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Published: June 26th 2017
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Geo: 55.75, 37.62
Sunday was our real last day in Moscow. In the morning we went to Gorky Park. We had not gone there during our two previous visits and thought Sunday morning was a perfect time. It was only one stop on the Metro and then a short walk across the bridge to the other side of the river.
There were many Muscovites all doing the same and many families taking advantage of the warm sunshine. We walked through the gates and walked along the wide street filled with roller skaters, cyclists and skate boarders. In the distance we could see the Space Shuttle we had been told was there. This is now used to shelter the bike hire depot and looked a little worse for wear up close.
Then it was into the park itself. This is a beautiful, peaceful place where families were relaxing. There are large orange and green bean bags and lilos everywhere on the grass. The floral displays are magnificent and there is a dancing fountain at one end. As we strolled we came across the local wildlife, a red squirrel dashing around the trees and grass. Then there was a large lake with paddle boats for hire.
A great place for a picnic or lunch at one of the many small cafes. We tried to have lunch at a restaurant on the banks of the river but after waiting for 20 minutes for someone to serve us, we gave up.
We walked back across the river over a covered bridge, especially for pedestrians. Must be good in winter. We emerged into the suburb of Frunseskaya and found a small cafe, Coffee Mania, where we had lunch. Again, not a tourist place, but with reasonable prices and excellent service. A short walk from there got us to the local Metro and we returned to the hotel ready for the last session of the Championships.
This was to be a wonderful finale to what has been an exciting week. Our main focus was on the Women's Javelin where we had two Aussie girls in the final. Kathryn Mitchell threw over 63 metres in her first throw for a season's best and then on her second throw Kim Mickle threw a new PB of 66.25 to take the lead. However, the German girl Obergfoll responded with 69 metres putting Kim into second.. Then it was an agonising wait to see if the
Russian girl, Abakusova, could throw further. When she remained in third after her last throw, Kim, with a huge smile on her face relaxed and threw another PB of 66.80m , not far enough to win gold but what a great performance. Kathryn placed 5th which was also very creditable.
After that we got to watch Sally Pearson collect her silver medal while the big disappointment was that the Men's 4x100m relay dropped the baton in the heat at the second change. I felt sorry for the last runner who had waited until the last day for his chance to run at the World Championship and was denied that!
The best performance on the night was from Teddy Tamgoh from France who jumped 18.04metres in the Triple Jump. This was the furthest anyone had jumped in 17 years. He did it on his last jump after several close fouls. The Jamaicans took both relays and gave Bolt and Fraser-Pryce their 3rd gold medals. We then didn't wait for the speeches etc and met Peter and Penny and Tony Rice. We travelled to near Peter and Penny's hotel and had a nice final meal in an Italian restaurant.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my
time in Moscow as it is now a modern cosmopolitan city that I could recommend as a tourist destination to anyone. My first World Championship has been a fabulous experience made better by all the old friends we reconnected with at the track.
Now on to Scandinavia!
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