Mayo Alumni Magazine 2002 Spring - MC4409-0402 - Mayo Clinic

From left to right, Judy Dokken, Philip Greipp, M.D., and Nicholas LaRusso, M.D., torch bearers.
the moments they carried the Olympic flame on Jan. 5
in Wisconsin (the relay route did not pass through
Minnesota).
“I wish you could bottle it, so you could re-live it again,”
says Dr. Greipp. “It goes so fast that you barely have time
to enjoy it. I know I enjoyed it. I had a huge smile on my
face. I could feel it.” Dr. Greipp planned to pace himself
on his early-evening leg in Milwaukee, but he said the
adrenaline rush sparked by the event quickened his steps
even though his route was uphill.
Dr. LaRusso, a marathon runner, managed to temper
his strides on his daytime route through Kenosha, Wis.,
south of Milwaukee. “I went as slowly as possible, because
I wanted it to last as long as it could,” says Dr. LaRusso.
“Frankly, I didn’t appreciate how significant and
meaningful it was going to be when I was notified that I
was chosen.”
Dokken’s time with the torch in Kenosha was “one of
the most exciting events in my life,” she said. “As I turned
and started my two-tenths of a mile, there was an incredible
feeling of support from family, friends, other torchbearers
and spectators.”
Chosen from among many
The Salt Lake Organizing Committee reported that it had
received more than 210,000 nominations for individuals to
carry the Olympic torch. About 3,500 of the 11,500 spots
were reserved for special selections such as past Olympic
athletes or celebrities, leaving about 8,000 slots open to
those who were nominated by letter.
Dr. Greipp, a hematologist and chair of hematology
research, was nominated by the International Myeloma
Foundation, the Multiple Myeloma Foundation and the
Goldman Foundation — organizations dedicated to
furthering myeloma research treatment and survivorship.
Norma Holmes, of Alexandria, Va., whose late
husband was a patient of Dr. Greipp’s, led the effort to
nominate him.
“Dr. Greipp is a patient’s doctor — a ‘friend for life’ in
every sense of the word,” she wrote. “He inspires the best
in everyone who knows him. He inspires his patients to
heal, to love life, to give their utmost to it and to live life
fully and well.”
Spring 2002 Mayo Alumni 9