Though some of the specifics of the Torch Relay are still under wraps, a number of plans have been confirmed to insidethegames, including that the Relay route will span over 40,000 kilometres, the length of the earth's equator.

It is also four times longer than the 2006 Turin Winter Games Relay, and will travel through all 83 constituent entities of Russia, with 90 per cent of the population having the chance to see the Olympic Torch on its route.

The Torch Relay will last for 123 days, from October 2013 to February 7, 2014, when the Winter Olympics gets underway in Sochi.

In all, some 14,000 Torchbearers will carry it, as well as 30,000 Relay volunteers, with 2,000 Torchbearers set to carry the Paralympic Torch on its journey between February 26 and March 7.

The most spectacular plans though are those to send the torch into space for the first time in Olympic history, an idea first made public by Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov last year.


In 1961 the Soviet Union was the first country to send a man, Yuri Gagarin (pictured), into space.

insidethegames understands that this is still in the minds of Sochi 2014, though talks are ongoing over the ambitious plans.

It has also been confirmed that the torch will be taken to Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake with a depth of 1,600 metres, in the south of Russia near Irkutsk, and also travel to Mount Elbrus, the tallest mountain in Europe at a height of 5,642m.

"We promise a spectacular event," Chernyshenko told insidethegames.

"We see it as a unique opportunity to engage the whole of Russia in our Olympic celebration, and the torch will travel through every single one of the 83 regions of the Russian Federation.

"At over 40,000km, it will be the longest distance the Torch Relay has covered in a single country in Olympic history."

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