Olympic Flame Southwest of Moscow

The Sochi Olympic torch relay proceeds through cities in European Russia over the next few weeks before heading east into Asian Russia.

Today the flame is south of Moscow inYasnaya Polyana and will travel toNovomoskovsk, and Tula where cycling iconSergey Kopylov will carry the torch.

The relay will continue eastward through Ryazan on Tuesday. It will venture to Murom, Vladimir, Suzdal, Ivanovo, and Plyos before heading north to St. Petersburg.Russian taekwondo starArthur Kan will carry the torch in Plyos on the 21st day of the relay.

St. Petersburg is the 32nd city the flame will tour.Russian pair skaterElena Berezhnaya, track starNatalia Antyukh, and Russian footballerAleksandr Kerzhakov are among the icons carrying the flame through the city that day.

The relay will take 123 days. In early November a cosmonaut will take the torch on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. The rocket delivering the torch payload will be adorned in the Sochi 2014 color scheme and graphics, ATR is told.

Aside from cosmonauts, the Sochi 2014 organizing committee has added another unique torchbearer to the relay schedule. A dolphin at Sochi’s Sea Star aquarium will help carry the Olympic flame three days before the opening ceremony. According to R-Sport, an animal trainer will hold the dolphin’s fin in one hand and the torch in the other. The pair will take the flame for a swim across a small pool.

Overall, 14,000 runners will carry the torch across a total distance of 62,000 kilometers.

"The relay will be a great tool for the country to explore ourselves," Chernyshenko said in a statement to ATR. "People are looking forward to this, to having some good news, a landmark, a historical milestone."

The flame will make its way through 83 towns and cities before heading back into European Russia, and ultimately the Black Sea resort of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on February 7.

Written byNicole Bennett.

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