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Sochi
Sochi Olympic Games officially open in Russia on Friday, with 98 medals to be won over 16 days.
Sochi, on Russia’s Black Sea coast, will welcome about 2,900 athletes in 15 disciplines as the opening ceremony begins at 20:14 local time.
The build-up has been overshadowed by security fears, human rights concerns and delays to preparations.
But, at $50 billion, the cost of these Games is more than the combined total of all other Olympic Winter Games to date.
Canada, Norway and the United States are considered the likeliest candidates to top the Sochi medal table.
Hosting an Olympics for the first time since the boycotted Moscow Games of 1980, Russian athletes are under pressure to improve on the embarrassment of 11th place at the last Winter Games in Vancouver.
Russia has devoted $950 million to elite winter sport since winning the bid to host these Games seven years ago.
Russian attention will be focused on the men’s ice hockey team, who have yet to win Olympic gold since the break-up of the Soviet Union (although a Unified Team featuring Russian players won gold in 1992), and popular figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, who has overcome injury to feature in the Games but faces a tough task to win a medal.
Norway will look to biathlon and cross-country skiing for the bulk of their medals, while Canada’s medals will come from short track speed skating, in particular Charles Hamelin, who has the potential to be one of the faces of the Games, as well as freestyle skiing and snowboard.
The US will expect big things from Alpine skiing and bobsleigh.
Sochi will welcome about 2,900 athletes in 15 disciplines as the opening ceremony begins at 20:14 local time
In the absence of injured skier Lindsey Vonn, the leading American lights are slalom specialist Mikaela Shiffrin and snowboarder Shaun White – despite his withdrawal from the slopestyle contest on Wednesday, citing concerns over the safety of the course.
Security in Sochi has been prominent as the world’s athletes and media arrive for the Games. Threats in recent months have included repeated calls to disrupt the Olympics from the Imarat Kavkaz group in the North Caucasus, suicide bombings in the nearby city of Volgograd, and a recent US warning about the potential for “toothpaste” bombs on flights.
Journalists arriving in the region have found hotel rooms and other facilities unfinished amid a last-minute rush by organizers to complete building work, although the Olympic venues themselves have largely met with praise from athletes.
Russian opposition politicians and analysts have attributed Olympic project delays to corruption, which they say accounts for much of the Sochi Games’ substantial cost – more than three times the London 2012 budget.
Liliya Shevtsova, a senior associate at a Moscow public policy research centre, believes the Games are “an embodiment of corruption, inefficiency, irrationality, extreme vanity and megalomania”.
Sochi’s organizers do not recognize the $50 billion figure (they claim it includes the costs of infrastructure which may have been built anyway) and insist their outlay has been closer to $6.5 billion.
Alexander Zhukov, president of Russia’s Olympic Committee, said the authorities had “uncovered no cases of corruption”.
Meanwhile IOC president Thomas Bach has said athletes who oppose Russia’s “anti-gay” legislation are free to express their views in interviews with the media, but must not do so on the podium or during their events.
Sochi’s Fisht Olympic Stadium should be at full 40,000 capacity for the opening ceremony, although empty seats are anticipated at venues once the action begins.
Two weeks before the Games, organizers reported they had sold 70% of available tickets. Vancouver 2010, by contrast, sold 97% of its tickets with London 2012 achieving a similar figure.
For the first time in 30 years, events at the Winter Olympics began before the opening ceremony.
Women’s ski jump, luge team relay and biathlon mixed relay are among other events appearing on the Olympic program for the first time.
The first medals of the Games will be decided on Saturday with five golds up for grabs in biathlon, cross country skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding and speedskating.
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The US has banned all liquids from carry-on bags on nonstop flights to Russia, on the eve of the Sochi Winter Olympics.
The restrictions come a day after US officials warned that explosives could be smuggled on flights to Russia in toothpaste tubes.
Terrorists could attempt to assemble explosive devices in flight or upon arrival, the officials warned.
Security has been elevated in the lead-up to the Games, which start on Friday.
The US airline restrictions unveiled on Thursday temporarily ban carry-on liquids, gels or aerosols aboard direct flights to Russia.
