Turkish torch bearer Lutfi Aribogan carries Olympic torch flanked by police officers and Chinese security members during Olympic torch relay as they cross over the Bosphorus Bridge linking city's European and Asian sides over Bosphorus waterways in Istanbul April 3, 2008.
Photo: Reuters
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Olympic Fire Arrived in Russia
Russia welcomes the Olympic Torch. Official airliner of Beijing Olympics Organization Committee landed at 3:30 a.m. MSK in St. Petersburg. The lamp with Olympic fire was handed over to St. Petersburg Vice Governor Sergei Tarasov.
The main symbol of Olympics arrived in Pulkovo airport from Istanbul, which hosted the previous stage of the relay. Russia’s relay is slated for Saturday and the torch will be preserved in Park Inn Hotel till that time.
The relay starts at 10:30 a.m. MSK, Pobeda Square, to complete at roughly 3:00 p.m., Dvortsovaya Square, where the Olympic Torch will set fire to the symbolic bowl.
The distance of more than 20 kilometers is divided into 80 equal sections. Amid the Olympic Torch bearers are the sport stars of Russia, including Galina Zybina, Lyubov Egorova, Svetlana Zhurova, Andrei Arshavin, Evgeny Plyushchenko. The first woman cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova and Russia’s famous actress Alisa Freindlikh will also carry the torch.
Sberbank CEO German Gref, VTB CEO Andrei Kostin, Russia’s Olympic Committee President Leonid Tyagachev and China’s Ambassador to Russia Lu Guchan will take part in the relay.
The Olympic Torch relay will take 130 days covering five continents and the distance of roughly 137,000 kilometers. It will be the world’s longest relay of the kind. The arrangers plan to deliver the fire to Everest peak and carry it via Tibet to China’s Capital. The event will end on the opening day of Beijing Olympics held August 8 through 24.
www.kommersant.com
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