Carrying the torch, well actually holding it

So what do I have in common with the 1980 USA hockey team, Muhammad Ali, Sidney Crosby, and even Shania Twain?

We have all carried the Olympic Torch. Granted they got to carry it when it was lit.

Today while attending a seminar held by the College of Charleston, I got to hold a torch from the 1996 and 2002 Olympic Games. Sharon Kingman (a CofC graduate might I add) is the director of a consulting firm that works with most Olympic Games. While she was speaking, all I could think about was running up there and grabbing one of the torches. When she finally finished, I powered walked to the stage and grabbed one.

As I held that torch, I felt something.

While I took the time to examine and marvel at each torch, I could not stop thinking about the famous people in history who have carried an Olympic Torch.

 In the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo a man by the name of Yoshinori Sakai took on the task of carrying the torch. Being a well renown track and field athlete, there was no doubt he was worthy of carrying the torch. What makes his story different is how it began.

Being born on the day the atom bomb exploded is something to remember, but being born on the day the atom bomb exploded over his hometown Hiroshima is a different story. A day in which thousands lost their lives, Sakai started his. Sakai was the symbol of Japan's postwar reconstruction and peace.

Or what about Rafer Johnson? A gold medalist in the 1960 Olympic Games in the men's decathlon event. He was chosen to carry the torch in 1984, 24 years after his gold-medal performance. Like Sakai he was deserving to carry the torch just based on his athletic achievements. But as he climbed up the stairs at the Los Angeles Coliseum and lit the flame he wasn't only representing himself, he was representing all African Americans.

You see, Johnson was the first African American to carry the torch. He represented a race of people who had fought for their rights and won. He was the symbol of American equality.

I could go on and on with stories of torch carriers who each have their own stories, but to put it simply the Olympic Games are unifying. It's the only time we can throw politics and foreign affairs out the window and watch each athlete try and represent their country to the best of his or her ability.                                
                                                                                                                    
So yeah, I felt something while holding that torch, its called unity.