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Russian NHL star Ovechkin says Olympic torch moment was unforgettable

“This is the best moment in my life,” he wrote in Twitter
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

ANCIENT OLYMPIA (Greece), September 29 (Itar-Tass) - Russian ice hockey player Alexander Ovechkin, who was the first Russian athlete to run with the Olympic torch on Sunday, said he would remember this day for his entire life.

“This is the best moment in my life,” he wrote in Twitter. The Russian NHL star took over the Olympic torch from the first torchbearer, 18-year-old Greek alpine skier Ioannis Antoniou, who took the torch out of the ancient stadium in southern Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics.

After Ancient Olympia, the torchbearers will run 2,000 kilometers across Greece and on October 5 will bring the Olympic flame to the Panathinaikos stadium in Athens, where in 1896 the first modern Olympic Games were held. Here, the last Greek torchbearer, figure skater Panagiotis Markouizos, will hand over the Olympic torch to the Russian side. On the following day, the Olympic flame will be taken by air to Moscow, from where the Russian leg of the Olympic torch relay for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi will start.