Presented here is a  2014 Sochi Winter Olympics torch used in the relay that took the Olympic flame 65000 km from Olympia Greece to the Russian host city over a period of 123 days.  It remains the longest in time and distance that an Olympic flame has traveled for a Winter Games although runners carried it just 2615 km of the way in Russia. The flame reached the North Pole Europe's highest peak (Mount Elbrus) and the world's deepest lake (Lake Baikal); it was even flown into space for the first time by a Soyuz rocket. President Putin's outlandish spending spree to showcase his country's winter sports prowess seemed successful after Russia claimed the most golds (11) and medals overall (29). That was until an elaborate doping scandal allegedly spearheaded by the Kremlin showed its ugly head forcing Russian athletes in PyeongChang to compete flagless under the acronym O.A.R.

 A team of Russian designers led by Vladimir Pirozhkov and Andrei Vodyanik came up with the torch's beautiful aesthetic look depicting a bird's feather in reference to the Phoenix a fire bird symbolizing good luck and fortune in Russian folklore. The silver in the design represents ice while red is the traditional color of Russian sports teams and signifies the fire kindling in the surrounding mountains of the Black Sea resort community. Near the flame opening at the top is "sochi.ru 2014" emblazoned with the Olympic rings logo. Made of a aluminum and polymer the torch is 95 cm long (37.5") 15 cm at its widest point and weighs 3.8 lbs. Many torchbearers complained about its weight slowing them down during the relay. The torch shows significant combustion at the flame end yet the rest shows light wear and it remains in great shape overall.