Despite the fact that the Olympic Games in Sochi will begin only on February 7, 2014, Russia is already watching with tension the events associated with the first Olympics in the history of Russia. On October 7, 2013, the Olympic torch relay began, which will affect every region of the largest host country of the 2014 Olympics.
The official start of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi is February 7, 2014, world competitions will last until February 23.
On October 7, 2013, the Olympic torch relay started in Moscow. It will end on the day of the opening ceremony. Representatives of the organizing committee of the Olympic Games say that the Russian relay race will break all records - it will be the longest and largest in the history of the Games. The Olympic torch relay will last 123 days, and its length will be 65 thousand km. The symbol of athletes - the Olympic flame - will visit 83 capitals of all constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
On the day of the start of the relay, the real Olympic flame was flown from Athens to Russia and arrived in St. Petersburg by a motor rally from Moscow. In the Central and North-Western districts, the fire traveled for 23 days, after which the flame was delivered by plane from the Northern capital to Vladivostok. The fire is given 30 days to travel to the Far East and North. After that, from Vladivostok, the lamp with the Olympic flame will be transferred by train to Elista.
In 58 days, 45 more cities will light up the torch of the Olympics. After that, a motor rally will be organized from Elista to 10 cities in the south to Sochi exactly on the appointed date - February 7, 2014.
Moreover, sending the Olympic flame to the North Pole, to the bottom of the deepest Lake Baikal and to the top of the highest mountain, Elbrus, was a very ambitious step. And, of course, Russia, which takes this important large-scale event with all seriousness, could not help but send the main symbol of the 2014 Olympics into outer space - to the ISS station.
The Olympic torch relay across the vastness of Russia will be attended by 14 thousand selected people-torchbearers - outstanding figures and honored representatives of the cities of our country.
The closure of the Winter Olympic Games is scheduled for February 23, 2014. Two weeks later, on March 7, 2014, another ceremony will begin. On this day, the grand opening of the next stage of the Olympics - the Paralympic Games in Sochi, which will last until March 16, 2014, will take place.
