The Olympic Torch in Space
The most remote stop on the road to Sochi
![Olympic-torch-Nov 13 spacewalk.jpg](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/GsvnlAez4Py44CjhuHx2taT4BcE=/1000x750/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/71/f6/71f63016-4cea-4270-8810-f6b633c78e80/olympic-torch-nov_13_spacewalk.jpg)
Considering Russia’s size, it’s no surprise that the Olympic Torch relay for this year’s winter games in Sochi has covered a lot of territory. Cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy even carried the torch—unlit, of course—outside with them on a spacewalk last November, a stunt that got them a lot of attention, even though the video released at the time was fairly low quality (see below for high-def scenes).
For Kotov, who’s currently on his third tour aboard the International Space Station, it was a kind of culmination. He had been on the station back in 2007 when Sochi was chosen for the 2014 games, and in the years since, cosmonauts (as well as Earth-imaging satellites) have made a point to photo-document the Olympic site’s transformation from a Black Sea resort to a village for athletes.
![Sochi then and now](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/NiU4pAlphOLqRaEUdB5Tt_UW1Mc=/fit-in/1072x0/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/3f/2d/3f2d15ab-479d-442c-b9ce-c150365e697f/sochi-then-and-now.jpg)
This Russian-language TV report produced by the Roscosmos space agency also shows scenes from a mini-relay staged by Russian, European, and US astronauts inside the station last fall, plus a few glimpses of another celebrity torchbearer—Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.