2014 Winter Olympics torch relay

The 2014 Winter Olympics torch relay was run from October 7, 2013, 123 days prior to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, until February 7, 2014, the day of the opening ceremony at Sochi. In Russia the relay traveled from Moscow to Sochi through 2,900 towns and villages across all 83 federal subjects of Russia by foot, car, train, plane, and troika for over 65,000 km of journey.[1] The event became the longest relay in Winter Olympics history.[2]

Host citySochi, Russia
Countries visitedGreece, Russia
Distance65,000 km
Torch bearers~15,000
Start date7 October 2013
End date7 February 2014
Torchbearer in Astrakhan

The lighting ceremony was held on September 29, 2013 at Olympia, Greece with Greek alpine skier Ioannis Antoniou as the first torchbearer.[3] The first Russian torchbearer was NHL star Alex Ovechkin, who received the torch from Antoniou in Olympia.[4]

The Torches

The 2014 Olympic Torches were unveiled on January 14, 2013 in Moscow. The torch is chrome with red detail, a traditional colour of Russian sport. It was designed by a creative team led by Vladimir Pirozhkov and Andrei Vodyanik and weighs nearly 1.8 kg (4.0 lb), is 0.95 m (37 in) tall, 0.145 m (5.7 in) wide, and 0.54 m (21 in) deep.[5]

The torches failed on at least forty-four occasions during the relay,[6] a failure rate of about 3 percent compared to the average 5 percent at the previous Olympics,[7] and on one occasion, a nearby guard helped light the fire again with a lighter.[8] The People's Front (a movement created and led by Vladimir Putin) has called for a criminal investigation into the manufacturer of the torches, a rocket/missile factory.[9]

Special relay

On October 20, 2013, the torches reached the North Pole for first time via a nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy.[10] On November 6, 2013, the torch was flown into space by Soyuz rocket and brought back on November 11. The torch reached Europe's highest mountain, Mount Elbrus, and the depths of Siberia's Lake Baikal.[11]

Route in Greece

September 29 (day 1)

September 30 (day 2)

October 1 (day 3)

October 2 (day 4)

October 3 (day 5)

October 4 (day 6)

Route in Russia

Route Map

October 7–9 (day 1–3): Moscow
October 10 (day 4): Kolomna
October 10 (day 4): Odintsovo
October 10 (day 4): Arkhangelskoye
October 10 (day 4): Krasnogorsk
October 10 (day 4): Dmitrov

October 11 (day 5): Torzhok
October 11 (day 5): Tver
October 12 (day 6): Rzhev

October 12 (day 6): Smolensk

October 13 (day 7): Yukhnov
October 13 (day 7): Kaluga

October 14 (day 8): Yasnaya Polyana
October 14 (day 8): Novomoskovsk
October 14 (day 8): Tula

October 15 (day 9): Ryazan

October 16 (day 10): Murom
October 16 (day 10): Vladimir
October 17 (day 11): Suzdal

October 17 (day 11): Ivanovo
October 18 (day 12): Plyos

October 18 (day 12): Kostroma

October 19 (day 13): Yaroslavl

October 20 (day 14): Vologda

October 21 (day 15): Not travelling, staying in Vologda

October 22 (day 16): Kizhi
October 22 (day 16): Petrozavodsk
October 23 (day 17): Pryazha
October 23 (day 17): Olonets

October 24 (day 18): Veliky Novgorod

October 25 (day 19): Izborsk
October 25 (day 19): Pskov

October 26 (day 20): Gatchina

October 27 (day 21): Saint Petersburg
October 28 (day 22): Kronstadt
October 28 (day 22): Lomonosov
October 28 (day 22): Petergof
October 28 (day 22): Pushkin

October 29 (day 23): Svetlogorsk
October 29 (day 23): Kaliningrad

October 30 (day 24): Murmansk

October 31 (day 25): Not travelling, staying in Murmansk

November 1 (day 26): Severodvinsk
November 1 (day 26): Arkhangelsk

November 2 (day 27): Syktyvkar

November 3 (day 28): Naryan-Mar

November 4 (day 29): Novy Urengoy
November 4 (day 29): Salekhard

November 5 (day 30): Nefteyugansk
November 6 (day 31): Khanty-Mansiysk

November 7 (day 32): Norilsk

November 8 (day 33): Mirny
November 9 (day 34): Yakutsk

November 10 (day 35): Magadan

November 11 (day 36): Not travelling, staying in Magadan

November 12 (day 37): Anadyr

November 12 (day 37):Yelizovo
November 13 (day 38):Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

November 14 (day 39): Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

November 15–16 (day 40–41): Vladivostok

November 17 (day 42): Khabarovsk

November 18 (day 43): Birobidzhan

November 19 (day 44): Belogorsk
November 19 (day 44): Blagoveshchensk

November 20 (day 45): Not travelling, staying in Blagoveshchensk

November 21 (day 46): Chita

November 22 (day 47): Ulan-Ude

November 23 (day 48): Listvyanka (Lake Baikal)
November 24 (day 49): Irkutsk

November 25 (day 50): Divnogorsk
November 26 (day 51): Krasnoyarsk

November 27 (day 52): Abakan

November 28 (day 53): Kyzyl

November 29 (day 54): Kedrovskiy coal mine
November 30 (day 55): Kemerovo

Kedrovskiy coal mine

December 1 (day 56): Tomsk

December 2 (day 57): Gorno-Altaysk

December 3 (day 58): Barnaul

December 4–5 (day 59–60): Not travelling, staying in Barnaul

December 6–7 (day 61–62): Novosibirsk
December 8 (day 63): Kuybyshev
December 8 (day 63): Barabinsk

