Many Torchbearers To Be Chosen Through Community Nominations
Look closely at the torchbearers in the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay and you will see more
than a few community heroes among the 10,000 people who will pass the Olympic flame from
torch to torch across 15,000 miles in the United States, ensuring its arrival at the July
19 Opening Ceremony of the Centennial Olympic Games.
"Nothing about the Olympic Games is ordinary, so it is only natural that the Olympic
flame be carried by extraordinary people," said Atlanta Committee for the Olympic
Games (ACOG) President and CEO Billy Payne. "The fundamental spirit of the Olympic
Games is based on respect for human dignity, the joy found in effort, the value of good
example and service to others. Those are the simple qualities of a hero -- the people we
hope will carry the 1996 Centennial Games torch throughout America."
More than half of the
torchbearers -- 5,500 people -- will be identified with the help of local United Way
organizations around the country; another 2,500 will be selected through a program
developed by Coca-Cola, which is presenting the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay in the US.
Beginning in the Fall of 1995, local United Ways will create community selection panels to
recruit the 5,500 "community heroes" that will escort the Olympic flame to
Atlanta.
"America is blessed with many heroes," said Elaine L. Chao, president and CEO,
The United Way of America. "Our mission is to uncover them and, through the 1996
Olympic Torch Relay, showcase their acts of altruism. We want to inspire others to mirror
the spirit of the Olympic Games and the values of the United Way every day." 
On October 26, ACOG and United Way of America will announce details of the application
process and where applications will be available nationwide. By the end of 1995, Coca-Cola
will announce its plans to select an additional 2,500 torchbearers.
Two thousand Olympians, and others selected by ACOG and the United States Olympic
Committee, will complement the "community hero" and Coca-Cola torch bearers.
Read more about the selection process
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Revised: 27 March 2002