Olympic flame reaches North Pole ahead of Sochi Winter Games

The Olympic flame has arrived to the North Pole aboard a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker, the Sochi Winter Games organizers say.

The Sochi organizing committee said in Friday’s statement that the torch relay reached the North Pole on October 19.

The Olympic flame has arrived to the North Pole aboard a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker

Russian Polar explorer Artur Chilingarov, who led the mission, lit a special bowl at the North Pole sign. The ceremony involved 11 torch bearers from several countries.

The icebreaker, which departed from Russia’s Arctic port of Murmansk, made the journey in about 91 hours, the quickest such trip ever.

For most of the 39,000-mile torch relay, the longest in the history of the Olympics, the flame travels by plane, train, car and even reindeer sleigh, safely encased inside a lantern.

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