The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay started in the Samara district. On the first day of the Flame's journey through the region, 161 torchbearers ran along the streets of Syzran and Tolyatti. The route of Day 78 of the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay covered 33.8 km. Among the Olympic torchbearers were the nominees of the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay Presenting Partners: the Coca-Cola Company, OSAO "Ingosstrakh" and OAO "Russian Railways."
On the main square of Syzran, the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay began its two-day journey of 73 km through the Samara district. With joyous shouts and camera flashes, many spectators led the first torchbearer, bronze medal winner of the Olympic Games in field hockey Alexander Myasnikov, in whose hands the Olympic Flame travelled along the city roads of the ancient city with a rich history.
The torchbearers in Syzran were famous athletes, as well as people with a rich life history, thanks to which they earned the honour of being the main heroes of the Olympic procession. Among them were honoured gymnastics coach of Russia, Vladimir Kirillov; international master of sports in fire brigade games, Vladimir Fomin; boxer Vladimir Vetkin; pilot astronaut Mikhail Kornienko; active participant in the volunteer movement "Silver Age", 68-year-old volunteer Nina Panteleyeva; and honoured arm wrestling coach of Russia Andranik Ovsepyan.
Athlete Maxim Aleshin, bronze medal winner of the Olympic Games in Sydney for gymnastics, delivered the Olympic Torch to the stage of the final celebration. He lit the Cauldron, after which the residents and guests of Syzran bid farewell to the Olympic Flame, and the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay took a course to Tolyatti.
In the second half of the day, Tolyatti received the Olympic Torch Relay. Earlier, from the time of the city's founding in the middle of the 18th century until 1964, the city was called Stavropol-on-Volga, the "city of the holy cross", as it was called by its founder, a Russian historian, geographer and state activist of the 17th and 18th century, Vasily Tatishchev. Only in 1964 did the city receive a new modern name in honour of the political figure Palmiro Togliatti.
Along the streets of the Russian car city, the Olympic Flame was carried by torchbearers who have made a large contribution to the country's sports, cultural and public achievements. Among them were handball players Irina Bliznova and Nadezhda Muravyeva, track and field athletes Irina Timofeyeva, Alexander Ryabov and Anastasia Chelysheva, and bicycling champion of the Deaflympics, Nikolay Dittenbir. The creators of the Sochi 2014 Torch - builder Andrey Vodyanik and designer Vladimir Pirozhkov - took part in the Olympic Torch Relay in Tolyatti.
The phase at the "Stroitel" stadium was a bright adornment of the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay. Along an icy track, on a motorcycle decorated with the bright orange elements of a patchwork quilt, the Olympic Flame was carried by world speedway champion Daniil Ivanov, accompanied by three motor racers/team partners.
The final meters on Day 78 of the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay were run by Alexey Nemov, four-time Olympic champion in gymnastics and recipient of the "World Sports Awards" prize as the planet's best athlete.
Alexey Nemov was the jury chairman for the selection of torchbearer nominees of the Presenting Partner Coca-Cola in the Volga Federal District of the Russian Federation. Before the start of the Torch Relay in Tolyatti, Coca-Cola representatives invited the Olympic champion to the "Olymp" sports complex, where he arrived together with the Keeper of the Flame and the Lantern. Alexey told the young students from the sports sections of the center about Olympic values and about the course of the Torch Relay, answered questions from the young audience and happily had pictures taken with them.
In the evening, Alexey Nemov was greeted as a torchbearer by tens of thousands of happy spectators, seeing in person the symbol of the upcoming Olympic Games lit in ancient Greece. The athlete went onto the stage of the largest sports complex in Tolyatti and lit the Cauldron from his Torch. The evening continued with a ceremonial performance of the Torch Relay Anthem and a spectacular celebratory concert with performance groups.
Tomorrow the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay will be received by the administrative center of the region - the city of Samara. The torchbearers will run along the main roads and streets and along the shore of the Volga, and the Torch will be carried on skates and skis. The passing of the Torch will take place by the unusual sculpture "Cat on a Radiator", and also by the rocket monument of the "Cosmic Samara" museum.
For more information contact:Press Service for the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee
sochi2014.com | media@sochi2014.com | +7 495 984 2014
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