Russia has already banned all liquids, pastes and gels from its airports and internal flights last month.
The US has banned all liquids from carry-on bags on nonstop flights to Russia, on the eve of the Sochi Winter Olympics
On Thursday, President Barack Obama said Russia had an “enormous stake” in foiling terrorism at the Games.
He told NBC television network the US government was doing everything it could to ensure athletes’ safety.
The US has already placed two warships in the Black Sea, ready to offer help in case of a security emergency during the Games.
Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Kozak has said the level of security at Sochi “is similar to that of any other safe city in the world”.
Fears surrounding the Winter Olympics in Russia were heightened following two suicide attacks in Volgograd in December, as well as numerous threats from Islamist militants in the Caucasus region.
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2004 Olympic rhythmic gymnastics champion Alina Kabaeva, Vladimir Putin’s alleged girlfriend, may be selected to light the Olympic Torch at the opening ceremonies in Sochi.
The lighting is traditionally performed by a prominent person from the host country, so Alina Kabaeva would certainly qualify on her own merits.
Rumors of Alina Kabaeva’s relationship with Vladimir Putin – who has been single since his divorce last year – have never been officially confirmed.
Alina Kabaeva, Vladimir Putin’s alleged girlfriend, may be selected to light the Olympic Torch at the opening ceremonies in Sochi
Vladimir Putin, for his part, dismissed the conjecture about Alina Kabaeva possibly lighting the torch.
“I’m aware of this [the speculation], I was told of this by [Kremlin spokesman] Dmitry Peskov. These are the usual red herrings,” News.com.au quotes President Vladimir Putin as saying while he toured a nature reserve near Sochi.
“We have many outstanding sportspeople who are significant and known in the whole world, and I am not going to interfere in this process,” Vladimir Putin said in comments broadcast on state television.
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The US Department of Homeland Security has warned airlines with direct flights to Russia that explosives hidden in toothpaste tubes could be smuggled onto planes.
The warning comes on the eve of the Winter Olympics’ opening ceremony in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.
It said it shared relevant information with partners at home and abroad “out of an abundance of caution”.
But it was not aware of any specific danger to the US at this time.
Unnamed security officials were quoted as saying there were fears toothpaste tubes could be used to smuggle explosives which could then be used to assemble a bomb either in flight or upon arrival at the Olympics.
The US Department of Homeland Security has warned airlines with direct flights to Russia that explosives hidden in toothpaste tubes could be smuggled onto planes
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that although it is “not aware of a specific threat… this routine communication is an important part of our commitment to making sure we meet that priority”.
The White House National Security Council said the latest threat had not altered existing travel guidelines for Sochi.
“If we should receive information in the coming days and weeks that changes our assessment of whether people should travel to Sochi, we will make that information public,” spokeswoman Laura Magnuson told US media.
The US has also placed two warships in the Black Sea in case of a security breach during the games, scheduled for February 7-23.
Fears were raised following two suicide attacks in Volgograd in December, and numerous threats from Islamist militants in the Caucasus region.
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President Vladimir Putin has taken senior Olympics officials on a tour of a Persian leopard sanctuary ahead of the Winter Games in Sochi.
Vladimir Putin tried to calm one leopard cub, which had become agitated and attacked two journalists, Russian media said.
The visit to Sochi National Park comes amid efforts to show the games are positive for the environment.
Vladimir Putin is well known for his encounters with wild animals which have helped burnish his outdoors image.
In the past, the president has been shown on state TV tagging whales, saving a TV crew from a tiger and taking to the skies to fly with Siberian cranes.
Vladimir Putin drove Jean Claude Killy, former French Olympian and International Olympic Committee (IOC) official, and IOC Executive Director Gilbert Felli to the nature reserve near the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Vladimir Putin has taken senior Olympics officials on a tour of a Persian leopard sanctuary ahead of the Winter Games in Sochi
But a six-month-old Persian leopard cub, Grom (Thunder), attacked two journalists inside a cage, scratching one on the hand and biting the other on the knee, RIA Novosti news agency said.
Footage broadcast on state TV showed the Russian president cuddling the leopard seemingly at ease, commenting: “I like animals, it seems I have a feeling for them. We liked each other.”
