The world’s largest ice-breaker, the Rosatom’s 50 let Pobedy” (Years of Victory) reached the very heart of the Arctic, as part of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay. This is a very special event since the Olympic symbol has never been taken to the North Pole before. The Sochi-2014 organizing committee drew a route including space, the bottom of the Lake Baykal, the Arctic desert and the Elbrus summit. It is doubtful that any other country will be able to repeat such a trick.
As for the ice part of the route, it would have been impossible without Atomflot. Only nuclear icebreakers are able to reach the North Pole in any weather and any time of the year, as we know now. “50 let Pobedy”, a 70 thousand horsepower ship, made it through ice easily. The icebreaker team confirmed the status of the Sochi-2014 Olympic Torch Relay as the most wide-scale, setting two new records for the first time an icebreaker travelled to the North Pole under the conditions of polar night and in the shortest period of time. It took the ship 91 hours 12 minutes to get from Murmansk to the most northern spot of the planet.
Fire on the Earth’s top
In order to adhere to the Olympic Torch Relay’s principle of integrity, which states that the flame can only be lit in one place at one time, it was decided that the Relay in the North Pole would take place overnight between October 19 and 20. Once the last torchbearer had completed his run in Yaroslavl and the Keepers had transferred the flame to the lantern, the first torchbearer, the captain of the 50 Years of Victory, Valentin Davydyants, lit the Torch from the very same lantern in the North Pole.
This stage of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay took place on board the ice-breaker and on an ice block, whilst the Lighting Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Lantern took place at the geographical North Pole point. 11 torchbearers, who had made a huge contribution to the studying of the Arctic and the conservation of its natural resources, animals and ecology, were given the honor of carrying the Olympic Flame. These included Lassi Heininen (Finland), Jens Petter Nielsen and Jan-Gunnar Winther (Norway), Karen Pat Pitney (USA), Steingrímur Jónsson (Iceland), Stephen Podborski (Canada), Sjöberg Ylva (Sweden), Marcussen Christian (Denmark) and Elena Koudryasheva (Russia). In a place where all the time zones meet, the final torchbearer of the Olympic torch relay Arctic stage, Artur Chilingarov, honored explorer of the Arctic and the Antarctic, lit the Olympic Cauldron. He was surrounded by all of the torchbearers holding the flags of their countries. The Olympic expedition participants who had gathered in a round dance, made a symbolic world’s smallest trip around the world and the Olympic festival ended with a 3D laser show.
One of the most complex and large-scale projects, the special North Pole project of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay was made possible by the Torch Relay’s technical partner, the Rosatom State Corporation. It was responsible for delivering the Torch, safe boarding of expedition participants on the ice flow, organizing of the lighting activities as well as the provision of food and medical services for the Relay team, and accompanying the staff members of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee.
Torchbearer’s pride
The torch relay continued in Murmansk. Among the honored torch-bearers there were two representatives of Rosatom the Kola NPP technician Marina Lavrentyeva and a senior electrician Denis Kolovanov. Both are known to be good skiers, repeated participants of the company’s spartakiads. They received their rights to take part in the ceremony due to their sports achievements.
Thousands of people were queuing up along the streets in Murmansk with balloons and little flags in order to see the historic event. Many were running along the road, filming torchbearers with their smartphones and those who had already passed the baton were surrounded by people willing to take pictures together. The whole 16 kilometer long distance route across Murmansk was full of universal jubilation and happiness.
“I feel very proud to be the part of the Olympic movement”, – said Denis Kolovanov. He told he had been feeling very nervous, even more than at competitions. But as soon as he felt the fire alive in his hand, the nervousness went away. It must have been the sense of responsibility.” Marina Lavrentyeva, meanwhile, was full of emotions “The torch appeared to be heavy. It was not easy to carry two kilograms stiff-armed. I didn’t pay attention while running, but afterwards my hand was trembling with tension. I had never thought so many people would come to greet me”. The culmination was solemn lighting of the torch in the city center, done by Marina Kovtun, the governor of the Murmansk region, and biathlon world champion, Sergey Rozhkov.
