While it was a moment he will personally savour for the rest of his life, he says the event was more about the twin towns as a whole.
“I can just remember how excited everyone was the closer the day got,” he said.
“When I was carrying the torch, I remember just seeing so many smiling faces of people who were all different ages.
“It was really special to be part of. I was actually one of two Peter Mitchells – the other was from Nanneella.
“It didn’t feel like my feet touched the ground when I was running for those 400 m.
“Once the cauldron had been lit at Victoria Park, I had people coming up to me asking for photos – some of them I had never seen before.
“That included a family who had travelled from Hay just to be part of the event. It showed just how big of a moment in our country’s history it was.”
Peter’s run wasn’t without trouble either.
Halfway through the flame went out, but he didn’t panic.
“I can’t repeat the words that I muttered to myself at the time,” he joked.
“Before the run we were told that it could happen, and we would just have to wait for the support truck behind us to re-light the torch.
“It was just one of those things which happen, and I was just one of the unlucky ones.”
His nomination as a torch bearer came during a trip to Sydney as Peter worked as a financial advisor for AMP – one of the Games’ major sponsors.
But Peter was also involved in several community groups in the twin towns as he still is today.
Those include being a director at the Echuca Workers and serving as the secretary for the Echuca Loco Shed.
“I knew the nomination was there, but I didn’t expect to be selected,” he said.
“You don’t expect to be recognised for community work, you do it because you are passionate about projects.
“It was a privilege to be involved and it’s something I will never forget.”
While Peter never travelled to NSW to see the main event, he was able to take in some of the Games in Melbourne.
That’s because soccer was played at the MCG.
“I’m not quite sure who played but it was an interesting experience,” he said.
“The weather wasn’t great and most of the crowd moved undercover before play even started.
“But that’s as far as my involvement went after the torch relay in July.”
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