A jet with the Olympic torch onboard has arrived from Athens and landed at Moscow Vnukovo airport. The flame will now be taken to Red Square for a ceremony kick-starting the Russian leg of the record-breaking relay.
The Olympic flame for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, which was lit in Athens exactly 7 days ago, is on its way to Red Square, where the Russian President will launch the Olympic torch relay.
It’s been 33 years since the flame lit in Athens was in Russia – then the Soviet Union – for the Summer Games [Moscow 1980]. The rare event will make it a very special moment for every single person carrying the torch – and it will pass through thousands of hands as it goes across the country.
Among the lucky first ones to welcome the Olympic flame on Russian soil are bikers who are going to accompany the torch all the way from the airport to the center of Moscow. The leader of the Night Wolves biker club, Aleksandr ‘Surgeon’ Zaldostanov shared his feelings about it with RT.
“The last time the Olympic flame was in Russia was a long time ago and we don’t know when the next time will be that it will arrive here, so the fact that we, the “Night wolves” are going to convoy the Olympic flame is a very honorable mission. There will be many people with major sporting achievements among us, one of the bikers is a very famous Russian sportsman, Olympic champion and a trainer of the Russian national team,” the Night Wolves leader said.
It’s estimated that on its way from the Russian capital to the 2014 Winter Olympics host-city of Sochi, the torch will travel:
20,273 km by car
25,455 km by plane
17,728 km by train
2,256 km by helicopter
1 km by sleigh
The record-breaking 65,000 km long relay across the biggest country in the world will see the flame go through 83 Russian regions, 2,900 towns and settlements before it reaches its final destination in the city of Sochi at the brand-new Olympic stadium on the Black Sea resort on February 7, 2014.
Before it gets there, it will be taken all the way up Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe. We will also see it dive to the bottom of Lake Baikal – the oldest and the deepest lake in the world. We’ll even watch it blast into space on board the Russian Soyuz rocket. As the head of the Russian Olympic delegation Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Kozak said, it will shed light on a lot of what Russia has to offer.
“It is a very important event first of all for Russia as a nation and for its regions, as it is a chance to show their own culture, traditions and investment opportunities,” Kozak said. “The Olympic torch relay will grab the attention of the whole world through the mass media. It is an important factor in the cultural, social and economic development of the Russian regions.”
The Olympic torch was kindled by the sun’s rays on September 29 during a spectacular ceremony in the ancient Greek city of Olympia. 250 torchbearers then carried the flame 2,000 kilometers through 33 towns and 23 regions of Greece.
Following the six-day Greek leg of the relay, the flame was presented on October 5 to the Russian delegation at Athens’ Panathenaic Stadium, which hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
The Russian part of the relay will last 123 days. 14,000 torchbearers are expected to take the flame to the newly-built Olympic Stadium at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where the opening ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games will be held.
From http://rt.com
