Born and raised in San Marcos, Lori Ortiz was in eighth grade at Owen Goodnight Middle School when she was nominated to be an Olympic torchbearer for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
How it happened
That year, Coca-Cola was an Olympic Organizing Committee partner and held a contest to select one-third of the total number of torchbearers. According to the Olympics website, the campaign encouraged Americans to name someone who inspired them. Ortiz’s uncle wrote to the committee about her.
“He basically told the story about me growing up, raised by a single mom, some of the hardships that I faced, he talked about me getting involved in sports,” Ortiz said. “At the time, both of my grandparents were diagnosed with cancer, so I took a little step back from all my sports just to kind of help my mom out in taking care of them.”
Of 300,000 submissions received by the Organizing Committee, Ortiz was one of 12,012 Americans selected to carry the Olympic torch.
She was 15-years-old by the time her turn to carry the torch came around. The journey began in Greece in November 2001 and ended in Salt Lake City in February 2002.
“I ran Dec. 11 [and] it was actually three days after my birthday and so that was exciting cause I had just turned fifteen and I had a quinceanera,” Ortiz said. “So I got to tell all my friends and family that were there ‘Hey, in a couple of days I'm gonna actually run with the Olympic torch.’”
Ortiz said she remembers receiving her uniform and being on the bus to Austin to run her route on a cold, rainy day. Unexpectedly, she ran two legs of the route, a little over two miles, because the person she was to hand the torch to could not complete their portion.
American boxer Muhammed Ali lit the Olympic cauldron that year, Ortiz said it was exciting to think about how she was a part of the torch’s path to him.
Staying local
Ortiz said one of her favorite parts of that day was having her family show up to support her and having the opportunity to represent her family, her school and her hometown.
“One thing I remember the most is just putting on the uniform and going out there and representing my family, my friends, San Marcos,” Ortiz said. “We have grown, but [back] then it was small and I took pride [in it].”
Ortiz said she takes out her Olympic windbreaker and uniform every year the games are held, and watching the events has become a tradition in her family.
