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Winter Olympics torch unveiled
January 14, 2013, 3:06 pm

An artist's impression of the Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia. [Getty Images]

An artist’s impression of the Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia. [Getty Images]

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics organisers unveiled a futuristic needle design for the Olympic torch on Monday.

It was revealed by chief organiser Dmitry Chernyshenko at a Moscow ceremony on Monday – just under ten months before the start of the torch relay.

The 2014 games will be held in Sochi, Russia.

The design for the Olympic and Paralympic torch is identical but the colours are different: Traditional Russian sporting red for the Olympics and sky blue symbolising the strength and spirit of the Paralympic movement.

It was presented by Sochi 2014 ambassadors including 2006 Olympic ice dance champion Tatyana Navka and featured a Firebird from Russian folklore.

The torch weighs about 1.8 kilograms and is nearly a metre in length.

There will be 14,000 torches produced – one for every torchbearer along the record 65,000-kilometer route.

The relay starts on October 7, when the flame is delivered from Ancient Olympia in Greece.

Source: Agencies