BACK ARROW Back to Main Page

My Olympic Connection

1996 SYMBOL OLYMPIC FLAG 1996 SYMBOL

ear and music Now playing: Theme from Chariots of Fire

I ran with the Olympic torch!

I had the great honor of being one of 10,000 Americans selected to carry the Olympic Torch preceding the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. The torch passed by my hometown of Rochester, NY on Wednesday, June 12. I was selected through the Coca Cola Corporation's search for "everyday community heros." Each runner had their own torch to run with, as the flame itself is passed from runner to runner. Torch runners also had the opportunity to purchase the actual torch he or she ran with. I certainly did. An article on my experience was published in The American Philatelist's October 1996 issue, as I also carried rather unique "torch mail" philatelic covers with me on my 1 km run down Chili Avenue that noon. Read PDFs about:  Notification/Event Details  Torch Specs  Purchase Options

Olympic torch

Top band
detail
  Olympic torch band top
  Olympic torch band top
  Olympic torch band top

Lower band
detail
  Olympic torch band bottom

June 13, 1996 D&C newspaper article
Democrat & Chronicle newspaper article
June 13, 1996
(click here for PDF)
 
October 1996 APS article
APS American Philatelist article
October, 1996
(click here for PDF)
1996 Olympic Gold Medal
1996 Olympic Gold Medal
Coca-Cola Torch Run Emblem
Coke stickers
Stickers
Torch Route Map
Torch Route Map
Flame Lighting
Muhammad Ali Lighting the Cauldron, July 19 (click here to watch it)

Chariot of Fire movie stamp from Great Britain