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The torch was at first taken by
Olympic champion Pyotr Bolotnikov,
who had been given it by Olympic
champion Nicolai Martinescu.
Thousands of young boys and girls
in Moldavian national costumes,
sportsmen and schoolchildren formed
a human corridor through which ran
Pyotr Bolotnikov followed by his assistants.
His route was strewn with
flowers.
Boys and girls in the costumes of
the fifteen Union republics of the USSR
met the torchbearer with traditional
greetings. The relay was welcomed by
the greatly loved Olympic mascot
"Misha the Bear" and by
the hero of Moldavian fairy-tales
Gugutse.
The torch was carried not only by
Moldavian athletes but also by those
from the republics which the route of
the relay did not pass through: Rome
Olympic medallist, field athlete Gusman
Kasanov of Kazakhstan; Munich Olympic
medallist N. Sabaite-Rezene from
the Lithuanian SSR, Oleg Sheiko, head
of a jogging club from Byelorussia,
Azerbaidzhani athlete Sadyk Sadykov
and others.
The relay was met by the inhabitants
of many Moldavian towns and settlements.
The ceremonial meetings became
festivals of sports and art.
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The ceremony in the Moldavian
capital of Kishinev included exhibition
displays by leading athletes.
These displays included gymnastics
and rhythmic gymnastics, acrobatics,
wrestling, fencing, and were followed
by folklore dancing.
The Olympic relay in the Ukraine
produced some touching moments. A
76-year-old peasant and twice hero of
Socialist Labour Evgenia Dalinyuk
came from far away Ternopol area to
see the relay. She said:
"The Olympic Games are a sacred
event—we are all warmed by the
Games flame."
Not far from the village of Tarasovtsy
dairymaid Nadezhda Grishko built a
well with her own hands next to the
road and drew the Olympic Misha on
the side of the well. When she met a
runner at her well she held out a
decorated tray with a jug of water. On
the whole route through the Ukraine
the peasants met the relay with the
traditional pitcher of clean, cool
water.
The overflowing streets of Kiev gave
a thunderous welcome to the torchbearers.
The 100,000 inhabitants of the
city who took part in the ceremony of
welcoming the flame in the central
square appreciated at its true worth the
presentation describing the history of
Transfer of the Olympic torch at
the border