Dinamo Stadium in Minsk after the renovations: opening ceremony, countdown to the 2nd European Games, International Athletics Event and a football match
The legendary Dinamo Stadium in Minsk reopened after a large-scale six-year renovation on 21 June. One of the city’s landmarks and the country’s main sports arena that hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics is enjoying a new lease on life as it welcomed a new generation of athletes and spectators. In a year the arena will host the 2nd European Games MINSK 2019.
Dinamo Stadium in Minsk was inaugurated over 80 years ago. It is a unique facility that has witnessed many generations of athletes. It is a home stadium of FC Dinamo Minsk that won the USSR championship in 1982. It was razed to the ground during the Great Patriotic War to reopen only in 1954. It has experienced a series of dramatic transformations, including a facelift for the 1980 Summer Olympics and an upgrade in 1999 when benches were replaced with seats and the capacity was reduced from 50,000 to 34,000.
However, the third renovation in the run-up to the 2nd European Games marked a new page in the history of the stadium. The architects saw it as a modern and well-equipped athletic facility that meets international standards. Their vision has become a reality: about 22,000 comfortable seats most of which are under roof, all-weather running tracks with a special IAAF-recommended running surface, the latest in sound and video solutions… The Olympic cauldron built for the 1980 Summer Olympics, the famous arcade from the side of Ulyanovskaya Street and the sculptural composition Running have remained in place.
The Dinamo Stadium opening ceremony on 21 June was watched by thousands of spectators in the stands and on TV. A few minutes before the launch of the ceremony, over the stadium speakers came the well-familiar voice of Leonid Bondarovich who has announced everything that has happened at the stadium for many years.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko addressed the audience with welcoming remarks. The head of state recalled the glorious history of Dinamo Stadium, thanked, on behalf of the athletes and everyone, those who took part in the reconstruction project and challenged young athletes to scale new heights.
The head of state gave a symbolic key from the stadium to Belarusian athletes – members of the national athletics team and football players and launched the countdown to the 2nd European Games.
After the spectacular ceremony Dinamo Stadium hosted its first tournament: the relay race among the juniors. Its winners received the right to compete at the 2018 European Championships and the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. The start of the race was given by the eminent guests: President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Sebastian Coe and Olympic 100m champion Yulia Nesterenko. Sebastian Coe was the award-winning athlete in the past who set 12 world records. He won his first gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980.
The opening ceremony was followed by an exciting football match between the combined team of Dinamo Minsk and Dynamo Brest and a team of clubs of the Belarusian championship. The new turf on the main arena was tested by well-known Belarusian football players Alexander Hleb, Mikhail Gordeichuk, Denis Shcherbitsky, Maksim Bordachev. The game was action-packed, with Dinamo players taking the lead early in the game and the team of Belarusian clubs leveling off after the break. In the final minutes Dinamo striker Roman Vasilyuk took his team in front 4-3.
After the renovations Dinamo Stadium received UEFA Category 4, which means that very soon Belarusian football fans will enjoy their national team and Belarusian football clubs in action at the home arena.
On picture: Alexander Lukashenko with javelin thrower Tatsiana Khaladovich and FC Dinamo Minsk Artem Bykov
