(ATR) The Olympic Torch Relay took the day off as it traveled from Blagoveshchensk in the Amur Region to Chita, capital of the Zabaikalye Region.
In Amur, the torch traveled from Belogorsk to Uglegorsk before fininishing the day up on Blagoveshchensk.
Uglegorsk is the site of the new Vostochny cosmodrome, where Russian spaceflights will start beginning in 2015. Cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov carried the flame in Uglegorsk.
On the way to Blagoveshchensk the flame was took a swim in the Amur River, one of the coldest in the world. The water temperature was around 2 degrees Celsius, but that did not stop Aleksandr Brylin from swimming 100m with the Torch.
Nine athletes in total swam with the Amur River to ensure the flame successfully crossed it.
The flame will head to Chita tomorrow with over 100 people scheduled to run with the torch including Paralympic gold medalist Timur Tuchinov.
Chita is the capital of the Zabaikalye Region and is the home of multiple Olympic medalists. Lyudmila Titova won a gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble for figure skating, and Dmitry Nosov medaled at the 2004 Athens Summer Games in Judo.
Altogether, 14,000 runners will carry the torch across a total distance of 38,525 miles. The flame is touring 83 towns and cities before heading back into European Russia, and ultimately Sochi, for the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on February 7.
Written byAaron Bauer.
Homepage photo courtesy of Getty Images
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