233 torchbearers on 50.4 km route carried the Olympic flame through the capital of the Kama region Perm

Sochi, Russia, 2014-1-6 — /travelprnews.com/ — 233 torchbearers, succeeding one another on a route of 50.4 km, carried the Olympic flame through the capital of the Kama region. Among the Olympic torchbearers were nominees of the Presenting Partners of the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay: the Coca-Cola Company, OSAO “Ingosstrakh” and OAO “Russian Railways”.

The first torchbearer of the city phase, Sergey Kushchenko, ran his distance with the Torch in hand from the area by the railway station. Kushchenko is the senior vice president of the International Biathlon Union and the executive director of the Russian Biathlon Union. Before the start, he remarked that he was dedicating his run to the memory of his good friend, Olympic champion and famous basketball player and coach Sergey Belov – in 1980 he was the one to light the Olympic Cauldron in Luzhniki on the threshold of the Moscow Olympics. On Day 89 of the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay, the temperature in the city went down to 30 degrees below 0. The main heroes of the Olympic procession held the Torch high above their heads. Around 83,000 residents and guests of Perm saw the Olympic flame in person in Perm.

Among the torchbearers for the capital of the Kama region were athletes, teachers, doctors, artists, writers, schoolchildren and college students. The Olympic flame of the Sochi Games was passed along by eight-time champion of the Deaflympics Sergey Tishchenko, president of the Handball Federation of Russia Vladimir Nelyubin and two-time Olympic handball champion Alexander Tuchkin, titled Paralympic skiers Lyubov Paninykh, Nadezhda Chirkova, and Taras Kryzhanovsky, mayor of Perm Igor Sapko, seven-time world biathlon champion Venera Chernyshova, Olympic champion and biathlete Vladimir Alikin, and halfback for the “Zenit” soccer club Konstantin Zyryanov.

At one of the phases, the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay made a stop by the office of OSAO “Ingosstrakh”. Torchbearer Alexey Sokolov, deputy executive director of “Ingosstrakh” and head of the Olympic headquarters of the insurance company, which is a Presenting Partner of the national Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay, ran his phase together with his wife and young son, and he then ascended onto the stage and said a few words of greeting to the public. The ceremonial celebration continued with a performance by a dance flash mob and songs about sports and the Olympic Games in Russian and French. Later, teachers and students from a school with intensive foreign language studies received the Torch Relay on stage; they ran with the Olympic torch in a group slot past their home school.

The Sochi 2014 Torch Relay route went past significant architectural and sculptural objects of Perm: the Art Gallery, the Tchaikovsky Theater of Opera and Ballet, a monument to soldier liberators, and parks and squares decorated with Christmas trees and holiday garlands. Since Soviet times, Perm has been renowned for its ballet traditions; the Perm Theater of Opera and Ballet is considered one of the best in Russia. Ballerina Elena Kulagina, a legend in Perm ballet, carried the Olympic flame against a backdrop of one of the city’s important symbols – the wooden letter “P”. The monument, a 3-dimensional letter “P”, was constructed not far from the Kama River and consists entirely of wooden bars, symbolizing that the Perm region is rich in timber, which previously floated down the large Ural River.

In the ice village torchbearers ran through the village pathway beside ice mascots of the XXII Olympic Games – the polar bear, hare and leopard, and also beside figures of winter sport athletes, making a stop by the bright Olympic rings.

In the final meters, the Olympic procession reached the central square, where for several hours prior, a large-scale city celebration unfolded. Perm residents, awaiting the arrival of the Olympic flame, took part in setting an unusual record – together, they ate 50,000 pelmeni (Russian ravioli) handmade by local chefs! After eating the traditional Ural dish, the spectators became witnesses to the culminating moment of the Olympic Torch Relay. The final torchbearer went on stage – governor of the Perm region, Viktor Basargin. He lit the Cauldron, which will always remain as a token to the city to symbolize its participation in the record-breaking Olympic Torch Relay, thanks to Presenting Partner of the Sochi 2014 Torch Relay, OSAO “Ingosstrakh”.

On the 5th of January the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay will arrive in the Kirov district.

Notes to the Editor

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay

The Olympic Torch Relay gets under way in Sochi on 7 October 2013. According to the organizers’ calculations, 90% of the Russian population will be within an hour’s reach of the Torch Relay route at some time or other, and this means that approximately 130 million Russian citizens will be able to watch or participate directly in the Relay. In total, it will cover more than 65,000 kilometers, including by car, train, plane, Russian troika and even reindeer sleigh.

