Grove City youth Brian Beil
was nervous at torch run
By Rob Amen Herald News Intern
It will sit in the trophy case with the other accomplishments Brian Beil has accumulated. It will collect dust just like his other trophies and plaques. It might even be forgotten every now and again.
But that's not likely.
On June 10 _ the night before his 15th birthday _ Beil carried the Olympic torch from 9:20 to 9:24 p.m. in Erie as part of its 15,000-mile tour of the United States before it officially starts the Olympic Games in Atlanta Friday.
Runners were told they could buy their torch after they passed the flame along to the next runner. One kilometer and $275 later, Beil has an Olympic torch for his case.
It's something he will not soon forget, and for good reason.
Beil's family bombarded him with photographs and video cameras, capturing every move he made. It was almost enough to spoil the moment.
``I was actually pretty annoyed before I got to my place to run,'' Beil said, adding in retrospect, he's glad they went to extremes.
Posing for those pictures, though, was something the Grove City sophomore and soccer standout did not even consider, until his father told him he was selected to run.
Gary Beil saw applications to enter the sweepstakes to carry the torch at a Giant Eagle in Beaver County. With his wife Karen's help, they filled out a few with Brian's name and sent them in. They never told Brian. In fact, Gary said he almost forgot about it until he received a call from a lady with the Coca-Cola Company.
``I sort of just shrugged it off,'' Brian said when he heard the news. ``We joke around a lot ... It's just really amazing to think I was involved with something to do with the Olympics.''
For those four minutes, he was the only thing to do with the Olympics. No other official activity was occurring except Beil carrying the torch. It weighed on his mind the entire time he was carrying it _ that and tripping.
He never stumbled, but Beil nearly had a bigger problem. One of his escorts told him he better carry the torch farther away from his body or he might burn his hair.
``As soon as he told me that,'' he said, ``I realized my whole left side of my face was hot.''
But Beil stayed cool, thanks to a stranger.
The shuttle bus driver, while dropping off the runners at their destinations earlier that night, noticed Brian was wearing a familiar soccer-style running shoe. The two started talking about Brian's favorite sport and he eventually relaxed. It carried over to his kilometer run.
His father, though, said he could tell his son was still a little nervous.
``For a couple hours before,'' Gary said, ``he was kind of wishing it was over.''
Nowadays, Brian wishes it never ended. Despite admitting some of the run is a blur, he said he often dreams about receiving a call asking him to fill in for someone.
He knows he can't go back. He can't run the kilometer over again. But he'll always have the torch to remind him.
published Thursday, July 18,1996
