Her service with the department played a role in her being chosen to carry the World Trade Center flag during the 2002 Olympic opening ceremonies.

“Representing my fellow firefighters and athletes was an incredible privilege,” she says. She was honored with the 1988 and 1990 Dr. Dorothy Hicks Female Athlete of the Year Awards.

After graduating from Marshall, Parsley took up team handball and competitive sledding, and in 1998 earned a position on the U.S.

National Skeleton team, spending six years on the international World Cup circuit. The injuries both women sustained were enough to keep them from qualifying for the Olympic team. I called the number on the screen for more information, and the rest is history.”

Parsley went on to train in skeleton, and in 1998, she became a part of the U.S.

women’s skeleton Olympic team.

When she was 2, her father received a job opportunity that moved the family to the small town of Granville, Ohio. She grew up in Granville, Ohio where she served as a volunteer firefighter for 20 years and was inducted into the Granville High School Athletic Hall of Fame. I guess I was just too busy enjoying my time as a kid,” she says. “I’m so grateful for that opportunity,” she says.

She was the first female skeleton athlete to win a world cup medal for the United States and earned a silver medal in the women's skeleton event, a first in Olympic history, during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. After her are David Izonritei, Marnie McBean, Sabeer Bhatia, Elden Campbell, Willy Okpara, and Christian Colson.

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