( CNN ) -- The Olympic flame is about to start the longest journey in the history of the Winter Games after the torch was passed from Greece to Russia on Saturday . The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee took possession at the official Lighting Ceremony in Athens ahead of its 123-day journey across Russia , which will encompass 65,000 kilometers until the competition begins in February . `` We are proud to receive the Olympic flame , an important symbol of the Olympic Games , '' said Dmitry Chernyshenko , President of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee . `` The countdown to the Games starts here ! During this relay , the flame will visit over 3,000 towns and cities in across Russia . We want to ensure that all residents of Russia will feel involved in the Olympic celebrations and the unifying power of the flame . '' As well as the conventional means of travel -- running -- Chernyshenko said the torchbearers will use Russian troikas , dog sleds , deer-drawn sleighs , snowmobiles , air-balloons , aircraft and trains , according to a report by the state-run Voice of Russia . It said the Olympic torch will be taken under water in Lake Baikal , and to the top of Europe 's highest peak , Mount Eblrus . It will also go to the North Pole on a nuclear-powered icebreaker and leave Earth to visit the International Space Station . The Sochi 2014 relay website said that 130 million Russians -- some 90 % of its population -- will have the chance to watch or participate directly in the relay , which begins in the Black Sea resort on Monday . Some 14,000 torchbearers will carry it through 2,900 settlements of 83 regions of the country , finishing in Sochi on February 7 . The flame was lit last Sunday in Greece , the birthplace of the ancient Games , and made its way through 33 towns before the ceremony in Athens . Greek figure skater Panagiotis Markouizos lit the torch cauldron and passed the flame to a Russian party led by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak . On Sunday it will travel to Moscow accompanied by six-time Olympic speed skating champion Lidiya Skoblikova . The biggest torch relay in the history of the Olympics is the 137,000 km trip around China for the 2008 Beijing Summer Games , which required 21,880 bearers .
Greece hands over the Olympic torch to Russia ahead of Sochi 2014 Winter Games . The relay will begin an epic journey on Monday , even going into outer space . It will cover 65,000 kilometers and be carried by 14,000 people . Russia hopes 80 % of its population will in some way experience the relay .