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Olympic torchbearer dies after relay in Siberia

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An Olympic torchbearer has died after carrying the flame during part of a relay leading up to the 2014 Sochi Winter Games in Russia, an official says.

The 73-year-old Vadim Gorbenko died shortly after walking 150 meters (500 feet) with the Olympic torch in the western Siberian city of Kurgan, spokesman for the Sochi 2014 torch relay, Roman Osin, said Monday.

He was conscious when he was taken to the hospital where he spoke with his son at his bedside before his death, the representative added.

“He returned to the gathering place and was photographed; then he said he was not feeling well and was taken to hospital, but the doctors were unable to save him,” Osin said.

The Russian Gorbenko is remembered as a sports school director and Greco-Roman wrestling coach who trained top Russian wrestlers and won state honors.

The incident marks a series of mishaps during Russia’s four-month, 65,000-km (40,000 mile) torch relay.

Last month, a torchbearer’s clothing caught fire as he ushered the Olympic flame though another Siberian city.

The Olympic flame has extinguished dozens of times since October 6 when President Vladimir Putin handed it off in Red Square.

Olympic torchbearers in the Sochi 2014 relay are not asked to sign releases but are warned the activity involves physical exertion.

As part of its Olympic relay, the torch has already traveled to outer space, the North Pole, and to the depths of Lake Baikal in Siberia before arriving in Sochi on the Black Sea for the commencement of the Olympic Games on February 7.

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