Speedskater Peterson to Carry U.S. Flag

An ongoing battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has relegated short track speedskater Amy Peterson to a maddening roller coaster of up-and-down days. But the four-time Olympian will enjoy a day like no other Friday, when she carries the U.S. flag into Rice-Eccles Stadium for the opening ceremony for the Salt Lake City Winter Games.

Peterson, of St. Paul, Minn., was chosen Wednesday to carry the flag in a vote of the eight team captains of the sports contested at the Games. The same group chose skeleton team member Jim Shea Jr. to recite the Athletes’ Oath on behalf of the assembled competitors, an honor previously given to his late grandfather, Jack, at the 1932 Lake Placid Games.

“It’s just the greatest honor,” Peterson said. “It’s an honor anyway, and I think to carry the flag in a situation like this, after Sept. 11, is an even greater honor.

“My emotions right now ... tears are in my eyes. I can only imagine what the emotions are going to be like Friday night when I walk into the stadium.”

Shea is a third generation Olympian. His father, Jim Sr., competed in Nordic combined and cross country skiing at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, and his grandfather won two gold medals in speedskating at the 1932 Games. Jack Shea died in a car accident in Lake Placid Jan. 22, ending his dream of seeing his grandson carry on the family legacy.

“It personally means a lot, knowing that so many athletes have voted for me,” Jim Shea Jr. said, “and it really gives me a great sense of pride. I am extremely thankful for the show of support.”

The choice of Peterson was a surprise. Less familiar a name than skier Picabo Street or long track speedskater Chris Witty, who have overcome similar daunting obstacles, Peterson has been a member of the U.S. short track team since 1988, when it was an exhibition sport. She won a silver medal in the relay at Albertville in 1992 and bronze medals in the relay and 500 meters at Lillehammer in 1994.

Peterson, 30, is an eight-time U.S. champion and was first overall at the Olympic trials in December. However, she has struggled with her illness most of this season.

“September, October, November didn’t really go so well for me,” she said earlier this week. “I came out of it a little bit and produced good enough results ....

“I have good days and bad days. Hopefully [next Wednesday, in the women’s 1,500] I’ll have a good day. That’s my first event. I’m definitely in a lot better place than I was two or three months ago.”

Still to be chosen are the eight U.S. athletes who will carry into the stadium the tattered flag found at the World Trade Center site and later displayed at the World Series and the Super Bowl.

Each winter sport will select one representative to escort the flag, and those athletes will be accompanied by an honor guard of police officers and firefighters and others whose heroic actions Sept. 11 spared New York and Washington even greater tragedies. The athletes’ names are expected to be announced today.