The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay continued its journey through Novosibirsk. On the second day, 88 torchbearers, passing the Flame to one another, covered a distance of 15.3 km. Among the Olympic torchbearers were nominees of the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay Presenting Partners: the Coca-Cola Company, OSAO "Ingosstrakh" and OAO "Russian Railways".
Day 61 of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay began in the territory of Akademgorodok, the most important scientific, technical and educational center of Russia. This separate city, built on the shores of the Ob Sea in the 1960's, contains scientific research centers, including the Siberian division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and residential neighborhoods.
In the morning torchbearers Tatyana Lazareva and Alexandr Karelin visited the Novosibirsk Scientific Research Institute of blood circulation pathology, named for E.N. Meshalkin. Then the famous torchbearers visited a unique museum dedicated to the history of cardiac surgery.
The two-time Olympic track and field champion Viktor Markin began his journey with the Olympic flame around the Siberian Akademgorodok. Prominent athletes received the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay from him, as well as students of the Novosibirsk educational institutions.
Then the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay continued near the monument to Alexandr Pokryshkin, air marshal and three-fold hero of the Soviet Union. City residents welcomed their beloved countryman, a veteran and active table tennis athlete, 101-year-old Alexandr Kaptorenko. He became the oldest torchbearer in the history of the Olympic Movement. At the age of 101, Alexander weekly spends several hours practicing sports and promoting a healthy and active lifestyle among youth.
In the capital of Siberia, torchbearers rode with the Olympic torch in hand on the snowy slopes, symbolizing the approaching "white" Olympics. In the Gorny sports park, torchbearer Daniil Dilman, a member of Russia's snowboard team, rode down on a snowboard. Then he passed the Torch Relay to Sergey Tarasov, a biathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who ascended back to the peak on skis.
Approaching the finish, the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay went along the Communal Bridge. The torchbearers were able to see the wide open spaces of the icy Oba; it is the longest seven-bay bridge, having no counterparts in the world. Relieving one another, the torchbearers delivered the Olympic Flame to Lenin Square in the very center of the city. Alexandr Karelin, Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling champion, put a bright point in the city phase of the Torch Relay and lit the Cauldron. The Cauldron, gifted to the city by Presenting Partner of the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay OSAO "Ingosstrakh", will remain as a token to Novosibirsk.
The Olympic Torch Relay will visit next cities of the Novosibirsk district, Barabinsk and Kuybyshev and will cross the border of the Omsk district.
For more information contact: Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay Communications Service
sochi2014.com | OGON@sochi2014.com | +7 495 984 2014
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