As the Winter Olympics draw closer it means the Games precursor, the torch relay is coming to an end. Yesterday, the flame reached the south-east Seoul suburb, Gwangju, with two decorated Swiss athletes, snowboarder Gian Simmen and cyclist Franco Marvulli, bearing the torch for the penultimate stretch of the route.

Simmen won gold at the 1998 Nagano Olympics in the men's half-pipe and also appeared at the 2002 and 2006 editions. The 40-year-old hands off to Marvulli whose crowning moment came at the 2004 Athens Games with a silver in the men's track cycling. After the European pair have their turn, it was then given to a Santa Claus lookalike, or possibly the real one. It's yet to be confirmed. The relay includes a detour through the sacred Geomdansan Mountain before being carried through the 2,000 year old Namhansanseong Fortress, an ancient battlement from the Goryeo Dynasty during the Mongol invasion. The next stop is Seongnam later today before arriving at the opening ceremony on February 9th.