20.01 Isinbaeva Lights Winter Olympic Cauldron in Volgograd

VOLGOGRAD, Russia, January 20 (R-Sport) – Pole vault champion Yelena Isinbaeva lit the Olympic cauldron in her native city of Volgograd on Monday, three weeks after terrorist attacks that killed 34 people.

No incidents were reported as 250 torchbearers carried the flame through the streets of the southern Russian city, culminating in the cauldron ceremony at the Trade Union Sports Center.

Isinbaeva took part in the ceremony along with Olympic long jump champion Tatiana Lebedeva and regional governor Sergei Bozhenov.

Other notable participants included several Olympic champions, figure skater Maxim Marinin, steeplechaser Julia Zaripova and high jumper Yelena Slesarenko

Isinbaeva, who still trains in Volgograd, delighted Russians by winning gold at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow in August.

Volgograd was rocked by two suicide bombings at the city’s main railway station and on a trolleybus on December 29 and 30, heightening security concerns for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, which run from February 7-23.

On Tuesday, the 107th day of the torch relay, the Olympic flame will be taken to the Rostov region and carried around the cities of Novocherkassk and Shakhty.

The Sochi 2014 Olympic torch relay began on Red Square in Moscow on October 7. Some 14,000 torchbearers are taking part in a record 65,000km journey that is to end in the Black Sea resort for the opening ceremony on February 7.