Photo: @mishin_alexus
Never a dull moment for the Great 8. After returning to Russia this week, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has been a busy man.
Friday night, Ovechkin made an appearance prior to the CSKA basketball game, signing autographs and taking photos with fans.
Photo: @Life
On Sunday Ovechkin joined local dignitaries in touring Moscow’s new state-of-art Luzhniki soccer stadium. (The original stadium was demolished in 2013 to give a way for construction of the new stadium).
Ovechkin also participated in the ceremonial planting of Cherry trees as part of the “Cherry Forest” Arts Festival held on the stadium grounds.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup has been awarded to Russia and the Luzhniki Stadium has been selected by the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup bid as the venue for the final, which will be held on July 15, 2018. Ovechkin was appointed as an Ambassador for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia in November, 2016.
Photo: FIFA
The original Luzhniki Stadium hosted the final game of the 1957 Ice Hockey World Championship between Sweden and the Soviet Union, attended by a crowd of 55,000 and setting a new world record at the time.
On October 20, 1982, disaster struck during a UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem. 66 people died in the stampede, which made it Russia’s worst sporting disaster at the time.
Here are a few more photos from today’s event:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUpBAlbg135/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUo6vtcFtis/
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