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Huge ‘heart’ heated by disabled children to light Paralympic Flame in Moscow

As many as 120 torchbearers will carry the Paralympic Flame in Moscow

© ITAR-TASS/Ruslan Shamukov

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MOSCOW, February 26. /ITAR-TASS/. The Paralympic Flame will be lit up in the Russian capital of Moscow from a huge “heart”, which will be heated by hands of children with hearing disabilities.

Organizers of Moscow’s leg of the Paralympic Flame relay disclosed some details of the event.

The relay will start at 10:00 Moscow time (06:00 GMT) on March 2 at the All-Russia Exhibition Center. A festive flame-lighting ceremony will be held at one of the central pavilions of the exhibition center. A picturesque show will be very touching, as the flame will be “brought to life” by warmness of a huge human heart heated by hands of children with hearing disabilities from the creative company “Angels of Hope”.

Fifteen torchbearers will run a distance of 2.5 kilometers at the exhibition center, the exhibition press service said. Coach from the sport association “Youth of Moscow” Andrei Meshcheryakov will be the first Paralympic torchbearer.

As many as 120 torchbearers will carry the Paralympic Flame in Moscow, including well-known athletes, merited veterans of sport, employees of Paralympic sport organizations, Paralympic athletes, coaches and teachers. Actors and co-founders of charity foundation “Gift the Life” Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun, actor and TV anchorwoman Evelina Bledans, wheelchaired man Alexander Lomakin-Rumyantsev, singer and composer Dmitry Malikov, biathlete and four-time medalist of the Paralympic Games Vladimir Kiselev, singer and Sochi 2014 ambassador Diana Gurtskaya are among the Paralympic torchbearers.

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Moscow’s leg of the Paralympic Flame relay race will stretch for 21 kilometers along remarkable historical and cultural attractions of the Russian capital, starting from the All-Russia Exhibition Center and then running from the Moscow State University main building on Vorobyevy Hills to Kiev railway terminal and further to the Luzhniki Stadium. After the relay race and a festive concert, the holiday will round off with a ceremony of lighting a cauldron of the Paralympic Flame. Director General of rehabilitation center “Overcoming” Lyobov Kezina will light up the Paralympic cauldron. A barrier-free environment for torchbearers and disabled spectators will be created at the festivities and along the relay route.

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