MOSCOW, October 7 (Itar-Tass) — The main tasks of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay is to show Russia’s diversity and beauty and to unify its people, the president of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Organizing Committee said on Sunday presenting the relay route.
“I think that the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay cannot be surpassed by any other by its scale and the efforts taken,” Dmitry Chernyshenko said. “We will start it in twelve months.”
“We are confident that this event will be a festivity for all residents of Russia, as the relay will go through nine time zones and embrace our country’s 83 regions and territories. We have to fulfill a responsible and ambitious task – to unify our country’s people and open Russia anew, first of all, for ourselves. We want to allow every person to feel as a part of the Olympic movement and every town to become an Olympic host for a short time,” he said.
The relay will run across 65,000 kilometers exceeding the length of the Equator one and a half times.
“All of us will feel proud for our great country,” he said. “We can even write a book of records and wonderful facts. The Olympic flame will continue its journey at minus 42 degrees, at the bottom of the world’s deepest Lake Baikal and will make a 2,000 kilometers flight between Norilsk and Yakutsk in Siberia. The Olympic torch will be taken across 32 million railway sleepers and travel 6.5 kilometers by a Troika (the traditional Russian carriage drawn by a team of three horses harnessed abreast), 4 kilometers by a cable railway, 128 kilometers by water and 450 meters – under water,” Chernyshenko said.
“Our task is to do our utmost to show the Olympic flame to 90 percent of Russians,” he said.
By tradition the Olympic flame will be lit during a ceremony in Olympia, Greece, and on October 7, 2013, it will reach Moscow, where the torch relay will begin.
The Olympic flame will be carried by 14,000 torchbearers and around 130 million Russian residents will be able to see it.