Russia plans bizzarre gift to Sochi Olympics winners

Athletes at the Winter Olympics in Sochi next year could find themselves competing for an otherworldly prize - a piece of the meteorite which crashed in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February.

The meteor which exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, is understood to have `helped focus minds` on the threat posed by near-Earth

On the ninth day of the Games, February 15 2014, gold medal winners will also be awarded with special medals embedded with a fragment of the meteorite which crashed on that date a year earlier.

A man holds a meteorite fragment found near the Chebarkul Lake in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia (Barcroft)

Seven finals are scheduled for that day, including the men`s 1,500m speedskating, two short track speedskating events, the men`s skeleton and the women`s super giant slalom.

The meteorite crash injured 1,600 people in the Chelyabinsk region and caused an estimated £21.5 million in damage.


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