News

At six o’clock in the morning today (PST) in the small Canadian town of Mission, British Columbia, located 5-10 km from the border with the U.S., the president of the National Olympic Committee, legendary Ukrainian athlete, Sergey Bubka, took part in the XXI Olympic Winter Games torch relay. In spite of the early hour, a crowd, among them many Ukrainians, gathered to greet the outstanding Ukrainian athlete and Ukraine’s chief Olympian with national flags.
Interestingly, the chief Olympian of Ukraine had number 007 at the torch relay ceremony in the town of Mission. Relay organizers joked, «Agent 007 has adequately fulfilled his Mission».
Previously, Sergey Bubka carried the Olympic Torch on seven other occasions, the first time being at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. During some of the past Olympic torch relays this important task was assigned to the legendary Ukrainian Olympian twice, which is an indication of the high estimation of the President of the NOC of Ukraine as an athlete and an international figure.
Sergey Bubka also had the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch in Kyiv. On July 5, 2004 on the eve of the Athens Olympics, there took place the lap of the international Olympic torch relay which was recognized by the IOC as one of the best in the world, both because of the high level of organization, and the great number of people who joined it.


The NOC of Ukraine
www.noc-ukr.org