(ATR) The first of nearly 600 torchbearers hit the streets of Moscow as the longest torch relay in the annals of the Olympics is now in motion.
Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin launched the Russian relay Sunday afternoon on a massive stage erected in Red Square. Handed a lit Olympic torch by Sochi 2014 CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko, Putin lit a cauldron to symbolize the start of the 65,000 km relay route.
He took the stage for just about 10 minutes, including a brief speech for which the English translation was not available as this is being written. He spoke before an audience numbering well into the thousands seated in temporary bleachers that stretched for nearly 300 meters with the stage largely the same length.
Putin’s appearance came in the midst of an hour-long show featuring boy bands, pop divas and Russian style hip-hop on a brisk autumn day that was ideal for a torch relay.
Among those applauding the Russian stars was IOC member Prince Albert of Monaco and his wife Princess Charlene.
Muscovites in the tens of thousands lined highways and streets to cheer the convoy carrying the Olympic flame from the Vnukovo airport to Red Square. The three van convoy could have escaped notice except that it was guarded in the rear by squadrons of motorcyclists aboard Harley-Davidsons decked out with Sochi flags.
The 45-minute convoy also brought the first torch relay traffic pain to Moscow with highway exit and entrance ramps sealed off, leading to traffic backups. More are expected Monday and Tuesday when the rest of the 590 torchbearers in the city complete their legs of the relay.
The flame was carried to Moscow from Athens aboard an Aeroflot Airbus painted in the Sochi color scheme. Seating for the flame is truly in the back of the airplane. The two brass safety lamps are buckled in a holder in the last row of seats in the aircraft. Chernyshenko and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak sat briefly with the lanterns as cameras clicked.
The charter flight carried about 30 passengers including a media contingent, Sochi staff, and marketing execs from Coca-Cola, a presenting sponsor for the torch relay.
For this trip veteran Coke Olympic expert Stu Cross was aboard. Based in Atlanta, Crosshas spent months on the ground in Russia during the past three years overseeing Coke’s torch relay investment. Now he’s hitting the road as the relay unfolds.
Also flying with the flame from Athens was six-time Olympic speed skating champion Lydia Skoblikova, now 74 and a legend in the sport for her unequaled record.
The ceremony in Red Square was not the first in Moscow for the flame Sunday. When Kozak stepped off the plane carrying the lanterns with the Olympic flame, he was greeted by a parade formation of troops on the tarmac and 200 journalists behind a rope.
After Moscow the relay will wind its way through European Russia, taking advantage of good weather before snow and ice make things difficult. Then the relay will head east to Asiatic Russia where the Aeroflot plane that carried the flame Sunday will be pressed into service to make some long hops across Siberia. Then it heads west, through the southern edge of the country, eventually winding up in Sochi February 7, the day of opening ceremony.
Written and reported in Moscow byEd Hula
For general comments or questions, click here
20 Years at #1:
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
