Olympic torch relay officially starts in Moscow

The Olympic flame officially commenced its 123-day relay on Monday in Moscow, one day after a bumpy ceremonial journey around the Kremlin.

At noon, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin lit the torch in the Red Square and handed to its first bearer Anastasia Davydova, a five-time Olympic champion in synchronized swimming.

Sobyanin said the official start of the torch relay marked the final stage of preparation for the 22nd Winter Olympic Games due in the Black Sea resort of Sochi next February.

Davydova won gold medals in the duet competition with Anastasia Yermakova at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was also part of the Russian gold medal team in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

Claiming honored to be the first torchbearer, the 30-year-old swimmer appealed more people to participate in sports as that can breed fitness and bright future.

More than 600 torchbearers will run the red-and-white torch by major landmark cites of Gorky Park, Luzhniki Stadium and Moscow State University in three days.

On Saturday, the torch briefly went out as one bearer was passing through a Kremlin gate, stirring up the Internet as people doubted the credibility of the torch.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the steering committee of Sochi 2014, said the accident was a minor hiccup and called on people not to pay attention to it.


The flame will travel more than 65,000 km across Russia's 83 regions spanning 132 cities. It will also dive into the Baikal as well as fly to the space before settling down in Sochi at the opening ceremony of the Games on Feb. 7.