Olympic Torch Relay marks 100th day
The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay celebrated its 100th day on 15 January, as the countdown to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games continues.
The milestone was reached as the Olympic flame arrived in the Bryansk region, located on the border of Ukraine and Belarus, where it was greeted by traditional dancers carrying a 156m-long piece of embroidery, which was decorated with Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian patterns.
Torchbearers on the day included Russian Olympic medallists Sergey Pyzhyanov and Larisa Kurkina, European Wrestling Championship bronze medallist Svetlana Babushkina and cosmonaut Viktor Afanasyev.
In the following days, the Torch Relay continued through Kursk, Belgorod, Voronezh and Uryupinsk, with Torchbearers including Olympic cycling champion Valery Chaplygin, jazz musician Leonid Vintskevich, Olympic silver medallist Inna Deriglazova, Beijing 2008 fencing champion Evgeniya Lamonova and Youth Olympic Games gold medallist and London 2012 silver medallist Viktoria Komova.
The relay will reach Volgograd on 20 January before continuing its epic 123-day journey across Russia, which will culminate at the Opening Ceremony of Sochi 2014 on 7 February 2014.
The 65,000km route has been designed to ensure that approximately 90% of Russia's population will be within an hour of the Relay at some stage, allowing around 130 million residents to participate in the event.
Find out more about the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners at http://torchrelay.sochi2014.com/en/Partners
More information on the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay can be found at http://torchrelay.sochi2014.com/en/