Russia is working to re-introduce the Persian leopard to southern Russia where they became extinct in 1970.
“We’ve decided to restore the population of the Persian leopard because of the Olympic Games,” Vladimir Putin said.
During the visit Vladimir Putin insisted that the enormous construction effort to prepare Sochi for the Games had greatly improved the environment.
Environmentalists have accused the Russian authorities of damaging the environment beside the sea and in the mountains of the Sochi area during construction for the Games.
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The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday criticized Russian authorities for restricting news coverage of preparations for the Sochi Olympics.
The international journalism watchdog detailed in a report how Russian and international journalists have been harassed and prevented from covering sensitive stories in Sochi such as the abuse of migrant workers and environmental issues.
The report documented how Russian state-controlled media have been ignoring critical issues while few local journalists working for independent news outlets faced a campaign of smear and harassment.
”Russian authorities have cracked down on journalists, rights defenders, and civil activists in a way not seen since the break-up of the Soviet Union,” CPJ coordinator Nina Ognianova said in a statement.
CPJ criticized Russian authorities for restricting news coverage of preparations for the Sochi Olympics
There was no immediate response from Russian authorities to the criticism leveled by CPJ.
Months before the start of the games, journalists and activists were detained and some of them put on trial. Svetlana Kravchenko of the Caucasian Knot website, a prominent local journalist who has covered environmental travesties in Sochi and the heavy-handed tactics of local officials, was tried and found guilty of beating up a security guard.
Rights groups including Human Right Watch called local authorities responsible for the campaign of harassment against journalists and activists. Local authorities insist that criminal prosecution against members of the public including journalists is a matter of law enforcement agencies and is in no way politicized.
Sochi will host the Winter Games between February 7 and 23.
Sochi police are hunting for Ruzanna Ibragimova, a woman they fear may be planning to carry out a suicide bomb attack ahead of Winter Olympics.
They have put up wanted posters in hostels around the town, which is hosting the Winter Olympics next month.
The 23-year-old Ruzanna Ibragimova from Dagestan in the North Caucasus region, is believed to be the widow of an Islamist militant.
She is thought to have slipped into Sochi earlier this month, bypassing tight security ahead of the Games.
At least two other potential female suicide bombers are also at large in the region, other police posters state.
Ruzanna Ibragimova from Dagestan in the North Caucasus region, is believed to be the widow of an Islamist militant
President Vladimir Putin has launched one of the biggest security operations in Olympic history, and has personally inspected the sites.
More than 30,000 police and interior ministry troops have been deployed and access to the area limited.
Security fears were heightened after two suicide bomb attacks killed 34 people in the southern city of Volgograd on December 29 and 30.
President Barack Obama, in a telephone conversation with the Kremlin on Tuesday, offered America’s “full assistance” in making the Olympics “safe and secure”, the White House said.
Two US warships will be on standby in the Black Sea when the Games begin on February 7. Washington has also offered to supply Russia with hi-tech equipment to help detect improvised explosives.
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A photo of twin toilets in a cubicle at a Sochi Olympics venue has caused a Twitter storm in Russia.
The picture from the Biathlon Centre tweeted by BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg in Moscow was picked up by opposition leader Alexey Navalny among others.
Alexey Navalny queried how the budget for the games, said to be $50bn (1,700 billion roubles), had been spent.
The photo caused disbelief and much hilarity, with some linking it to the recent debate over gay rights.
Twin toilets in a cubicle at Sochi Olympics venue
Steve Rosenberg tweeted: “Seeing double in the Gentlemen’s Loo at the Olympic Biathlon Centre.”
Retweeting the photo, Alexey Navalny commented: “This is a men’s toilet in a Sochi Olympics media centre for 1.5bn roubles [$45 million].”
Others joked about Russia’s controversial law on “gay propaganda”, which led to calls from international campaigners to boycott February’s games.
The Biathlon Centre was completed nearly two years ago, with investment from the Russian state gas company Gazprom.
Indian athletes participating at next month’s Winter Games in Sochi will compete under the Olympic flag, not their national flag.
