Waiting for Sochi: meeting the Olympic flame

There is very little time left, and we will all cling to the TV screens in anticipation of adrenaline, victories and medals: the Sochi Olympics, the second Russian games in modern history will start. We do not know exactly what surprises were prepared by the organizers for the opening ceremony of the main winter start of the four years, 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 is an occasion to show its creativity, to declare to the world about itself, to demonstrate its achievements in different fields. And on the other hand, it helps to unite the nation with a common idea, emphasize the special role of certain localities of the state and give credence to outstanding citizens. After all, the meeting of the Olympic fire in the city (especially a small one) is an important event for all its inhabitants.

Start

By tradition, the relay begins a procession in the homeland of games, in the village of Olympia. It is interesting that in our high-tech age the rays of the sun give life to the fire. One of the 11 Greek women, dressed in the priestess's clothes, "catches" them with a special mirror, having read the prayer to Apollo. Then the torch begins its long journey. The first Russian who took 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 that by that time had.

Incident in Moscow

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

Creative ideas

Organizers of the Games in different countries often come up with something new. Participants of the relay not only fled, 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 you can come up with something unusual? However, the Russians succeeded.

The meeting of the Olympic flame at the North Pole was surprisingly beautiful . The fire was brought there by an atomic icebreaker, polar explorers from the Arctic Council countries became torchbearers . The polar night was lit up by Greek fire and a stunning laser show.

An unusual meeting of the Olympic flame was held at 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 meeting of the Olympic flame provided for an unusual "exit" of the main symbol of the Games from the lake. He literally approached the shore on the wings of the "man-bird", raised from the surface of the reservoir with the help of water jets of a special device "slay-jet." A native of Irkutsk, a pretty woman, the "artist" Daria Dmitrieva, took fire in her hands.

The torch traveled in open space, and soon Elbrus should conquer. For more than two months he has traveled through the territory of the sixth part of the world. The ceremony of meeting the Olympic flame was developed by each settlement independently. In the Krasnogorsk town outside Moscow, a torch carried a wakeboarder along the Moscow river and a snowboarder downhill from the snowy mountain. In Kaluga, the grandson of Tsiolkovsky was the torchbearer, and the group "Zemlyane" sang at the ceremony. In Pavlovsk, the baton that arrived in the retro train was met by the heroes of the XIX century. And in Orel, the fire "rolled" in a bobsled sleigh.

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