Olympic flame, medals arrive in Sochi

As the world’s longest Olympic torch relay nears its end, the Olympic flame and medals arrived in the host city of Sochi on Wednesday afternoon, RIA Novosti reported.

The torch visited a number of localities on Russia’s Black Sea coast before reaching the mountain cluster of Olympic venues. On Thursday and Friday, torchbearers will carry the Olympic flame around Sochi, and the 123-day-long relay will officially end during Friday’s opening ceremony.

The relay began on Red Square in Moscow on October 7. Around 14,000 torchbearers, including a 101-year-old man, have taken part in the record 56,000-kilometer journey that included the North Pole and the top of Europe's highest mountain. The flame was also taken into space by Russian cosmonauts and carried down into the depths of Lake Baikal, the world's biggest and deepest freshwater lake.

For the first time in the Games’ history, the Olympic medals also toured cities ahead of the event.

The medals were seen by about 2.5 million people in 16 Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Yaroslavl, Murmansk, Stavropol and Ufa.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has arrived in Sochi and met with athletes Friday, said the Olympic preparations have been “the world’s biggest construction project,” as all facilities had to be built from scratch.

“Russia is ready to host the games,” Putin said. “We have been preparing for this moment for seven years.”