Sochi 2014 Winter Games Torch Unveiled, Route Could Include Trip To Outer Space

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics organizers "unveiled a futuristic torch" on Monday based on the "contrasts of the world's largest country and combining Russian folklore, including a mythical Firebird, with space-age technology," according to Gennady Fyodorov of REUTERS. The torch relay, which starts in the ancient Greek town of Olympia on Oct. 7, will be the longest in Winter Olympic history, measuring 65,000km, more than one and a half times the circumference of the Earth. The torch will visit Mount Elbrus, Europe's highest mountain, Lake Baikal and the North Pole. Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee President Dmitry Chernyshenko said, "We hope it might even go out into space." The torch is red and silver. Sochi 2014 organizers said that red "is the traditional color of Russian sport, while silver is the most popular in Olympic torch history" (REUTERS, 1/14).

OUT OF THIS WORLD: XINHUA reported the torch "may visit outer space during the relay." The Sochi Olympics ambassador Ilya Averbukh said that the move is "intended to symbolize Russia as a technologically advanced country." Averbukh said, "There is an aspiration upward, to the victory. It will be a real feast" (XINHUA, 1/14). The organizing committee also unveiled the official uniform for the Paralympic torch bearers who will take part in the Sochi 2014 relays. The uniform was designed by BOSCO, the general partner of the 2014 Games (Sochi 2014).