World City Guide

Sport

Moscow hosted the Olympic Games in the summer of 1980 and as a result has a number of good sporting venues, although the 100,000-seat Lenin Stadium – former home of the Spartak Moscow (tel: (095) 799 5622; e-mail: info@spartak.dol.ru; website: www.spartak.com) football club – at the Luzhiniki stadium complex, is now a giant flea market. Spartak Moscow now plays at the Lokomotiv Stadium, Bolshaya Cher-kizovskaya ulitsa 125A (tel: (161) 9385 9063), as do Lokomotiv Moscow (website: www.lokomotiv.ru). The renowned Dinamo Moscow (website: www.football.ru/dm) football club plays at the Central Dinamo Stadium, 36 Leningradsky prospekt (tel: (095) 271 8529), while FC Torpedo Moscow (website: www.torpedo.ru) plays at the Torpedo Stadium, Vostchnaya ulitsa 4 (tel: (095) 275 0745). The fifth premier division team in the city is the Central Sport Club of the Army (website: www.cska.ru) – abbreviated TSSKA or CSKA – who play at the CSKA Peschanoe Stadium, Leningradsky prospekt 39A (tel: (095) 213 7992), as does the popular CSKA (website: www.cska.ru) ice hockey team. In fact, many of the teams cross sport boundaries – Spartak field an ice hockey team and CSKA also has a basketball team.

Tennis is currently enjoying a great deal of popularity, not least because it was frowned upon as bourgeois in Soviet times and because of the international success of Russian stars, such as Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Anna Kournikova and Marat Safin. Moscow hosts the country’s annual grand slam, the Kremlin Cup, at the Olympiisky Sports Complex, Mira prospekt 16 (tel: (095) 288 5453).

Partner (tel: (095) 363 5555; website: www.partner.ru) is a good ticketing company, covering sport, theatre and music events. The Moscow Head Office of Theatre, Concert and Sport Ticket Bureaus (tel: (095) 249 5792) provides information and tickets.

Banya: As sure as a Russian likes tea from a samovar, a Russian likes a banya – which usually includes a sauna, massage and sometimes even a light whipping with birch twigs, just to make sure that the circulation is really working. Seleznovskye Bani, Seleznovskaya ulitsa (tel: (095) 978 7521), meets all the necessary requirements for a traditional banya. Meanwhile, the Bani na Presne, Stolyarniy pereulok (tel: (095) 253 8690), takes a more modern approach.

Diving: Visitors to Moscow can learn to dive at the Sprut (Octopus) diving club (tel: (095) 212 5775).

Fitness centres: The new modern sanatorium-style complex Kimberly Land (tel: (095) 310 0401) offers an aqua park with some swimming pools (whirlpool, kids pools and hills), a fully equipped gym and Turkish baths. Bitsa Equestrian Sport Club (tel: (095) 318 5366) offers shooting, swimming, tennis, volleyball, aerobics, horseriding and paintballing, as well as a full fitness centre. The Entertainment Centre na Tulskoi, Kholodilny pereulok 3 (tel: (095) 954 0158; website: www.centr.ru/center.html), is open 1200-2400 for rollerskating (Rb80-150 per hour) and bowling (Rb60-100 per game), as well as 2300-0600 on Friday and Saturday for a roller disco.

Golf: There is a fairly central nine-hole course at the Moscow City Golf Club, Dovzhenko ulitsa 1 (tel: (095) 147 1826), where admission costs Rb1661/US$54 for non-members. More challenging 18-hole courses are further out at Le Meridien Moscow Country Club, in Nakhadino (tel: (095) 926 5911). Green fees are Rb3076/US$100 at the weekend and membership is required.

Tennis: The Chaika Tennis Courts, Korobeynikov pereulok 1 (tel: (095) 202 0474), are conveniently located near Park Kultury Metro station. There is also a swimming pool in the complex. Petrovsky Park Tennis Club, Leningradsky prospekt 36 (tel: (095) 212 7392), is another option.

Wintersports: There is a downhill ski jump in the Vorobyevi Hills and cross-country skiing opportunities at Izmailovsky Park and in the countryside outside of Moscow. There are numerous places to skate when the water freezes in mid-winter, including Gorky Park.