The Sochi Olympic Torch Relay
With the Winter Olympic games starting in Sochi on Friday, the Olympic torch can see the end goal in sight after 123 days in transit, touring the country.
On the 1st February, the organisers announced that the torch was carried to the top of Mt. Elbrus, Europe’s highest peak, in October, so as to avoid the worst of the winter weather that would have made such a feat impossible.
As one of the four “special projects” of the torch relay, two local climbers, Karina Mezova and Abdul-Khakim Elmezov, carried the torch to the summit of Mt. Elbrus in the Caucasus Range, where it was then lit.
Impressively, this feat was kept secret for four months as organisers wanted to save the announcement for when the torch officially visited the region.
One of the other “special projects” involved the Olympic Torch being sent into space for the first time in its history, aptly named “Space”. The torch has also visited the North Pole and the Baikal Lake in its journey to Sochi.
The games commence on the 7th February and finish on the 23rd.
You can read all about the torch relay here:
http://torchrelay.sochi2014.com/en
Jade Mitchell-Ross is an English student, currently on an internship while studying Russian at Liden & Denz