The three Indians who qualified for the Sochi Games will compete as “independent” athletes, rather than represent their country, after India’s Olympic body failed to schedule elections before the start of the Olympics on February 7.
The Indian Olympic Association was suspended by the IOC in December 2012 for electing tainted officials, notably secretary-general Lalit Bhanot, who spent more than 10 months in jail on corruption charges related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
The IOC said last month it would lift the suspension once new elections are held. The Indians have set their general assembly for February 9, two days after the opening of the Sochi Olympics.
“Following the executive board decision in December, the IOC is considering all necessary arrangements for the Indian athletes who have qualified for the Sochi Games to take part as Independent Olympic Participants under the Olympic flag,” the IOC said in a statement on Thursday.
Indian athletes participating at next month’s Winter Games in Sochi will compete under the Olympic flag
The trio includes Shiva Kesavan, a 32-year-old luger who will be appearing in his fifth Winter Games.
Shiva Kesavan told Indian media that not being able to compete under the national flag was “shameful and pathetic”.
“It is a sad and embarrassing situation that Indian sport has been put in,” he said.
“People around the world know about the failure of our systems and about corruption and bad governance in sports.”
Under pressure from the IOC, the Indian body amended its constitution last month to ban corruption-tainted officials from running for election. Had India not complied, it would have become the first country expelled from the Olympics since South Africa was kicked out more than 40 years ago.
The IOC has made provisions for athletes to compete under the Olympic flag at previous games.
Athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles and marathon runner Guor Marial of South Sudan competed as independents at the 2012 London Olympics. Athletes from East Timor marched under the Olympic flag at the 2000 Sydney Games.
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Moscow’s Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo airports have banned passengers from taking any form of liquid in their hand luggage as Russia ramps up security ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The airports will strip people of any liquid, gel, or aerosol in their carry-on baggage, The Moscow Times reported Thursday.
In a statement on its website, Sheremetyevo airport said all liquids — including essential prescription medicine and baby food – would need to be sorted in check-in luggage. Direct flights from New York to Sheremetyevo take around 10 hours and 30 minutes.
Moscow’s airports have banned passengers from taking any form of liquid in their hand luggage ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi
Vnukovo airport said it would allow medicine in carry-on luggage, but only if the passenger carried an official doctor’s statement as proof, The Moscow Times said, citing Russian-language media.
Airports in Sochi, St. Petersburg and Moscow’s Domodedovo airport said they would allow liquid containers of 100 milliliters or less.
The new rules are part of a wider security crackdown and will run until March 21. Safety concerns have been inflated ahead of Sochi Winter Games following two bombings in the city of Volgograd killing 34 people in late December.
Russia has decided to set up a special zone for protest rallies at the Sochi Winter Olympics, where security will be tight.
A special security regime will be in place in and around the southern city from January 7 until March 21.
The Russian authorities announced last year that a ban on rallies would be imposed in the Games area.
But a decree now says protests during the Games in February can be held if agreed with the authorities.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said all public gatherings and demonstrations must be agreed in advance with the municipal authorities as well as regional divisions of the interior ministry and the Federal Security Service, the FSB.
“The president has issued an instruction to the organizers of the Olympic Games, together with the leadership of Krasnodar Territory and the Sochi mayor’s office, to select a venue in the city where rallies, demonstrations and other events, including, if necessary, protests, could be freely held,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia has decided to set up a special zone for protest rallies at the Sochi Winter Olympics
But limits can be placed on the number of people taking part in demonstrations, according to the presidential decree.
Protests groups, such as those campaigning for gay rights and political reform, had complained at the restrictions on the right to stage demonstrations at the Games.
Security has been a major concern in the run-up to the event, with fears of attack by militant groups.
Two suicide bomb attacks killed 34 people in the southern city of Volgograd on December 29 and 30. Russian investigators say the perpetrators are believed to be two men who arrived in the city from the restive North Caucasus region.
The bombings prompted President Vladimir Putin to order further security measures and personally inspect Olympic sites.
Security measures in Sochi are reported to include surveillance by drones and strict limits on road access to the city.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach says he has confidence that Russian authorities will deliver a “safe and secure” Winter Games in Sochi in February 2014.
