Recap: The Sports Culture of Moscow as Told by the City

Sports culture in Moscow is exceptionally close to the habits and stories of its denizens.

At the Youth Pioneers Stadium, the Soviet sentiment of athletics as a foundation of model citizenship was made apparent; we see that the Muscovite people were held to standards of perfection in body and mind.

At the Novogorsk Training Center, the Soviet thirst for victory and use of athletic prowess as an expression of political superiority was explored; we see that civil society is not above primitive displays of dominance.

At the monument of Eduard Streltsov, the common man’s need for personal contentment is manifested into popular sport spectatorship; we see that Moscow did not need revolution and direct conflict to resist the Soviet mentality.

At the Arena Khimki, the innocence of popular Soviet sports is defiled by excessive wealth and complicated by meaningless layers of raw competiton; we see that Moscow ails when a balance is not struck between capitalism and socialism.

Finally, at the Luzhniki Stadium, the present and future shines brilliantly in the face of a dismal past; we see that the Russian people are invincible.

Sports are just one aspect of society that help to tell its story, through the cycle of hope and oppression, for a people caught oscillating between philosophical extremes. In Russia, all begins and ends in Moscow.