Waiting for Sochi: the Olympic Flame meeting

There is very little time left, and we will all cling to the TV screens in anticipation of adrenaline, victories and medals: the Olympics in Sochi, the second Russian Games in modern history, will start. We do not yet know exactly what surprises the organizers have prepared for the opening ceremony of the main winter start of the fourth anniversary, but everyone knows that one of the most intriguing and touching moments will be the lighting of the Olympic flame in the bowl of the main stadium. According to tradition, it burns throughout the Olympics. Of course, this is its main symbol.

Not just a lamp

On the one hand, for each country, this torch becomes an occasion to show their creativity, to declare themselves to the world, to demonstrate their achievements in various fields. On the other hand, it helps to unite the nation with a common idea, to emphasize the special role of certain localities of the state and to place trust in outstanding citizens. After all, the meeting of the Olympic flame in a city (especially a small one) is an important event for all its residents.

Beginning

By tradition, the relay begins its march in the homeland of the Games, in the village of Olympia. Interestingly, even in our high-tech age, the rays of the Sun give life to fire. One of the 11 Greek women, dressed in priestesses' clothes, "catches" them with the help of a special mirror, after reading a prayer to Apollo. Then the torch begins its long journey. The first Russian to take the baton of the Sochi Olympics was a truly legendary hockey player, who in the West is called "Alexander the Great" - Alexander Ovechkin. And he did it with a feeling of great pride, despite all the titles he had by that time.

Incident in Moscow

A week later, the Olympic Flame meeting took place in Moscow. Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by the fact that the torch went out in the hands of an outstanding submariner, 60-year-old Shavarsh Karapetyan, who in his youth accomplished the feat of pulling about 20 people out of a sunken bus. Journalists did not fail to write clouds of scathing comments about the incident (some claimed that he was not the only one).

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Creative ideas

The organizers of the Games in different countries often come up with something new. The participants of the relay not only ran, but also moved on skis, boats, horses, snowmobiles and deer, flew on airplanes and helicopters and landed on parachutes. The fire itself once crossed the ocean (a laser beam was used). It would seem that what else unusual can you come up with? However, the Russians succeeded.

The meeting of the Olympic flame at the North Pole turned out to be surprisingly beautiful. The fire was delivered there by an atomic icebreaker, and polar explorers from the Arctic Council countries became torchbearers. The polar night was illuminated by Greek fire and an amazing laser show.

An unusual meeting of the Olympic flame was held on Lake Baikal. It was marked not only by Buryat dances and medieval reconstructions, but also by the descent of the torch to the bottom of the famous "glorious sea" - with the help of divers and rescuers. But that's not all! The scenario of the Olympic flame meeting provided for an unusual "exit" of the main symbol of the Games from the lake. He was literally rushed to the shore on the wings of a "bird-man", raised from the surface of the reservoir with the help of water jets of a special device "slay-jet". A native of Irkutsk, a beautiful "artist" Daria Dmitrieva, took fire into her own hands.

The torch has been in outer space, and will soon conquer Elbrus. For more than two months he has been traveling on the territory of the sixth part of the land. The Olympic Flame ceremony was developed by each locality independently. In Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, a wakeboarder carried a torch along the Moscow River and a snowboarder lowered it from a snowy mountain. In Kaluga, Tsiolkovsky's grandson acted as a torchbearer, and the group "Earthlings" sang at the ceremony. In Pavlovsk, the relay, which arrived in a retro train, was met by the heroes of the XIX century. And in Orel, the fire "rolled" in a bobsled sled.

Is something waiting for us at the opening ceremony of the Games?