Saint Petersburg, Russia – Sochi 2014 CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko on Wednesday said plans to send the Olympic flame into space, as part of the longest torch relay in Winter Games history, are actively in the works.
While he was not in the position to officially announce that this long promised element of the relay is a go, Chernyshenko was upbeat.
“We have prepared a special project on how to launch the Olympic torch into outer space,” he revealed to a small group of reporters in Saint Petersburg covering the SportAccord Convention.
“The training of the cosmonauts is on track.
“We’ve got a special training center where they’re rehearsing.”
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov first proposed these plans in 2011.
The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay will be the longest in the history of the Winter Olympic Games with 14,000 torchbearers carrying the flame over 123 days and through 2,900 towns and settlements.
The torch will be carried more than 65,000 kilometres by foot, car, train, plane and even on a Russia “troika” – a traditional Russian sleigh pulled by horses or reindeer. About 130 million Russians are expected to see the relay as it travels around the country.
The relay will go from Moscow to Sochi, visiting many important historic, cultural and picturesque areas of Russia. The relay will then celebrate the new Olympic year in Kazan, considered one of the most beautiful cities in Russia.
The Sochi 2014 Games are set to open February 7, 2014.
