Yelena Isinbayeva: “The stadium grows before my very eyes”

In the course of the working visit of the region Governor Andrey Bocharov to the construction site, the two-time Olympic gold medalist Yelena Isinbayeva, a Rotor’s veteran Aleksandr Nikitin, and the Olympic champion Yelena Slesarenko visited the Volgograd Arena Stadium. The visit was mainly dedicated to improvement of surrounding grounds and the arena use after the FIFA World Cup.

“We have invited you so you could actually see the construction in progress, the people working round the clock, and complexity of the facility itself”, said Andrey Bocharov to the meeting participants. “We have a lot of work to do so the stadium lives after the World Championship. Presently we are collecting proposals, and consider the facility as the core of a serious sports hub”. The Governor noted that the unique architectural structure under the largest cable roof in Russia will not be the only magnet for the Samara locals and guests, as the sports arena surrounding grounds will feature the recreation area, city promenade and a beach.

Yelena Isinbayeva for the first time visited the Volgograd Arena’s bowl. “The stadium construction is fast, it grows before my very eyes. Its contours are already visible, and one can imagine what a beautiful sports facility it is going to be. Standing in the bowl you realize how huge and high-end it is. And it resembles me of Olympic stadiums I have performed at”, shared her impressions the 2018 FIFA World Cup embassador in Volgograd. The Olympic medalist believes hosting the World Cup will give momentum to development of the city sports potential. “All this infrastructure will become a powerful sports cluster the city really needs. And what’s most important, children will actually see the world football stars and understand that everything is possible; the psychological barriers of the football stars’ unattainability will be demolished. It will be very useful for them”.

The Chairman of the Regional Committee for Youth Policy Yelena Slesarenko further thanked the general contractor of the stadium construction for proactive social commitment and assistance in implementation of the career guidance project Navigator. From April through October 2016, with direct involvement of STG, over 120 residents of orphanages and boarding schools, the region leading enterprises and educational institutions visited the stadium construction site. The key project event was a two-day festival attended by the international expert in social orphanhood Aleksander Gezalov, the football player Aleksander Nikitin and the Olympic medalist Larisa Ilchenko.    

The Volgograd Arena designed for 45,000 spectators will host four matches of the group stage of 2018 FIFA World Cup. After the World Championship the stadium will become a base of the Volgograd club Rotor-Volgograd.