Follow Greece Investment Immigration and stay updated on local Greek news: The torch for the 22nd Sochi Winter Olympic Games was successfully lit on the afternoon of the 29th at the ancient stadium of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, marking the start of the torch relay.
"Apollo, god of the sun and the idea of light, send your rays and light the sacred torch for the hospitable city of Sochi." At 12:44 p.m. that day, under the bright autumn sun, Greek actress Ino Menegaki, playing the role of the High Priestess, lit the sacred flame using reflected sunlight. The flame will reach the opening ceremony venue on February 7, 2014, the day the Sochi Winter Olympics begin.
After the torch was lit, Menegaki passed the flame to Greek alpine skier Ioannis Antoniou, beginning the torch relay. Receiving the torch from Antoniou was Russian ice hockey player Alexander Ovechkin, who became the first Russian to carry the Sochi Winter Olympic torch.
The Winter Olympic torch will travel 2,000 kilometers across Greece before being handed over to the city of Sochi on October 5 at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. The Panathenaic Stadium was also the venue for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
The torch will arrive in Moscow, the capital of Russia, on October 6, and the torch relay will officially begin on October 7. Inspired by the legend of the "Firebird" in Russian mythology, the feather-shaped torch will be passed through the hands of 14,000 torchbearers, traveling through more than 2,900 towns and settlements over the course of more than four months.
In November of this year, the Russian "Soyuz" spacecraft will carry the Sochi Winter Olympic torch to the International Space Station. Two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky, will take the torch outside the International Space Station to display it in space. Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, currently working on the International Space Station, will be responsible for bringing the torch back to Earth.
At the flame-lighting ceremony, Greek hosts and International Olympic Committee officials expressed their sincere best wishes for the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Mayor of Ancient Olympia, Efthymios Kotzias, said in his speech at the ceremony: "We hope the Olympic flame will inspire leaders and citizens around the world to cooperate for world peace." Hellenic Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos said he believes the Olympic spirit will make the world a better place.
New International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said: "I am confident that the organizers of the Sochi Winter Olympics will present us with a magnificent Winter Games."
Dmitry Chernyshenko, President of the Sochi Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, thanked the international Olympic family for their trust at the ceremony, stating that the Sochi Winter Olympics Organizing Committee will carry the Olympic flame "with pride and dignity."
The 22nd Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi from February 7 to 23, 2014.