star races, they were opened by a quartet of figure skaters - Alina Zagitova, Kamila Valieva, Sofia Akatieva and Adelia Petrosyan. Fans on the eve wondered which of the athletes would become the champion, but the girls decided not to tempt fate and stopped, running to the finish line, and then almost simultaneously stepped over the line. Friendship won, which the fans of the athletes really liked.
But in the next race, a real battle unfolded between representatives of different species. The winner was chess player Sergey Karjakin, who was ahead of weightlifter Mikhail Koklyaev, figure skater Alexei Yagudin and world record holder in high jump Javier Sotomayor.
"I didn't understand anything, just the siren sounded and I started. I was told: save up your strength - I don't know what happened next. Judging by the shouts of the audience, I realized that I seemed to be in the lead, and I ran as best I could. How to perform in such a company? Star company, I immediately said that I did not claim a medal, but it was a tactical move. Of course, I wanted to win, but I understood that it would be difficult," admitted the grandmaster.
Separately, four players also took to the start. Evgeny Aldonin coped with the distance the fastest, Dmitry Bulykin finished second, followed by Alexander Filimonov and Ruslan Pimenov.
"Zhenya is now in a form that he did not have, in my opinion, even during his playing career. He runs great. We didn't prepare for the race in any way, we didn't even warm up. Football players, by and large, never warm up and sometimes get injured because of this. But the main thing today was to please everyone," Bulykin said with a smile.
The honor of closing the competition day at Nikolskaya was presented to the Olympic champions in the 110-meter hurdles Asnier Garcia and Dayron Robles, who competed with Philip and Konstantin Shabanov. The victory went to the eldest of the brothers, and for him it was the second race in a row.
"I ran even faster than in the previous final. I would like the opposite, but as it turned out, it happened, "said Konstantin.
After that, award ceremonies were held, which were held by Olympic champions Irina Privalova and Yuri Borzakovsky, and the tournament ended with the performance of the Russian anthem.