GREECE: OLYMPICS - Greece hands Olympic flame to Russia as pro-gay activists protest

Record ID: 277985

  • Title: GREECE: OLYMPICS - Greece hands Olympic flame to Russia as pro-gay activists protest
  • Date: 5th October 2013
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (OCTOBER 5, 2013) (REUTERS) ATHENS' ANCIENT MARBLE STADIUM STATUE OF A DISCUS THROWER IN FRONT OF STADIUM WIDE OF STADIUM VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING TO ENTER THE STADIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) RUSSIAN TOURIST, IRINA KOZOULIERIVA, SAYING: "It is very important event for us and we are glad that it happened, and Sochi is a very interesting city for Winter Olympi
  • Embargoed: 20th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAWDHVAPPN1B3DHCTP5DG9TP49
  • Story Text: The flame that will burn at next year's Sochi Winter Olympics was handed over to Russia on Saturday (October 5) in the marble stadium that hosted the first modern Games in 1896.
    The flame was presented to Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak after a six-day trek across 33 towns in Greece's mainly mountainous northern regions
    From its overnight perch on the ancient Acropolis, the flame travelled through Athens' streets before being carried into the stadium, built in 330 BC, by Greek figure skating champion Panagiotis Markouzios.
    "It is very important event for us and we are glad that it happened, and Sochi is a very interesting city for Winter Olympic Games, so we hope that everything will be all right and we hope it starts here today that it will be a very good beginning for the Games," said Russian tourist Irina Kozoulieriva from Moscow.
    The ceremony was attended by the Greek President Karolos Papoulias and the President of the Greek Olympic Committee Spyros Capralos.
    "We are very happy and proud that the Olympic flame is in the hands of our friends, the organisers of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games 2014," Capralos said after the ceremony. "It has been a great moment from the lighting of the flame in ancient Olympia one week ago until today the flame went all around Greece and it reminds everybody what Greece has given to the Olympic Games and Olympism."
    The flame had travelled through 33 cities with 250 torchbearers around Greece for a week after being lit in ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games, last Sunday (September 28).
    "I have said already that for Russia this is a very important, very exciting, much anticipated day," said Kozak. "We've been waiting for it for a long time, we have made efforts to change our country for the better in many spheres of our life, we've done it, we're looking forward to tomorrow with confidence and we are sure that in 120 days we will have magnificent, wonderful, unforgettable festival of sports and triumph of Olympic values."
    The flame will be flown in special safety lanterns from Athens to Moscow on Sunday (October 6) and it will then begin the longest torch relay in the history of the Winter Games from the Red Square.
    Carried by a record 14,000 torch-bearers, it will travel more than 65,000 km, looping around Russia's 83 regions on foot, in sleighs, hot air balloons and even on a trip to space, as Russia prepares to showcase its modern post-Soviet face.
    More than 90 percent of the Russian population will be within one hour of the flame before the lighting of the Olympic cauldron takes place at the stadium at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Feb. 7.
    Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to deliver a "brilliant" Games to show how far Russia has come since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
    Concerns had been raised over delays in the preparation of the Games but Kozak was confident Russia will be ready in time.
    "Yes, everything will be ready, we are practically ready to host the Olympic Games, both from the point of view of the infrastructure and from the point of view of the operational readiness of the big team responsible for the management of the Games; the team which will provide services for a variety of client groups - from athletes to spectators and other participants in the Olympics," he said.
    Russian organisers have also faced mounting international criticism over a new anti-gay propaganda law which critics believe is repressive. Human rights groups and some athletes have criticised the International Olympic Committee for failing to do more to press Russia over the new law.
    Members of a gay rights group, "Color Youth", held up a rainbow flag and a placard outside the marble reading, "Homophobia is not in the spirit of the Olympics" as the ceremony was taking place.
    They also had a placard with a list of names which read: "victims of Putin's anti-gay propaganda".
    "The current laws that are banning gay propaganda in Russia are having a very direct correlation with the increase in homophobic attacks and violence against LGBTQ people in Russia," said gay rights activist George Charonis. "So, we have seen teenagers even being lured into meetings and then being tortured and one of them committed suicide afterwards.
    "We have seen men being killed. And the message we want to send is that this is clear violation of human rights and not only is it not in the Olympic spirit and a country that is hosting the Olympic Games should not have rules and legislation like this, but it should not be a country's legislation to basically scapegoat a group, which is a minority group."
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