Sochi Paralympic Flame Reaches Moscow

The flame is midway through its 10-day journey that ends March 7 with the opening ceremony at the Fisht Olympic Stadium on Russia's Black Sea coast. The Moscow leg of the torch relay started at the All-Russia Exhibition Center, with Paralympic swimmer Andrey Meshcheryakov being the first torchbearer, RIA Novosti. "It is a great feeling and great honor to be the first to carry the torch," Meshcheryakov said. "The Paralympics are a huge event for Russia, a chance to show what we can do, to show that we are able to organize such a competition at the highest level. And I'm sure that our Paralympians are ready to reach the same result as our Olympic team." The hosts topped the table of the XXII Winter Olympic Games that finished last Sunday, winning 33 medals, 13 of which were gold. "The Paralympics is a common cause and achievement for the whole country," said Alexander Lomakin-Rumyantsev, chairman of All-Russian Society of Disabled People. "I hope that our Paralympians will follow the example of our Olympic team and win; they are ready for that," he said at the start of the Moscow torch relay on Sunday. Russia is a powerhouse of the Paralympic movement, trailing only China at London 2012 and Germany at the last Winter Games in Vancouver in 2012. On Sunday, the flame will also visit 11 other cities in the Central Russia, including Tula, Yaroslavl and Tambov. Set to pass through all eight of Russia's federal districts, the Sochi 2014 torch relay began in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok on February 26. It differs from the Olympic torch relay insofar as the Paralympic flame is lit simultaneously in several cities and unified into a single flame before the opening ceremony.