01.03.2016.

Athletic Hall opens in Belgrade

President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic has officially opened this evening the newly built athletics hall at Banjica, which marked the beginning of the first International Athletic "Serbian Open Indoor Meeting".

The opening ceremony was attended by Minister of Youth and Sports Vanja Udovicic, State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Zoran Djordjevic, Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali and representatives of international and Serbian athletic organizations.

President Nikolic said that the opening of the hall was "a historic moment for our athletes and our country". He recalled that it took six years to build this sports hall noting that it was made according to the standards of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

- This is an example of how a good idea easily connects the two ministries that care about the young people, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and how to come to success by joint efforts. The hall is important for our celebrated athletes and children who are just discovering the beauty of the queen of sports and for the development and promotion of athletics in Serbia and the region, Nikolic said.

The opening of the International Athletic Meeting, with the participation of athletes from 15 countries, was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, the celebrated local sportsmen and sports fans.

The Hall, with 1,500 seats, will be available to the Serbian athletes throughout the year. It stretches over 9,270 square meters, has four circular tracks 200 meters long and the inside of the field is provided for long jump, pole vault, high jump and shot put.