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St Petersburg to apply for hosting summer Olympic Games

St. Petersburg is preparing an official application to host summer Olympic Games

Photo ITAR-TASS/Станислав Красильников

Photo ITAR-TASS/Станислав Красильников

ST. PETERSBURG, October 27 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s second largest city St. Petersburg is preparing an official application to host summer Olympic Games, governor of the city Georgy Poltavchenko said on Sunday when he took part in the city’s lap of the Sochi Winter Olympic Torch Relay.

This information was confirmed by the governor’s press secretary Andrei Kibitov.

Speaking at the Olympic cauldron lighting ceremony at the Palace Square, Poltavchenko said he was confident that some time in the future the city might be a final destination of the Olympic Torch Relay.

On Sunday, the Olympic Flame arrived in St. Petersburg. The first torchbearer in St. Petersburg was the 1952 Olympic shot put champion Galina Zybina. More than 100,000 people watched the Olympic Flame relay in the streets of the city.

A 2-day St. Petersburg lap is the second longest Russian stage of the relay stretching at 78 kilometres. As many as 515 torchbearers will carry the Olympic Flame in central St. Petersburg and in the historical neighbourhoods, eachtorch bearer will run about 150 metres on the route.

Famous athletes, Olympic champions of different years, people of culture and arts. On Sunday, the Olympic Flame was carried by Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, football forward Aleksander Kerzhakov, figure skater Yevgeny Plyushchenko and TV anchorwoman Tina Kandelaki.

The Olympic Flame began its tour of Russia from Moscow on October 7. The Olympic Flame will cross the whole country for 123 days, visiting all 83 constituent entities of the country, and will pass 65,000 kilometres by car, train, in Russian troika of horses and in reindeer team. As many as 14,000 torchbearers will carry the Olympic torch through 2,900 settlements. The Olympic Flame relay will end in the Olympic capital of Sochi on February 7, when the Winter Olympics will start.

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