FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Susan Blexrud 407-246-3107 or pager 407-231-8927 
Clarissa Comia 407-246-3845 or pager 407-231-9080  

MAYOR HOOD, COCA-COLA AND CHEVROLET TO ANNOUNCE CENTRAL FLORIDA’S OLYMPIC TORCHBEARERS

ORLANDO, Fla. (October 30, 2001) — This morning at 9 a.m., Mayor Glenda E. Hood, Coca-Cola and Chevrolet will announce at the Outlook Dock on the north side of Lake Eola the Olympic torchbearers selected to carry the Olympic flame in Central Florida. 

The Olympic flame will travel on a 65-day, 13,500-mile journey from Atlanta to Salt Lake City to start the 2002 Winter Olympics. Selected torchbearers were chosen from more than 210,000 nominees; Central Florida torchbearers were chosen from areas such as Daytona Beach, Deland, Orlando, Volusia and Winter Park. 

“We are thrilled that citizens from Central Florida will represent our community as participants in the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Torch Relay,” said Mayor Hood. “Their stories of inspiration and lives of courageousness give us the hope we need to accomplish our own goals.”

Local torchbearers include Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys, WESH anchor Wendy Chioji and Dr. Gregor Alexander, a neonatologist at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women. The torchbearers were nominated by family members, friends and colleagues who wrote a 50 to 100-word essay explaining how the nominee embodied the Olympic spirit and provided inspiration to others and their community.

Including the 82 torchbearers announced in Central Florida, 7,200 community torchbearers have been announced nationwide. An additional 4,000 Olympic torchbearers were selected through programs involving sponsors, providers and Olympians and other athletes from several U.S. national Olympic governing bodies.

The Olympic flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, before traveling to Atlanta – where the flame last rested on American soil – and starting its cross-country journey through 46 states on December 4, 2001. Each day, an average of 180 torchbearers will carry the flame approximately two-tenths of a mile.

 Each day, an average of 180 torchbearers will carry the flame approximately two-tenths of a mile. For a complete list of Central Florida’s torchbearers, you can access our Web site at www.cityoforlando.net and click on “News.”  

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Torchbearers selected through the Chevrolet Nomination process

FirstName	LastName	City	ST
Paul	Anderson	Inverness	FL
Virginia	Barker	Palm Bay	FL
James	Brinckerhoff	Winter Park	FL
Meaghan	Carroll	Bradenton	FL
James	Champlin	Clearwater	FL
R Suzanne	Chase	New Port Richey	FL
Dawn	Chick	Cape Canaveral	FL
Alfred	Davis	New Port Richey	FL
Sonya	Dean	Geneva	FL
Robin	Frisella	Orlando	FL
Michele	Gregory	Tampa	FL
Henry (Mick)	Heard	Deland	FL
Melinda	Korte	St Petersburg	FL
Karen	Lee	Cocoa Beach	FL
Laura	Lockwood	Bradenton	FL
Sally	Lucia	Tampa	FL
Maura	Maxfield	Odessa	FL
Pamela	McCauley-Bell	Orlando	FL
Kelly	Miller	Homosassa	FL
Elizabeth	Rossman	Titusville	FL
Suzanne	Sacks	Orlando	FL
Theodore J	Sochar Jr