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Parsley, Lea Ann
- 2002 Olympics silver medalist
- Silver medalist at 2000 Lillehammer World Cup
- Bronze medalist at 2000 La Plagne World Cup
- Won silver and bronze during 2001-2002 World Cup season
- Finished the 2004-2005 World Cup season ranked 10th in the world
- Named Ohio Firefighter of the Year in 1999
- Became firefighter in 1994
- Selected by her graduating firefighting class as Class Speaker and by instructors as Honors Graduate
- Member of a club handball team that won the 1996 US National Championships
- Played basketball, threw javelin and high jumped at Marshall University
- Direct descendant of McCoy family (of the Hatfield-McCoy family feud)
- Has earned four degrees - a bachelor's from Marshall University, a bachelor's in nursing from the University of Virginia, a master's in nursing and doctorate in community health nursing from The Ohio State University
- Discovered skeleton on the Internet while doing some research to aid in fund-raising effort for the U.S. national handball team
While Parsley has been concentrating more on getting to the Olympics in recent months, her life was an even bigger juggling act before her pre-Olympic training. While working on her doctoral dissertation in nursing at Ohio State, she also was fighting fires - sometimes out of state - all while training to make it to Salt Lake for the 2002 Games.
Related Links
Q&A: Skeleton slider/firefighter Parsley talks about taking risks
Photo gallery: Olympic skeleton rider: Lea Ann Parsley
Said there are similarities between skeleton and firefighting:"Firefighters train and train, because you have to be prepared before you run into that burning building. In a fire or on race day, you have to be prepared so that everything is second nature."
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Height: 5'8
Born: 12/6/1968
Hometown: Granville, Ohio
Sport: Skeleton
Event: Skeleton
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