Westport’s Ernest Verina III, one of 140 persons to carry the Olympic flame through New York City Saturday, said today the experience was a once-in-a-lifetime thrill.
Ernie Verina makes his run through the Big Apple Saturday. Spencer T. Tucker/Office of the Mayor photo
“It was great. I got to meet so many people. It was so phenomenal,” he said. “I feel honored to have taken part.”
Verina, 26, was chosen to participate by the Coca Cola Company after his wife wrote a 100-word essay to the company, a presenting sponsor of the torch relay.
The 1995 Staples High School grad works for the Department of Homeland Security in New York where he is a special agent in drug trafficking cases.
“He has taken the humble path to help keep America safe,” Jennifer Verina wrote.
Verina said he knew nothing about his wife’s submitting the entry until he received a call on his cell phone from a Coca Cola representative.
The flame began its 46,800-mile global journey from Athens, the site of the 2004 Summer Olympics, on June 4. It will travel across six continents, 26 countries, and 33 cities with some 11,000 runners before returning to Greece.
Verina said he ran with the torch for about a quarter mile.
“I was not physically pressed by any means,” said Verina, who said he played “lots of basketball at Staples” and noted that keeping physically fit was part of his job.
As a souvenir of the run, he was able to keep the actual torch he used in the relay.
Verina said meeting other torch bearers on the route and at a Gracie Mansion dinner Friday night was very exciting.
“Donald Trump was a couple of seats to our right and (Olympic gold medalist) Sara Hughes was nearby, too,” he said.
Verina said Olympic officials told him an interesting statistic that if you divided the world’s population by the 11,000 people chosen to participate in the relay, it works out to each runner representing a million people in the world.
“One in a million,” “Verina said.“That’s pretty incredible.”
I am a proud sister of Ernest Verina III. I was honored and in tears of joy watching my older brother carry the Olympic torch that has been carried since 1896 through the local streets of Queens. As he ignited the flame at the beginning of Broadway and 81st, began to turn around and run his 15 minutes of fame, I filmed and ran along side his smiling face. As I screamed and hooted him on, so did thousands of individuals of all ethnicities who were gathered on the streets supporting him and all the other 139 torchbearers.
The Athens 04 Olympic Torch Relay is an historic event that brings the Olympic Flame from ancient Olympia, Greece to NYC and back to Athens in a worldwide journey involving more than 11,000 torchbearers. For a torchbearer to be nominated they had to have a short inspiring essay to express why they represent the Olympic spirit – My Sister-in-Law who submitted his 100 words or less essay told me that, �It means self-sacrifice and heroism for chasing your dreams.� And my brother definitely rides that wave!
I am so fortunate to be a part of some thing this unfathomable. What I have heard, is that this was truly a one in a million chance. Each flame carrier represented one person for each million individuals on the planet. I think Westport should be proud that a member of our community has such a positive impact and influence! I get goosebumps remembering his smile