The fire-show took place on the Rosa Khutor ski resort's Medals Plaza stage - where winning athletes will be awarded their Paralympic medals - as residents and guests celebrated the arrival of the Torch with Sochi 2014 President and chief executive Dmitry Chernyshenko, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven, Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov and Russian Paralympic Committee general secretary Mikhail Terentyev.

Mikhail Terentyev marks the arrival of the Paralympic Torch to Sochi ahead of the Winter Games ©Getty Images


The arrival of the Flame to the mountains marks almost the end of its journey, on which it has passed through the hands of 1,500 Torchbearers, across all eight Federal regions of Russia, as well at a special ceremony in Stoke Mandeville in the United Kingdom last Saturday (March 1).

It had already visited 45 Russian cities - including Moscow, Krasnodar, Volgograd and Taganrog - before Torchbearers, including Russia's 13-time Paralympic athletics champion Rima Batalova and South Korean Paralympian Vo Rami Seo, carried it through to Krasnaya Polyana.

Sir Philip Craven and Dmitry Chernyshenko speak to the crowd at the Sochi lighting ceremony ©Getty Images


Meanwhile, Russian singer Dima Bilan performed a concert at the Sochi 2014 live site stage during the Torch's journey through the Mzymta river embankments in the village of Rosa Khutor and sung the Paralympic Torch Relay anthem as the cauldron was lit.

The Flame is now being kept in a special lantern ahead of tomorrow's celebrations on the streets of the central districts of Sochi before it returns to the mountain cluster for the Paralympic Opening Ceremony on Friday (March 7).

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