[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 19 (Thursday, February 28, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E233-E234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING OLYMPIC SILVER MEDAL WINNER LEA ANN PARSLEY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PATRICK J. TIBERI

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 28, 2002

  Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, countless Americans are proud of Olympic 
medalist Lea Ann Parsley, but none more so than her friends and 
neighbors in central Ohio.
  America knows Lea Ann as the athlete who sped to a silver medal in 
the first-ever women's skeleton event at the Salt Lake City winter 
games. But her friends in central Ohio know her as much more than that. 
She's a full-time firefighter at the plain township fire department in 
Franklin County and a volunteer firefighter in her hometown of 
Granville. And she's completing her work at the Ohio State University 
on a doctorate in community health nursing.
  No wonder that Granville assistant fire chief Stan Nicodem said that 
Lea Ann ``embodies not only the ideals of the Olympics, but the ideals 
of volunteerism and of firefighting. This just highlights that she's a 
very special person.''

[[Page E234]]

  So special, in fact, that she was selected as one of the athletes to 
carry the American flag that had flown over the world trade center in 
the opening Olympic ceremonies. She persevered to win her silver medal 
despite an injured hamstring.
  If boys and girls across our country are looking for a role model, 
all they need to do is look to central Ohio and Lea Ann Parsley. She's 
a true champion, both in the Olympics and in life.

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