The Olympic torch will be lit in Greece and arrive in Moscow in October 2013 before embarking on its longest relay in Winter Olympics history, organizers of the Sochi Games said Sunday.
About 14,000 torchbearers will carry the Olympic flame through 2,900 towns in all of Russia's 83 regions over the course of 123 days, averaging 535 kilometers a day and setting a record for overall distance carried.
"I am sure that this event will be a real treat in every town," Dmitry Chernyshenko, president of the Sochi 2014 organizing committee, told reporters, Interfax reported.
About 90 percent of the country's population of 142 million is expected to be able to catch a glimpse of the flame in person before it arrives in Sochi. The games will run from Feb. 7 to Feb. 23.
In other Olympic news, the first stadium constructed for the games opened in Sochi on Saturday. The 12,000-seat Iceberg Skating Palace will host figure skating and short-track events.