The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay travels Russian Far East

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay continues its journey through the towns of the Far Eastern Federal District; 10 November Magadan became the Olympic host city. Accompanied by cheers of encouragement from 32,000 spectators, 70 torchbearers carried the Torch through the streets of Kolyma's capital, covering a total distance of 13.6 kilometers. Among the Olympic torchbearers were the winners of the competition organized by the Presenting Partners of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay, the Coca-Cola Company, OSAO "Ingosstrakh" and "Russian Railways".

Having traveled on a special Aeroflot flight from Yakutsk, the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay arrived at the airport where it was welcomed by the region's governor, Vladimir Pecheny, and the mayor of Magadan, Sergey Abramov. The Torch was officially welcomed on the Kolymsky Highway. On Sunday, hundreds of residents gathered in the city center to welcome the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay. The first torchbearer, Nikolay Derezhenets, an artisanal miner from a gold-mining company, showed everyone the region's most important natural asset as he ran the first 200 meters of the town stage of the Olympic Torch Relay, carrying not only the Olympic Torch but also gold nuggets.

Located on the border of the Pacific ore belt, the Magadan region is currently the largest goldbearing region in the world. Over the 70 years since this years-old frozen land has been developed, more than 2,000 tons of precious metal has been mined. Every year, Kolyma supplies the world with approximately 30 tons of gold. That is more than 25% of all Russian gold.

The torchbearers of the Magadan stage included honored athletes and sport veterans, miners and artisanal miners and workers from social spheres. Among them were Valentina Shavilova, a young gymnast and three-time winner at international competitions; Anton Belyaev, a master of sport in snowboarding; Anton Panferov, the winner of the All-Russian Summer Universiade in swimming competitions; Alexander Freiman, a worker from the mining industry with 40 years of experience; Anatoly Krivobokov, an honored worker in the field of physical culture and sport with a 68-year career, and Yury Kazetov, a top teacher of public education holding the "Teacher of the Year" title and winner of regional and town-level sambo competitions.

The final celebration of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay in Magadan was held in the Kolymsky sports complex. Torchbearers were greeted by an Evenk national dance troupe, which performed a bright folk dance as the last torchbearer appeared. The torchbearer Dimitry Ipatov, a participant in Winter Olympic Games and member of the Russian national ski jump team, ran past a huge excavator with a massive image of a gold ingot in a bucket. Following this, he brought the Olympic Torch to the stage of the sports complex and lit the Cauldron, which the day before had been given as a present to the town by the Presenting Partner of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay, OSAO "Ingosstrakh".

The next destination in the journey of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay across Russia on November 12 will be two far eastern regions - Anadyr, the capital of the Chukotka Autonomous Area, the most northern and eastern point on the map of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay, and Yelizovo, a town in the Kamchatka region.

For further information on the Torch Relay, visit Sochi2014.com, or call +7 495 984 2014.

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