Space race for Sochi 2014 flame

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics flame could be heading for space as part of the 120-day torch relay, organisers said on Thursday.

Games chief Dmitry Chernyshenko and deputy prime minister Alexander Zhukov told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the relay will be the longest in history, covering 27,300 kilometres and seeing the torch carried by 14,000 runners.

Zhukov added that it was the country's ambition "to send it above the earth's atmosphere".

Organisers also want to carry the torch to the highest point in the country, the volcano at Mount Elbrus that is 5,642m high, as well as the world's deepest point at Lake Baikal, which has a 1,600m depth.