Thomas Bach wrote to President Vladimir Putin to express condolences for the “despicable” attacks that struck Volgograd within 24 hours.
Investigators say the attacks on a railway station and trolleybus, which killed at least 31 people, were linked.
They struck just over a month before the Winter Olympics begin.
Volgograd was also targeted in October, when a suspected female suicide bomber killed six people in an attack on a bus.
It is being widely assumed in Russia that the people who carried out the Volgograd bombings were involved in the Islamist-inspired insurgency against Russian rule in the Caucasus republics of Chechnya and Dagestan, and that the target was the Games.
In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry did not blame any particular group but likened the attacks to acts by militants in the US, Syria and elsewhere.
It called for international solidarity in the fight against “an insidious enemy that can only be defeated together”, reported Reuters news agency.
The second blast in Volgograd took place at a busy time on a busy route
Regional Governor Sergei Bozhenov said the bombings were a “serious test” for all Volgograd residents and all Russians.
Investigators say at least 14 people were killed in a suicide bombing on a trolleybus in Volgograd on Monday morning.
It came a day after 17 people died in another suicide attack at the central station in the city. Scores were injured in the two attacks.
In his statement, Thomas Bach said he was “certain that everything will be done to ensure the security of the athletes and all the participants of the Olympic Games”, which open on February 7.
But correspondents say despite intense security in Sochi, Russians are palpably nervous that following these attacks in Volgograd – which lies 700 km north-east of Sochi – bombers could also strike elsewhere.
No-one has admitted carrying out either bombing, but they came several months after Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov threatened new attacks against civilian targets in Russia, including the Olympics.
Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee – Russia’s main federal investigating authority – said identical explosives were used in the two attacks.
“This confirms the theory that the two attacks are linked. It is possible that they were prepared in the same place,” he said.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered security measures to be tightened across Russia and in particular in Volgograd.
The US condemned the attacks and offered its “full support to the Russian government in security preparations for the Sochi Olympic Games”.
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Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has called for foreign countries to boycott February’s Sochi Winter Olympics, hours after she was freed from jail.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova dismissed the amnesty law that set her free, saying it was a “cosmetic measure”.
She and band-mate Maria Alyokhina, who was also freed, said the prison system needed wider reform and promised to continue anti-government action.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Ayokhina were jailed in 2012 after singing a protest song in a Moscow cathedral.
The act was seen as blasphemous by many Russians, and was condemned by the Orthodox Church.
But their conviction for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” was criticized by rights groups, anti-government activists and foreign politicians.
The amnesty passed last week aimed to free some 20,000 prisoners.
Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has called for foreign countries to boycott February’s Sochi Winter Olympics
Both Pussy Riot members said their anti-government stance had not softened, and both promised to form a human-rights group to fight for prison reform.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who was freed from a prison hospital in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, immediately called for a boycott of the Sochi Games.
“What is happening today – releasing people just a few months before their term expires – is a cosmetic measure,” she said.
“That includes the case of Khodorkovsky, who didn’t have much time left on his prison term. This is ridiculous.”
She said far more people should be set free.
“I’m calling for a boycott, for honesty. I’m calling [on Western governments] not to give in because of oil and gas deliveries from Russia.”
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, labeled the Russian state a “totalitarian machine” and said prison reform was the starting point for reform of Russian society.
Maria Alyokhina, released in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 280 miles east of Moscow, told Russian TV that the amnesty was “a profanation”.
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Soyuz capsule carrying the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch has returned to Earth after it was taken on its first spacewalk as part of the Russian lead-up to the Winter Games.
The Olympic torch landed in central Kazakhstan after leaving the International Space Station (ISS).
Three astronauts delivered it back after a three-and-a-half hour descent.
The torch was taken up to the ISS on Thursday and then waved outside the space station.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky posed for photographs as they held the torch 260 miles above Earth.
The Olympic torch has been carried into space twice before – in 1996 and 2000 – but it had never previously left a spaceship.
The torch was unlit inside the ISS because of safety concerns and outside due to the lack of oxygen.
A different crew – Russia’s Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA US astronaut Karen Nyberg and Italian Luca Parmitano – bought it back to Earth, landing on the Kazakh steppes shortly before 08:50 on Monday.
