As the 2014 Winter Olympics come to a close in Sochi, students in Sarah Johnson’s second-grade class at St. Peter’s Elementary got to see a piece of Olympic history up close this week, courtesy of Sarah’s grandmother Martha Johnson.
On New Year’s Day in 2002, Martha had the honor of carrying an Olympic torch on its way to Salt Lake City.
Johnson told her second grade class on Friday her grandmother felt “higher than a kite” carrying the torch for her leg of the relay in Cleveland, approximately two-tenths of a mile. The three-pound, 33-inch long torch made of silver, copper and glass now sits in an engraved stand recognizing Martha Johnson as an official Olympic torchbearer.
Johnson explained that her aunt had seen an advertisement encouraging nominations for torchbearers, and knew immediately her grandmother would be up for the task.
“She is a huge Olympic fan,” Johnson said of her grandmother. “I can remember when I was younger when they would have the Olympic champion gymnastic and figure skating tours, she would always take me to those.”
At 76 years old, Martha Johnson was one of five Ohioans selected from 210,000 nominations to carry the Olympic torch. Johnson said she was a sophomore in college when she watched her grandmother carry the Olympic torch in Cleveland for approximately eight minutes.
“She was taken in a special van with her security to the place she was going to be, and we all drove out and stood on the side and waited for her,” Johnson remembered. “It was amazing.”
Martha’s Olympic torch normally sits front and center in her living room, but it’s visiting Johnson’s classroom as she teaches her students the history of the Olympics, the meaning of the Olympic rings and the importance of the three Olympic core values: excellence, friendship and respect.
“When you go to the Olympics, you’re coming together for one thing, and that’s your sport,” Johnson told her students. “All the other stuff doesn’t matter, we’re coming together to play a sport that we love.”
This is the first time Johnson has shared her Olympic history with her students, although she noted the interest in the torch has expanded far beyond just her classroom.
“I think the kids are excited because it doesn’t happen every day, it’s something new and exciting for them,” she said. “But I think the adults are more excited about it than the kids; all the teachers have been in and parents have stopped me and asked about it.”
Johnson said her grandmother, now 89, has always said, “My moment of fame was carrying the flame.” But the moment holds a special significance for Johnson as well.
“Just to see it and to have it be someone you’re so close to, it was very cool,” said Johnson. “It’s a piece of history happening right before your eyes.”
“I can remember when I was younger when they would have the Olympic champion gymnastic and figure skating tours, she would always take me to those,” said Sarah Johnson of her grandmother.
