The ceremony took place at the Panathinaikos Stadium in Athens

The flame of the XXII Winter Olympic Games was officially handed over to the organizers of the Sochi 2014 games. During a ceremony held at the Panathinaikos Stadium in the Greek capital, Chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Greece Spyros Kapralos presented the Olympic torch, lit on September 29 at the Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia, to the head of the Russian delegation, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak.

Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Kozak
Photo: Alexander Koryakov, Kommersant / buy photo

On Saturday, a solemn ceremony of handing over the flame of the XXII Olympic Winter Games 2014 to the Russian delegation took place in Athens. The delegation from Russia at the ceremony was represented by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak, Ambassador, President of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee Dmitry Chernyshenko, Ambassador of the Olympic Games in Sochi, six-time Olympic champion in speed skating Lidiya Skoblikova.

“It is a great honor, responsibility and great pleasure for me to be here today, with you, on the land that became the cradle of European civilization and gave the world the Olympic Games,” Mr. Kozak said during the ceremony. — Almost three decades ago, the Olympic flame was already in our country. New Russia, thanks to the trust and support of the world Olympic movement, received the right to once again host the Olympic Games - the most grandiose sports festival in the world!”

Let us remind you that on September 29, the ceremony of lighting the flame of the XXII Olympic Winter Games 2014 took place in ancient Olympia. The solemn ritual marked the beginning of the Olympic torch relay, which passed through Greece for five days. It is planned that on October 6 the Olympic flame will be delivered to Moscow. Tomorrow on Red Square, Russian President Vladimir Putin will solemnly light the Olympic cauldron, after which the flame will be carried across the territory of the Moscow Kremlin. On October 7, the relay route will begin around noon in the Red Square area, then pass along the embankments and end at Moscow State University. On October 8 at 9:30 the fire will proceed from Vasilievsky Spusk through the embankments to Kutuzovsky Prospekt. Then, at about 15:00, the relay will reach Victory Park and through Mosfilmovskaya Street will return to the embankments again, and by 20:00 it will arrive at Red Square.

How the Olympic relay started

September 29 The ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame for the Sochi 2014 Games took place in ancient Olympia. According to tradition, the first torchbearer was the Greek skier Yannis Antoniou, from whom one of the best hockey players in the world, Alexander Ovechkin, took the baton. The Olympic flame will arrive in Moscow on October 7. At the same time, the Russian stage of the relay will begin, which will end on the opening day of the Sochi Olympics - February 7. Read more

Alexander Pavlov

The Olympic flame was handed over to Russia