Ria Novosti Roundup -- Georgia Boycott; Torch Alteration

Georgian PM Says Sochi Olympics Boycott Possible

Tbilisi will boycott the next year’s Winter Olympics in Russia’s Sochi if the participation becomes a "humiliating" experience for Georgia, the country’s prime minister said on Monday.

The Games will be held in Sochi, near Russia’s border with the breakaway region of Abkhazia, which Georgia claims as part of its territory but Russia considers independent and maintains a large military presence there.

"We should see how the situation evolves. And if we feel before the Games that the participation is humiliating for us, then, of course, we won’t take part," Bidzina Ivanishvili said in an interview with Georgian Public Broadcaster’s First Channel.

The question of a boycott has repeatedly arisen in Georgia as a result of the 2008 war with the host nation, Russia. Outgoing Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had urged the world to consider snubbing the event, but after his party lost parliamentary elections in October 2012, relations between Georgia and Russia began to improve.

Ivanishvili, who led the new cabinet, rejected any ideas of a boycott last year, confirming in late December that "if we want normal relations with Russia, then we will certainly participate." He even said that his presence at the Games was possible.

However, the issue of boycott was raised again in October, when a Russian military pilot who took part in the 2008 Georgian-Russian war became one of the torchbearers for the Olympic fire relay. Saakashvili urged the country’s national Olympic committee to reconsider its May 2 decision to send Georgian athletes to the Sochi Games.

Georgia is also angered by Russian border guards’ efforts to install barbed-wire fencing near Georgia’s border with its breakaway republics. Tbilisi has repeatedly called on Moscow to dismantle the barriers.

More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition to cancel Georgia’s participation since it was posted on the web on October 8.

Ivanishvili warned that the state should not act "on impulse."

"I understand the popular opinion that what is going on is insulting, but the state shouldn’t act on impulse, it shouldn’t be agitated, but it should make balanced decisions," Ivanishvili said.

Georgia’s national Olympic committee currently plans to send a delegation of up to nine athletes to Sochi.

Sochi Olympic Torch Tweaked for Space Trip

Russian engineers have tweaked the design of the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch that will go into space, to prevent it from slipping out of a cosmonaut's grip during the photo-op spacewalk, a space official said Tuesday.

The torch is to blast off to the International Space Station next month in a trip that is not part of the 123-day relay itself, but a symbolic gesture designed to showcase Russia's might.

An unlit torch with an extra tether attached is to be carried into open space by cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky, during which time it will orbit the Earth several times, said Sergei Krikalev head of the Cosmonauts' Training Center.

"The Olympic torch for space is just like the one for the Earth, but there will be no gas in it," he said.

"To take it into open space the object was reworked: An extra fixing element has been added to attach a tether to, just so it doesn't fly away," Krikalev added.

After the torch returns to Earth on November 11 it will be taken to the Olympic host city of Sochi and used to light the cauldron at the opening ceremony on February 7.

The actual torch relay began on Red Square on October 7 and is currently spiraling out from Moscow on its way north to St. Petersburg as part of its 65,000-kilometer (41,450 mile) journey. On Tuesday the relay reaches the city of Ryazan.

Ski Jumping: Takanashi Wins at Final Sochi Test Event

Japanese ski jumping prodigy Sara Takanashi soared to victory in the women’s individual event Sunday at the Russian Open Ski Jumping Championship, the last test event at next year’s Winter Olympic venue.

Takanashi, 17, scored 252.5 points from two jumps on the HS106-size hill and was the only jumper to clear 100 meters, which she did on both jumps.

Takanashi finished far ahead of two Russians, second-placed Anastasia Gladysheva on 218.0 points and third-placed Irina Avvakumova on 204.5.

"To get to Takanashi’s level, you have to work a lot," Gladysheva said. "I don’t have that much experience yet, but I hope that our anthem will be played at the jump sometime."

Takanashi won individual silver and team gold at February’s world championships and is one of the favorites for gold at the Olympics, which run from February 7 to 23.

The Russian Open Ski Jumping Championship continues with the men’s normal hill event Monday, followed by team events Tuesday and men’s large hill competitions Wednesday and Thursday.

Moscow On My Mind - Blog

United States Ice Hockey Gold Medalist Jim Craig will be blogging for RIA Novosti.

Craig, the goalie from the 1980 Men's Ice Hockey Team known as the "Miracle on Ice," will be posting his thoughts periodically during the run up to the Sochi Olympics.

The blog, entitled "Moscow on My Mind" can be found here.

Infographics

RIA Novosti is showcasing a number of infographics detailing the lead up to the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Click here for the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay infographic.

Click here for RIA Novosti's projects and products infographic.

Published by exclusive arrangement with Around the Rings’ Sochi 2014 media partner RIA-Novosti.

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