OLYMPIC GAMES Woman to carry flame

The former McDonald resident is a cancer survivor and Olympics fan.
NICOLE HUGHES
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
The Olympic torch will be traveling through Atlanta this week, and McDonald, Ohio, native Virginia Jamieson will be among the U.S. torchbearers to carry the Olympic symbol.
Virginia, who was nominated by her husband Timm, said she had no idea that she was being considered to carry the torch for the 2004 Olympic Games.
The U.S. Olympic Committee said it was looking for people to be torchbearers who unite their community through sport, education or culture, and inspire others through participation, celebration, human scale and heritage.
"She is the perfect choice to carry the torch," Timm Jamieson said. "She has a zest for life and a belief that the Olympics are the one international venue that brings all people in harmony and love for one another."
"I am humbled by this experience because I will be running with past Olympians and people I never thought I would be in the same category with," said Virginia, a nurse and cancer survivor, who has been attending the Olympics with her husband since 1992.
The former Virginia Vadino lived in McDonald until 1971 when she moved to Roanoke, Va., where she still lives today. Her mother, Nancy Vadino, lives in Niles, and her husband's parents, Edna and Lester Jamieson, reside in Brookfield.
Cherishes life
Each Olympic torchbearer will carry the flame about 400 meters, or one lap around the track.
"It is not a fast run to carry the flame, it is more of a symbolic run," she said. "I want to go as slow as possible because I don't want to miss out on anything."
Virginia, who worked as a delivery room nurse, in hospice care and is now in tissue recovery, said, "Being in different areas of life makes you realize how precious life really is."
Virginia knows this firsthand because she was diagnosed with cancer in 1992.
"I was lucky to have found it early and was able to take care of it with aggressive treatments," she said. "I am fortunate to even be here and to even get a chance to do this."
Virginia will arrive in Atlanta on Thursday for the torchbearers' reception. She will begin her run the following day at 1:30 p.m., when she connects with another runner to light the torch.
"My husband plans to purchase the torch for me to keep," Virginia said. "It is made of olive wood and magnesium to unite the past with the modern world."
This is the first time the Olympic flame will visit all land masses represented by the Olympic rings, which are Oceania, Asia, Africa, Americas and Europe, according to the U.S. Olympic Web site.
"The concept of the torch run is for all former sites of Summer Olympic Games to have the torch carried through that city as a part of the celebration for the Athens 2004 games," Timm said.
The torch will be in the United States from Wednesday to Friday and will pass through Los Angeles, St. Louis, Atlanta and New York.
Other torchbearers from Ohio are Julie Lewis of North Royalton, Ward Pierson of Chagrin Falls and Deborah Barnosky of Berea.