they can be few more famous natural landmarks in russia than lake baikal the oldest and deepest lake on the planet and the site of a very special olympic celebration. for the first time ever they're planning to light the olympic flame on the water over me in this case your average tool which isn't going to cut it so special equipment is required and special people to carry it and who better than the local rescue ranger. are professional activity is mostly dedicated to rescuing people on lake baikal our job is important difficult interesting and in a way romantic my cow has many faces in winter it's tough and in summer it's beautiful you can't help but admire its power it attracts you and it's very important to me because it's a jewel of russia. everything's ready let's go then as nicholas puts the final touches to his equipment the excitement begins to build along the water's edge. the torch rallies have been warmly welcomed across the country but the crowds here are about to witness something that's never been done before. and there's plenty of local showmen on hands went to tame th

it's been to outer space the north pole and the bottom of lake baikal of course we're talking about the flame making its way to sochi but surely the record breaking torch relay would have been complete without a visit to the top of europe's highest mountain which is close to the host city. on its journey across the world's largest country the olympic torch was always going to experience some hard and some lows and it has now completed one of those hoist the olympic flame has been lit at the top of mt elbrus which is the highest peak in europe a team of five experienced mountaineers took it to the summit which is more than five and a half thousand meters above sea level but it is now in the final stages of its relay it will arrive here in sochi in a few days time the head of the opening ceremony which is now less than a week away attention is slowly beginning to turn to the sport and one sport that russia has traditionally had success in is by athlone a my colleague to bon mots i had a look around the new purpose built state of the art cross-country skiing and biathlon center. this. lege

kilometers around the world's largest country it's gone to the bottom of the world's deepest lake lake baikal it's gone to the top of europe's highest paid mt albert and of course it's traveled on board the international space station where it's been taken on a space walk but as of now upon its arrival here in sochi all eyes are slowly turning to friday the one hundred twenty sixth international olympic committee session has begun here in sochi now thomas park who is the president of the i.o.c. he's addressed a number of issues surrounding the sochi games and in particular a number of political leaders a decision to boycott the games in an apparent protest at russia's so-called and hotly debated antigay low now thomas park says that the olympic movement should be above political point scoring we are grateful to those who respect the fact that sports can only contribute development and peace if it's not used as a state for political dissent or for trying to score points in internal or external political contests to other political leaders we say have the courage to address your disagreements i

up to the north pole it's been a summer reading visit the largest freshwater lake in the world lake baikal in siberia and finally after months of anticipation it is here in salter in fact in about thirty minutes time it will rise actually not by land but on a yacht that will make its way across to adler very close to the olympic park where the opening ceremony will take place on friday. outspread left of the earth as you could say i had its way up to the beautiful mountain cluster of crescent. of course everybody is talking about who were the lucky people to carry the torch over the next few days we have russian actors comedians sports men and women and of course the main thing on everybody's lips is who will light the torch at the opening ceremony on friday lots of speculation there but in the meantime lympics flame is here in such in everybody is certainly very excited that it is finally here at the black sea resort oh absolutely as you just said the excitement is building up and we can feel that definitely for now though let's cross to paul scott who is also in sochi for us and what we

back in october sixty five thousand kilometers the torch has traveled it's been to the bottom of lake baikal it's gone to the top of mt it's even been to the north pole and even to space and it's also been in the mountains which is just a short train ride from here and where my colleague andrew farmer is well yesterday . came up paid to the manties and to the ski resort of rose a. very only in peak hero the bobsled. was one of the torchbearers now we're in the foothills of the caucasus and despite that we still only a very short tele cabin ride away where most of the sporting events are going to take place so everything is very compact and that's also the case down at the black sea in the coastal class today and that's something that had been impressed with. everything the small united of nature and everything it's close. close to do. we can go by war look and there is not a big security. we feel free and we're fairly confident the russian tennis star maria sharapova is also in town and she has links to this part of the world too and in her opinion she says so. it's the perfect place to host

sea level now this is of course just one leg of the relay which has seen it go to the bottom of lake baikal the deepest like in the world is going to the north pole and of course for a space walk onboard the international space station it is now in the final stages of its relay it will arrive here exactly in a few days time ahead of the opening ceremony which is now less than a week away attention is slowly beginning to turn to the sport and one sport that russia has traditionally had success in is by athlone a my colleague to buying not so i had a look round the new purpose built state of the art cross country skiing. lessons is that laura was an urban legend caraway now she decided to choose death over getting married to an older friends of course it's not just about this mind serve as a reminder that when going do you might have to die for it figuratively who was this could be a metaphor for the athletes that determination passion and perseverance to whatever you want but i can only that gold you can get it twenty fourteen the cross country skiing and by flynn twenty minutes will take pl

sixty five thousand kilometers the torch has traveled it's been to the bottom of lake baikal it's gone to the top of mt it's even been to the north pole and even to space it's also been to the mountain cluster in the. train ride away over my right shoulder which is where my colleague now reports from. well yesterday the limpid came up here to the mountains into the ski resort of rosa who toured the foothills of the caucasus and despite that we're still only a very short tele cabin ride away where most of the sporting events are going to take place so everything is very compact and that's also the case down at the black sea in the coastal cluster there and that's something that athletes have been impressed with everything is small you know ordered a village and everything it's close. close to do. we can go by war and there is not a big security so we feel free and we're fairly confident the russian tennis star maria sharapova is also in town and she has links to this part of the world too and in her opinion she says sochi is the perfect place to host the winter olympics same exact see s

over russia you've been tracking where the limpid torch has been going we've seen it go down to lake baikal we've seen it going up to mt elbrus but can you give us some of the highlights of the journey that you remember clearly well absolutely i mean these games are going to be a window from russia to the world so we know how much has been invested in them we know how much the president has invested in them and their success is sort she ready what we've got two weeks of great sport to find now one thing i can tell you for sure is that the russian people are very ready for these games all the way across the country and all the cities i've visited from here to the pacific coast you have an incredible reception to the torch and the olympic flame arriving in the cities this something when that plane comes into the city you get that sense of enthusiasm that the olympic spirit really doesn't like to people so in places like you could hear in me anywhere right where it was minus forty degrees celsius people would come out they would cheer along the torch bearers and you would it's infectious that

time we went up to the top of mt elbrus so that is the highest peak in your office right down to lake baikal into the. murky depths of light but why do you think they had to take it so far down into the world's biggest freshwater lake what i thought you were doing i mean you're talking about something which is an incredible natural highlight of russia in the first place and again it's something that the olympic torch has never done so you have the you're lighting the torch on the water which i didn't know but that can be done assuming you have a flame that can burn at two thousand degrees celcius so we are not exactly terribly common but we were working with one of the rescue rangers who'd been chosen to be. one of the torch bearers there to start the whole thing off he took it down passed it along on the water to two other torchbearers and then show wasn't enough we then had the bird mounted by a car flying back i saw that we were showing our footage some sort of jet ski jumps out of the water and anyway it's technical but it's very very impressive james brown you've been all over the place