The lighting of the Olympic Cauldron signals the beginning of the Summer games which are only about 23 days away, but before the opening ceremony, the flame will travel through 1,000 cities, towns, and villages in the United Kingdom.
It turn's out one of Columbia's own will serve as a torchbearer.
Dr. Steve Blair leaves for London Wednesday, which also happens to be his 73rd birthday. He's spent most of his adult life in the Midlands and was chosen by Coca Cola for this once-in-a-lifetime experience because of his commitment to health and wellness.
"I'm an old Kansas boy," Blair said. "We are not supposed to brag about things, but I'm just honored...very happy to do it."
Blair's got Kansas roots, but Columbia is the place he's called home for most of his life. He's a professor in the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina, a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine, and has been awarded the Surgeon General's medallion.
"Now I'm the in the Department of Exercise Science at the university," Blair said. "It's the best Department of Exercise Science in the world, and I think even others not here would actually say that."
Blair's list of accomplishments are endless, but it's his passion for health that caught the folks at Coca Cola's attention.
"Exercise is medicine, and it is not the only medicine, but I can give many explanations of how it actually is a medicine, so Coca Cola been a major sponsor of that," Blair said.
Now Blair is ready for his moment to shine.
Copyright 2012 WIS. All rights reserved.