December 8 (day 63): Kalachinsk
December 9 (day 64): Omsk

December 10 (day 65): Not travelling, staying in Omsk

December 11 (day 66): Tyumen
December 12 (day 67): Tobolsk

December 13–14 (day 68–69): Yekaterinburg
December 13 (day 68): Nizhny Tagil
December 15 (day 70): Kamensk-Uralsky

December 15 (day 70): Kurgan
December 16 (day 71): Shadrinsk

December 16–17 (day 71–72): Chelyabinsk
December 18 (day 73): Magnitogorsk

December 19 (day 74): Not travelling, staying in Magnitogorsk

December 20–21 (day 75–76): Ufa

December 22 (day 77): Orenburg

December 23 (day 78): Not travelling, staying in Orenburg

December 24 (day 79): Syzran
December 24 (day 79): Tolyatti
December 25 (day 80): Samara

December 26 (day 81): Ulyanovsk

December 27 (day 82): Cheboksary

December 28 (day 83): Yoshkar-Ola

December 29 (day 84): Not travelling, staying in Yoshkar-Ola

December 30 (day 85): Sviyazhsk
December 30–31 (day 85–86): Kazan

January 1 (day 87): Not travelling, staying in Kazan

January 2 (day 88): Izhevsk

January 3 (day 89): Kungur
January 3–4 (day 89–90): Perm

January 5 (day 91): Kirov

January 6 (day 92): Not travelling, staying in Kirov

January 7–8 (day 93–94): Nizhny Novgorod

January 9 (day 95): Saransk

January 10 (day 96): Penza

January 11 (day 97): Saratov

January 12 (day 98): Tambov
January 13 (day 99): Michurinsk

January 13 (day 99): Lipetsk
January 14 (day 100): Yelets

January 14 (day 100): Oryol

January 15 (day 101): Bryansk

January 16 (day 102): Kursk

January 17 (day 103): Belgorod

January 18 (day 104): Voronezh

January 19 (day 105): Uryupinsk
January 20 (day 106): Volgograd

January 21 (day 107): Novocherkassk
January 21 (day 107): Shakhty
January 22 (day 108): Rostov-on-Don

January 23 (day 109): Pyatigorsk
January 24 (day 110): Stavropol

January 25 (day 111): Elista
January 25 (day 111): Yashkulsky

January 26 (day 112): Astrakhan

January 27 (day 113): Makhachkala

January 27 (day 113): Cherkessk

January 28 (day 114): Grozny

January 28 (day 114): Magas
January 28 (day 114): Nazran

January 29 (day 115): Not travelling, staying in Nazran

January 30 (day 116): Vladikavkaz

January 30 (day 116): Nalchik
February 1 (day 118): Mount Elbrus

February 2 (day 119): Not travelling, staying in Mount Elbrus

February 3 (day 120): Maykop

February 4 (day 121): Krasnodar
February 5–7 (day 122–124): Sochi

Protests

Gay activist Pavel Lebedev (not to be confused with a Russian retired figure skater Pavel Lebedev) was arrested at the relay in Voronezh for unveiling a rainbow flag. When interviewed he said "hosting the games here contradicts the basic principles of the Olympics, which is to cultivate tolerance".[12]

References

  1. "Russia unveils torch relay route of 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics". English.news.cn. October 8, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  2. "Sochi 2014 Torch Relay to be longest in Winter Games history". Olympic.org. October 8, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  3. "First Torchbearer announced for Sochi 2014 Torch Relay". Olympic.org. September 20, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  4. "Alex Ovechkin excited to carry torch". ESPN.com. Associated Press. September 29, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  5. "Sochi 2014 torch unveiled". Olympic.org. January 14, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  6. Главу завода по изготовлению олимпийских факелов уволят, если они "то потухнут, то погаснут" 300 раз. NEWSru.com (in Russian). November 1, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  7. "The magic of Russian Olympic torches". Pravda.ru. October 30, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  8. Lally, Kathy (October 7, 2013). "Russia's Olympic torch flames out, again". The Washington Post. Washington DC.
  9. К концу второго дня эстафеты олимпийского огня в Москве ОНФ просит СКР разобраться с тухнущими факелами. NewsRU.Com (in Russian). October 8, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  10. Zaccardi, Nick (October 20, 2013). "Sochi Olympic torch relay reaches North Pole". NBC OlympicTalk. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  11. de Carbonnel, Alissa (November 6, 2013). "Russian Soyuz rocket flies Olympic torch to space station". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  12. "Gay Russian protester detained at Olympic relay for rainbow flag". Fox Sports. January 18, 2014. Archived from the original on January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2014.

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