RUSSIA: WINTER OLYMPICS - President Vladimir Putin meets with Prince Albert of Monaco and presents the royal with an official torch for the upcoming Sochi 2014 Olympic Games

Record ID: 860314

  • Title: RUSSIA: WINTER OLYMPICS - President Vladimir Putin meets with Prince Albert of Monaco and presents the royal with an official torch for the upcoming Sochi 2014 Olympic Games
  • Date: 4th October 2013
  • Summary: OLYMPIC TORCH FROM 1988 CALGARY GAMES PRINCE ALBERT TALKING SOCHI 2014 LOGO
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • City:
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: General,Politics,Royalty,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA3XMXFGG2GO8SLUV7Z5SXAUXUW
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  • Story Text: Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Prince Albert of Monaco on Friday (October 4) to Moscow ahead of celebrations welcoming the Olympic flame to Russia.
    The president and prince met at the Kremlin and then toured an exhibit devoted to Olympic torches at the GUM Department Store on Red Square.
    "We are especially grateful to you your highness for your support for the Sochi Olympics, and your escorting us through the Olympic process," Putin told the monarch.
    Prince Albert, a former Olympic bobsledder who is a member of the International Olympic Committee, said he was looking forward to the upcoming Games.
    "We are very happy, my wife, Princess Charlene and myself, to be coming back in a few months to share with you the inauguration of the opening of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, he said."
    At GUM, Putin presented Prince Albert with one of the Russian-designed torches that will carry the Olympic flame in its 65,000-kilometre trek through Russia on its way to the Games.
    "Your highness, let me present you with another souvenir. This time, the torch that will be used during the Sochi 2014 Olympics, and I am sure that it will be one of the best contributions to your collection, because in my opinion, it's the best I have seen," Putin said.
    "Mr. President, a huge thank you for this gesture and this great present you are giving me by conferring this superb torch for the relay of the flame for the Sochi 2014 games. Know that she will have pride of place in my collection," Prince Albert responded.
    Russia welcomes the Olympic flame from Greece on Sunday (October 6), and the official start of the torch relay is on Monday (October 7).
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