Olympic Torch Sets Russian Handler’s Jacket On Fire
Another Olympic-calibre fail has occurred on the road to the Putin Sochi Winter Games:
In the latest mishap to befall the Olympic flame, a Russian torchbearer’s clothing caught fire this week as he carried it through a Siberian city.
A clip posted on YouTube by the Russian site Lifenews shows former Olympic bobsledder Pyotr Makarchuk parading the torch through a crowd in the city of Abakan when flames suddenly leap from the left shoulder and upper arm of his jacket.
Escorts immediately put out the flames and Makarchuk was not injured, said Roman Osin, spokesman for the Russian Sochi 2014 torch relay, who witnessed the incident on Wednesday.
The flames were caused by drops of liquid gas that fell on Makarchuk’s jacket, he said.
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.