1996 Olympic torch-bearer reflects on torch relay

CARROLLTON, Ga. - Pictures can be the best memories, but for 84-year-old Sandra Parker, photographs are not the only thing she has of her once in a lifetime experience.

"I was unaware of the picture being taken, and I just did my thing," Parker said while looking at pictures of the day she ran with the 1996 Olympic torch.

Twenty-eight years later, she still has the torch she ran with in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics torch relay.

Sandra Parker was one of about 12,000 who were given the honor to be a torch-bearer for the 1996 Olympics.

"I thought, I'm just an ordinary grandma and to think that I would be chosen just made me very, very, very happy," Parker said.

Parker was one of about 12,000 who were given the honor to be a torch-bearer for the 1996 Olympics. She was chosen because of her work caring for a number of young foster babies in Utah. Some she still keeps in touch with. All these years later she is still thankful for the opportunity to help them and to run with the torch.

"I didn't expect anything other than the joy of helping to raise them in their babyhood," she said.

Parker at the 1996 Olympics. She was chosen because of her work caring for a number of young foster babies in Utah.

She ran with Olympic flame for a mile in Ogden, Utah. For years after the Olympics, she went to schools and churches to make sure her special moment was something that others could take in.

"I got to share the joy that I think the Olympics has for everybody," Parker said.

With the Olympics back again this month, she is ready to cheer on Team U.S.A.

"I think it's a great thing and I love our teams," Parker said. "They work so hard and  they just shine."