Sochi 2014 Olympic Organizing Committee president Dmitry Chernyshenko attributed the Olympic flame being blown out by wind Sunday to a problem with a torch vent.
“I wouldn’t devote any special attention to what happened,” he said, according to R-Sport. “There was a misunderstanding because a vent in the torch wasn’t opened properly and the flame wasn’t at the intensity [it was supposed to be].”
The flame went out while retired Soviet swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan carried it (video). A nearby official quickly reignited it with a cigarette lighter.
The Olympic flame appeared to be extinguished again during the official torch relay Monday. In this video, the flame appears to go out at about the 55-second mark. The runner stops for more than a minute as four men help him get the torch reignited.
Here’s how the Washington Post described it:
A torchbearer taking part in the Olympic relay through Moscow Monday afternoon was jogging along Raushskaya Embankment, on the other side of the river from the Kremlin, when his flame was extinguished, according to reports on TV Rainand amateur videos.
The torchbearer, accompanied by a police car, SUV, small van and several volunteer marshals, stopped. A volunteer rushed up to him with another torch. A third arrived holding what might be a small lantern – it was difficult to see.
The seconds dragged by. Dark clouds pressed down from above with seeming displeasure. The spectators could be heard. “It’s sad.” They chuckled uneasily. “Is Gazprom sponsoring this?” (Gazprom is the giant government-controlled energy company.) Then the new torch ignited, and the runner was on his way.