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay is going to be the longest in the entire history of the Olympic Winter Games. During the Olympic Torch Relay, 14,000 torchbearers will carry the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch through 2,900 settlements of 83 regions of the country. The Relay will end with the Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony in Sochi on February 7, 2014.

Presenting Partners of the Torch Relay are Coca-Cola, OSAO “Ingosstrakh” and OAO “Russian Railways”.

The Presenting Partners for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay

The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company is the largest producer in the world of non-alcoholic drinks products. It offers consumers more than 500 brands of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages. Along with the Coca-Cola brand, which is recognized as the most valuable in the world, the company’s portfolio includes 15 brands, the value of which amounts to over one billion dollars.

Thanks to the largest distribution system in the world, consumers in more than 200 countries around the world enjoy Coca-Cola beverages. Every day, over 1.8 billion portions of the company’s beverages are sold internationally.

Coca-Cola in Russia – Coca-Cola is one of the biggest investors in the Russian economy. Coca-Cola’s level of investment in Russia currently exceeds 3 billion dollars. Beverages with Coca-Cola registered trademarks are produced at 16 modern plants located on Russian territory from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok (including plants of companies “Multon” and “Nidan”).

Coca-Cola Russia, which is an amalgamation of the company Coca-Cola and its partner-bottling company Hellenic, provides employment for over 15,000 highly qualified staff.

Over the course of over 100 years, participation of Coca-Cola company in sports events across the world has been and continues to be an integral part of the Company’s policy and an important element of the business.

Since 1928, Coca-Cola company has been an irreplaceable partner of the International Olympic Committee.

The Coca-Cola Company is preparing to be a Presenting Partner for the Olympic Torch Relay for the ninth time. The Coca-Cola Company first got involved in organizing the Olympic Torch Relay at the Olympic Games of 1992 in Barcelona.

For more detailed information about the company’s activities, please visit the following websites: www.thecocacolacompany.com and www.cocacolarussia.ru

OSAO “Ingosstrakh”

Ingosstrakh Insurance Company has operated in the domestic market since 1947. In 66 years, Ingosstrakh has transformed from a small branch to a large company, a universal insurer at federal level, and is the leader in various types of insurance. Today, branches are located across the country, and there are offices in 310 towns and cities across Russia. Today, the insurance company’s clients include over 12 million individuals and more than 400,000 commercial and state companies. Ingosstrakh’s high business reputation is confirmed by Standard & Poor’s international rating agency and Russian agency “Expert RA”.

The history of interaction between Ingosstrakh and the sports movement spans more than three decades. For Ingosstrakh, the Olympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi are going to be the second Olympic Games that the company has supported in our country. 33 years ago, Ingosstrakh was the supplier of insurance for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, providing insurance cover both during the preparations for the Games and during the competitions themselves. Ingosstrakh actively participated in the insurance of Olympic venues which were constructed before the 1980 Olympics. At that time, the Olympic flame was also protected by Ingosstrakh: the company insured the athletes’ torch relay. The policy was active throughout the entire Olympic Torch Relay.

More than 30 years since the 1980 Olympics, Ingosstrakh has again received this great honor. Since October 2010, it has been a Partner: the official insurer of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. Thus, for the second time in its 65-year history, the insurer is supporting one of the most important events in the world of sport: the first Olympic Games in the history of modern Russia, the mission of which is to unite the country, and demonstrate the beauty and diversity of Russia to the world.

OAO “Russian Railways”

OAO “Russian Railways Company” is one of the biggest transport companies in the world, with a network consisting of over 85,000 km of railway lines. Every year the company provides transit for a billion passengers and over 1.2 million tons of freight.

In February 2010, OAO “Russian Railways Company” became a General Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2014.

The company is implementing a range of important projects related to the construction new railways and stations in the region where the 2014 Games are going to be held, all of which are designed to ensure transit of construction material and equipment during the preparations for the Olympics, and to take competitors and spectators to the competition venues.

All the projects being carried out by OAO “Russian Railways Company” are taking place at unique construction sites, and serve as examples of complex task-solution: they are being created taking account of “barrier-free environment” requirements, so that they can be used by people with disabilities, with the very latest technology and “green building” standards applied.

The infrastructure elements on which OAO “Russian Railways Company” is working will form the main component of the legacy left by the Sochi 2014 Games. The new railway lines and stations will significantly improve passenger comfort on rail journeys, and the volume of passenger and freight transportation by rail will increase.

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