NAME: Celeste Austring  

Hometown: Pincher Creek, Alberta

Torch Relay Segment: January 18^th, 2010

Age: 14

Torchbearer Story:

As a young athlete, Celeste Austring participates in soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross-country and track and field. In doing so, she keeps in shape both physically and mentally. Her inspiration is the love of the game.

Austring has heard many times that if you believe in yourself, you will succeed. By believing in herself, Austring has grown into a successful athlete. Another motivation is her mom. This year, Austring’s mom started training for a half marathon. She finds her mom’s will to run and stay at it for 21 kilometres both and amazing and inspiring. Sometimes Austring even trains with her mom.

Physical activity is a part of Austring’s daily life. The exhilaration of being active makes her feel alive day after day. It is what keeps Austring going.

NAME: Erin Stanford  

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Torch Relay Segment: January 18^th, 2010

Age: 36

Torchbearer Story:

In the summer of 2007, Erin Stanford’s life reached a critical state and she was forced into unexpected, dramatic changes. Stanford went from typical suburban life to suddenly becoming a single mom of two active boys and a university student. In order to cope, she realized her physical wellbeing needed to become a priority.

Through lifestyle adjustments, Stanford lost 120 pounds. She has since gone from a couch potato to an outdoor enthusiast. Now she prefers to spend the day in the mountains, completing a 20 kilometre hike, going for a run, a long bike ride or coaching her son’s basketball teams.

Stanford’s lifestyle change has been accomplished by reasonable means. She has not taken any crash diets or extreme measures, but has taken the time to achieve a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Friends and family have watched this transformation and have enthusiastically cheered her on.

Stanford believes leading by example has been the best way to inspire and encourage others. She is always happy to share her story with others. Stanford has had dozens of people approach her, asking her for guidance and ideas for their journey to find a healthier self. Stanford is excited to share what she has learned along the way. She is happy, healthy and most importantly, herself.

NAME: Jeremy Gillespie  

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Torch Relay Segment: January 18^th, 2010

Age: 14

Torchbearer Story:

Jeremy Gillespie is 13 years old and loves living an active life. He plays basketball in winter and in spring leagues.  He has joined every sports team at his school including Cross Country, Senior Volleyball, Senior Basketball, Flag Football, and Badminton.  Last year, he received a ribbon in Cross Country for placing 10th out of more than 350 students.

Jeremy also believes that it is important to live green. He has changed his light bulbs to more environmentally friendly ones, picked up littered cans and bottles, and he always take the stairs at the mall so he can save electricity and keep his heart pumping. 

Jeremy is honoured to be a Coca Cola Olympic Torchbearer.

NAME: Chelsea Davidson

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Torch Relay Segment: January 18^th, 2010

Age: 31

Torchbearer Story:

Chelsea Davidson has cared about the environment for as long as she can remember. Now that she has a child of her own, she seeks to inspire him to be environmentally sensitive as well. Chelsea believes that the Dalai Lama philosophy should be followed. He says, “you can educate children about the environment by teaching them to do simple things such as shutting off the light when they leave their bedroom and always throwing trash in the garbage.” Chelsea teaches her to do both of these things by doing them as a role model and allowing him the opportunity to do them himself.

This summer, Chelsea took her son to the Birth Place Forest in Fish Creek where a tree was planted in honour of him being born in Calgary in 2008. With 6,000 trees planted, enough oxygen will be produced to meet the needs of over 100,000 Calgarians. As a family, the Davidson’s will continue to visit the forest year after year to watch the growth of the forest along with the growth of their son. This program provided a unique opportunity to educate children and parents about creating an urban forest canopy.

NAME: Emily Phernambucq

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Torch Relay Segment: January 18^th, 2010

Age: 15

Torchbearer Story:

In 1992, Emily Phernambucq’s mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Emily and her sister have always led active lifestyles. They were unaware of their mother’s disease until this year. Emily was devastated to learn that her active, volunteering mother could potentially be in a wheelchair in a few years. Emily’s mother keeps her children active even when her head hurts or she is in pain. Emily’s mother has a mantra, “I’m happy, I’m healthy, I’m strong,” She says this over and over every morning and every night.

Emily is inspired by her mother strength. She says that when she doesn’t want to walk the dog or go for a bike ride, her mother motivates her to live active.

NAME: Dr. David Chalack

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Torch Relay Segment: January 18^th, 2010

Age: 59

Torchbearer Story:

Dr. David Chalack is President and Chairman Board of Directors of Calgary Stampede, which is a not for profit organization representing hundreds of volunteers. The organization makes a large contribution to the Southern Alberta Community.

NAME: Brett Wilson

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Torch Relay Segment: January 18^th, 2010

Age: 52

Torchbearer Story:

Brett Wilson is a passionate Canadian. He is a father of 3, a business man, philanthropist, adventurer, author, speaker and now a Coca Cola Olympic Torchbearer. He is proud to be part of this momentous occasion.

NAME: Allison Pegg

Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Torch Relay Segment: January 18^th, 2010

Age: 15

Torchbearer Story:

Allison Pegg has lived an average life, except when she was 10 years old her parents took a year off work to take her and her three sisters on a trip around the World. They visited 28 countries and Allison was glad to have the opportunity to see the different cultures.  Allison’s favourite place was Africa, because she loved to see animals in the wild.  Allison helped save 118 pilot whales that were stranded on the beach in New Zealand.

Many of the countries that Allison and her family visited has previously hosted the Olympic Games, and Allison visited these sites with great interest. Allison is proud to be a Coca Cola Olympic Torchbearer because she believes that the Olympics is one of the things in the World that brings people together.

NAME: Kathryn Wilson    

Hometown: Magrath, Alberta 

Torch Relay Segment: January 18^th, 2010

Age: 58

Torchbearer Story:

Kathryn Wilson suffered from a mild case of polio when she was a child but this did not stop her from participating in Track and Field in high school. Through out her life, Kathryn has encouraged her children, and grand children, to live active.

Kathryn feels fortunate to live in this country and she is proud to be Canadian. Kathryn is proud to represent her country in the Coca Cola Olympic Torch relay.