Allende savors her Olympic moment
Italian actress Sophia Loren (left) leads notable women, including Chilean writer Isabel Allende of San Rafael, actress Susan Sarandon and women from other continents as they present the Olympic flag during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony Friday.
PUBLISHED: February 16, 2006 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: July 19, 2018 at 10:09 a.m.
AUTHOR Isabel Allende of San Rafael may joke about her big moment Friday at the Olympic Games, but deep down she considers it one of the high points of her life.
"I have been in stadiums before – with thousands of people for the 200th birthday of Hans Christian Anderson in Copenhagen – but nothing had the same enthusiasm, the same energy. Those young people were the best and the bravest in the world. They had dedicated their lives to get there."
Allende was one of eight women who carried the Olympic flag in the opening ceremonies of the Winter Games in Turin, Italy. Three of the women were prior Olympic medal winners; the others represented the five major continents.
Allende, world-famous author and native of Chile, represented South America. The other four: American actress Susan Sarandon, representing North America; Nobelist Mangari Maathai of Kenya (Africa); human rights activist Somaly Mam of Cambodia (Asia); and Italian actress-icon Sophia Loren, there as a symbol of Europe.
All wore elegant square-cut white coats, turtle necks, mittens and whitish boots. "I looked like a refrigerator," Allende says.
Loren, tall and wearing stiletto heels, led the eight as they marched into the stadium holding both sides of the flag.
"Everyone was staring at Sophia," says Allende, who is 5 feet tall. "Fortunately, I was right behind her. Otherwise I wouldn't have been in any of the pictures. As it was, I kind of appear between her legs."
When eight Alpine Guards took the flag from the women and ran it up the flagpole, Allende – moved by the roars of the crowd – says she "felt like crying, too."
The ceremonies honored all things Italian, from fashion to music to cars. Tenor Luciano Pavarotti sang at the close.
The music that accompanied the parade of 2,500 athletes was largely American – "Think" by Aretha Franklin and "YMCA" by the Village People. "Everyone sang along," Allende says. "They even sang along with Pavarotti."
Allende knew for a year that she had been chosen for the Olympic moment, but was sworn to secrecy to keep the entries a surprise. The eight were picked by a committee headed by Nicoletta Pavarotti, the tenor's young wife.
This year was the first time women had carried the Olympic flag.
Allende and family toured major bookstores in Rome, Florence and Milan before she reported to Turin.
In Turin, the family stayed at what Allende terms "an absolutely spectacular hotel, a glass box inside an old ruin."
She spent much of two days with her fellow flag-carriers. She describes Sarandon as "so earthy, so approachable. She's a person like you or me." Allende was especially taken with Maathai of Kenya, who won her Nobel Peace Prize for work as an environmentalist. "I said 'hello, I feel like hugging you,' and I couldn't let go. It was like hugging a tree – so strong and solid."
The women rehearsed at night. Loren – "she looked great, very straight, very tall" – had to walk the stadium track three times in stiletto heels, Allende says. "Awful – but she did it. A lot of the time she was leaning on me."
The day after the opening ceremonies, Allende flew home. She says she will remember Turin for its youthful energy and passion. "There were signs all over the city – 'Passion Lives Here.'
"I will probably never be a part of anything so exciting again. I just hope I can remember it when I have Alzheimer's."