Soyuz capsule carrying the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch has returned to Earth after it was taken on its first spacewalk
The capsule descended to the ground under a parachute.
Fyodor Yurchikhin, the mission commander, was carried from the capsule to a reclining chair and covered with blanket against the cold.
The torch was removed from a protective bag and given to Fyodor Yurchikhin, who waved it and smiled for the cameras.
The capsule completed a perfect descent and touched down exactly on time, according to a NASA TV commentator.
It will to be used to light the Olympic cauldron at the winter games in February next year.
The trip to the space station is all part of elaborate preparations for Russia’s first Olympics since the Soviet era.
It was seen as part of a rebranding exercise by Russia designed to portray it as a strong, modern country.
Sochi Winter Games are the most expensive Olympics so far, costing around $50 billion (1,620 billion roubles).
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Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky are taking the torch for the Sochi Winter Olympics on its first historic spacewalk, ahead of next year’s games.
Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky took the unlit version of the torch through the hatch of the International Space Station (ISS) at 14:34 GMT.
Live footage showed Oleg Kotov waving the torch 261 miles above Earth.
A three-man crew took the torch up to the space station on a Russian Soyuz rocket on Thursday.
The rocket blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan crewed by three cosmonauts – Russia’s Mikhail Tyurin, American Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata from Japan.
The crew handed the Olympic symbol to Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky, who were already on the orbiting station ahead of Saturday’s spacewalk.
Cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky are taking the torch for the Sochi Winter Olympics on its first historic spacewalk
The two cosmonauts took pictures and videos of each other holding the torch using helmet cameras.
The torch, which was tethered to their bulky spacesuits, was to spend up to six hours in open space.
In addition to the photo opportunity, Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky were carrying out some maintenance on the orbiting station.
The event is seen as part of a rebranding exercise by Russia designed to portray it as a strong, modern country.
“Our goal here is to make it look spectacular,” Oleg Kotov said earlier this week.
“We’d like to showcase our Olympic torch in space. We will try to do it in a beautiful manner. Millions of people will see it live on TV and they will see the station and see how we work.”
The Olympic torch has been carried into space twice before – in 1996 and 2000 – but it has never left a spaceship. It is not being lit aboard the space station as this would consume oxygen and pose a risk to the crew.
The Sochi torch will then be returned to Earth and used to light the Olympic cauldron in February next year.
The trip to the space station is all part of elaborate preparations for Russia’s first Olympics since the Soviet era. The games are the most expensive Olympics so far, costing around $50 billion (1,620 billion roubles).
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Vladimir Putin has taken part in a ceremony in Moscow to launch the torch relay for 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The torch will go on a 123-day journey covering some 40,000 miles before the Games start in the Black Sea resort on February 7.
The torch’s journey will include a trip into space.
The Russian president said the Games would show his country’s “respect for equality and diversity”.
The run-up to the Games has so far been marred by controversy over a new Russian law that restricts the spread of information about homosexuality, as well as allegations by rights groups that authorities have rounded up migrant workers who helped build the Games venues in Sochi.
Vladimir Putin has taken part in a ceremony in Moscow to launch the torch relay for 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi
The Olympic flame had been flown in from Greece after being lit last Sunday at the birthplace of the ancient Games.
Hoisting the flame in Moscow, Vladimir Putin declared in a ceremony shown live on television that “our shared dream is becoming reality”.
Vladimir Putin said the Games would show “respect for equality and diversity – ideals that are so intertwined with the ideals of the Olympic movement itself”.
He said the relay would show off Russia “the way that it is and the way we love it”.
“Today is a joyous and momentous day,” Vladimir Putin said.
“The Olympic flame – the symbol of the planet’s main sports event, the symbol of peace and friendship – has arrived in Russia, and in a few minutes it will be on its way around our huge country.”
On its journey the Olympic flame will:
- Travel to the North Pole on an atomic-powered icebreaker
- Ascend Europe’s highest peak, Mt Elbrus
- Be taken to the depths of Lake Baikal in Siberia
- Be taken on a spacewalk (unlit) at the International Space Station [youtube kOQibnX3_R4]
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