One-hundred-and-two Buryat horsemen entered their names into the history of the Olympic Movement by covering a total distance of 29.8 km through Ulan-Ude, including the Ivolginsky datsan, the largest Buddhist complex in Russia. Among the Olympic torchbearers were the winners of the competition organized by the Presenting Partners of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay, the Coca-Cola Company, OSAO "Ingosstrakh" and OAO "Russian Railways."
The train of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay arriving from the Trans-Baikal Region was met in the early morning hours on the train station in the administrative capital of Buryatia. Indigenous peoples, including the Evenki, Slavic Old Believers, and Buryats, presented a khadak to the flamekeepers as a gift. The khadak is a sky-blue silk scarf, which is a major symbol of respect, selflessness and hospitality towards guests.
Bair Omoktuev, an International Master of Sport in Sambo and winner of the World Combat Games, was the first torchbearer of the day in the Ivolginsky District. Later Aleksey Radnaev, Aleksey Turobov and Batomunko Vankeyev took up the torch. They covered their distances as torchbearers on horseback surrounded by riders wearing national costumes.
The riders brought the Olympic flame to the gates of the Ivolginsky datsan, the Russian center of Buddhism, which is located at the foot of the Khamar-Daban Mountain Ridge. The main keepers of Buddhist culture, the lamas, held a special religious ceremony by circling the sacred place an odd number of times while following the movement of the sun. Lev Asalkhanov, winner of the "Patron of the Year in Sports" award, Andrey Zakhryapin, a repeat winner of the Deaflympics in wrestling, Savely Osokin, a repeat winner of world championships in freestyle wrestling, and Konstantin Erdyniyev, honoured coach of Russia, all exchanged the Olympic torch with each other at the temple complex. At the conclusion of the Buddhist phase of the Olympic Torch Relay the flame was placed before the famous statue of Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, the 12th Pandido Khambo Lama and Head of the Buddhists of Eastern Siberia, who, according to the datsan monks, blessed the flame.
Afterwards, the Olympic Torch Relay moved to the streets of the administrative center of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude. The teacher Elena Matantseva, who is eight months pregnant, carried the Olympic torch through the stage beginning at the Royal Gates.
Famous residents of the city, athletes, coaches, cultural and public figures all took part in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay along different parts of its route. Among them were: Timur Tsybikov, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Buryatia, 14-year-old student Daniil Konev, a black belt in taekwondo, Kazimir Ivanov, Honoured Teacher of Russia, and Nina Bobrova, honoured worker of culture and master of sport in skating. There were more than 73,000 spectators at the Olympic Torch Relay in Berate.
Pave Yakovlev, Honored Master of Sport of Russia, a participant at the 1980s Olympics in Moscow, and a medallist at the Goodwill Games of 1986, finished out the Olympic Torch Relay stage in Buratia. He lit the Olympic Flame Cauldron, which on the evening before was presented to the city as a gift by 2014 Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partner OSAO "Ingosstrakh."
Irkutsk Region will be the next destination on the route of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay. November 23, 2013 the Olympic Torch Relay will be taken to the bottom of Lake Baikal. The torchbearer divers will pass the Olympic flame to each other on the bottom of the deepest and most pure freshwater lake in the world.
For more information on the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay, visit Sochi2014.com, or call +7 495 984 2014.
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These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
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