No matter how one feels about China’s human rights record or the appropriateness of protesting the Olympic Torch Relay, history is being made.

According to the International Olympic Committee, never in the recorded history of the Olympics has the running of the torch been protested in this manner.

The flame was extinguished three times during the Paris leg of the relay, and they finally cancelled the last part of that leg. Backups of the original flame are kept, so it is not “lost”.

But in my life, I can’t recall a time where it was extinguished and I consider this event historically significant.

I’m a baby boomer, and when I look back at the historic milestones that have occurred in my lifetime, I am truly amazed at the changes in the world in my 45+ years.

We were raised by parents who lived through WW II and heard stories about blackouts, air raid sirens and food rationing from people who lived through it.

We remember where we were when JKF was assassinated. I was only a year old and don’t remember myself, but I do know where I was when my mother heard the news, in a shopping cart in a North Hollywood California supermarket. To see and hear anyone who remembers tell their story is like watching someone describe something they saw yesterday.

We saw the first step taken on the moon by an astronaut, and shared the silent anticipation and fear that Apollo 13 and it’s crew were lost forever when it did not reenter the earth’s atmosphere as planned. We breathed a collective sigh of relief when it finally reentered and cheered. (watching the Movie with people who weren’t alive when it happened was an interesting experience)

The Berlin Wall was built and torn down.

Our brothers, uncles and friends were sent to Vietnam, many never to return.

And we witnessed the Tiananmen Square Massacre broadcast live around the world.

Which brings me back to the protest of the Beijing Olympics.

This is not the United States imposing it’s will on another nation as it so often does. This by all appearances is a worldwide movement against a nation whose human rights record is not accepted or approved of by a good portion of the world.

At least one runner has already backed out of the San Francisco relay citing safety concerns.

Running with the Olympic flame is a once in a lifetime opportunity and honor for athletes around the world. The cancellation and attacks where they have been charged by people who are trying tackle them and take the flame or douse them with water or a fire extinguisher can only be a frightening, overwhelming and disappointing experience.

It has caused me to ask myself, what would I do if I were called today and asked to carry the flame? (not likely)

As an athlete who overcame great odds to run my first marathon, I would consider it a great honor to carry the flame some day; who knows, it could happen.

But would I carry the flame for this event?

On one hand, to carry this flame would be (in my mind) acceptance of China’s human rights record, which I could not do it in good conscience.

On the other hand, carrying the torch would be to defend the Olympic spirit and tradition against all threats.

Many of us will watch history unfold today in San Francisco California, which may very well be the catalyst for canceling the international leg of the torch run for the first time in history.

Even if the torch is extinguished this time, the Olympic spirit will live on, perhaps someday, in a changed and better world.

We can only wait and see as history is made.