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DETROIT FREE PRESS
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Thursday, August 08, 1996
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Photo DOUG MILLS/Associated Press;Photo JULIAN H. GONZALEZ/Detroit Free Press;Photo DAVID C. TURNLEY/Detroit Free Press;Photo JOHN GAPS III, JR./KRT;Photo RON CORTES/KRT;Photo JOE RIMKUS, JR./KRT;Photo ROBI
N TRIMARCHI/KRT;Photo ANDREW WINNING/Reuters;Photo LINDA CATAFFO/KRT
:
Brooke Bennett, left, was good as gold in the 800 freestyle,
ending Janet Evans'reign.
Amy Van Dyken was thrilled to win the 100 butterfly, one
of four gold medals she took home.
America's fastest women take a curtain lap after Gail
Devers, left, won her second straight gold medal in the 100-
meter dash. Gwen Torrence, right, took the bronze. They
later teamed for relay gold.
Pistons Dream Teamer Grant Hill, right, didn't let a knee
injury dampen his spirits on the medal stand. Teammate Charles
Barkley is next to Hill.
Shortstop and team leader Dot Richardson was up in arms over
softball's Olympic debut. She hit a home run in the opener
against Puerto Rico, above, and hit another in the gold-medal
game against China, a 3-1 victory. Richardson, who at age 34
was the oldest player on the team, is also an orthopedic
surgeon. She was so excited about playing in the Olympics, she
built a batting cage in her Los Angeles apartment, where she
lives during her residency.
Tiffeny Milbrett celebrates with teammates Carla Overbeck,
left, and Joy Fawcett, center, after her goal edged China.
Kent Steffes, left, and Karch Kiraly celebrate a point
during their gold-medal match. Steffes was born in Ann Arbor;
Kiraly grew up there.
Members of the U.S. gymnastics team: from left, Amanda
Borden, Dominique Dawes, Amy Chow, Jaycie Phelps, Dominique
Moceanu, Kerri Strug and Shannon Miller.
Featherweight Floyd Mayweather of Grand Rapids became the
first American in 20 years to defeat a Cuban in Olympic boxing,
but had to settle for the bronze medal.
Sheila Toarmina of Livonia, left, congratulates Jenny Thompson
after they teamed to win the gold medal in the women's 800-
meter freestyle relay. But the media had to wait to talk to
these golden girls, because they were busy chatting with
President Bill Clinton and the first lady.
Dana Chladek, a bronze medalist in 1992, paddled to a silver
medal in the women's single kayak in Atlanta. Chladek, who
lives in Ke
MITCH ALBOM; MICHELLE KAUFMAN; ERIC SHARP;
OLYMPIC PICTORIAL
Copyright (c) 1996, Detroit Free Press
GOLDEN MOMENTS
THE 1996 SUMMER GAMES IN REVIEW
The world of sports turned its eyes to Atlanta for 17 days, when former
boxing champ Muhammad Ali, top, thrilled the nation on opening night, left.
Michael Johnson, above, was unbeatable in the 200 and 400 meters, and little
Kerri Strug, right, was swept up in the U.S. gold rush.
FACES OF THE GAMES
It took eight years, an ill-fated Reebok ad campaign, a giant heartbreak
and 8,824 points, but now we finally know the answer. Dan O'Brien is the
world's greatest athlete. On a night that will forever be remembered as
Michael Johnson's, O'Brien stole a little slice of the spotlight by becoming
the first American in 20 years to win the Olympic decathlon.
Michelle Kaufman
Aug. 1, 1996
He glanced at his mark in the sand, measured it with his eyes against the
board, then fell to the ground as the crowd erupted and the scoreboard
flashed what he had been waiting for: He was in the lead. And when Carl Lewis
leads, nobody catches him.
Mitch Albom
July 29, 1996
WINNING COMBINATIONS
You wanted Olympic drama? You got it. The U.S. women's gymnastics team
clinched its first team gold medal Tuesday night on the severely injured ankle
of giant-hearted Kerri Strug, an 18-year-old whose gutsy performance on the
final vault of the evening will go down as one of the great moments of these
Games.
Michelle Kaufman
July 23, 1996
(Venus Lacey) is not a star. She is not a starter.She is a survivor and a
winner, a woman who, at 29, has overcome the physical and emotional traumas of
her life to reach the pinnacle in women's basketball.
Charlie Vincent
July 21, 1996
History was made twice on a muggy Thursday night when the United States beat
China, 2-1, to win the Olympic women's soccer gold medal. The Sanford Stadium
crowd of 76,481 is believed to be the biggest to attend any women's sporting
event, and the Americans won the first Olympic title in the sport.
Eric Sharp
Aug. 1, 1996
U.S. fans had to love the score at match point in the second set: USA 11,
USA 8. Californians Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes loved it even more. One last
hit by Kiraly gave volleyball's leading player a third Olympic gold medal and
Steffes a first.
Eric Sharp
July 28, 1996
MICHIGAN CONNECTION
The crowd of 14,000 chanted"USA"and waved patriotic posters as University
of Michigan swimmer Tom Dolan raised his gold medal for all to see. . . .
Eric Namesnik, who trains with Dolan in Ann Arbor, was 50 meters from
winning the 400-meter individual medley. But somehow, some way, just when
Namesnik thought he was about to pull off the upset of his career, Dolan
kicked his freestyle into high gear and jammed the thorn right back into
Namesnik's side.
Dolan touched in 4:14.90, giving the United States its first gold medal
of the Olympics.
Michelle Kaufman
July 21, 1996
Add up the miles Connie Paraskevin-Young, above, has ridden a bicycle, and
they would form a road through five Olympics and past the moon. Which made it
all the more ironic when her dream of one last Olympic cycling medal failed by
15 inches in the women's sprint. . . . After she finished, she did a final,
melancholy lap as the crowd roared and a man yelled"Thank you, Connie!"
Eric Sharp
July 25, 1996
FACES OF THE GAMES
Her right hamstring wrapped in bandages, Jackie Joyner- Kersee ignored the
sharp pain and sprinted down the runway as fast as her tired 34-year-old legs
would take her. She leaped, her arms windmilling, and landed 22 feet, 11 3/4
inches later. The crowd roared. Third place.
It wasn't exactly what the first lady of track had in mind, but in a way,
the bronze medal Friday meant more than her golds from the 1988 and 1992
Olympic heptathlons and the 1988 long jump.
"Tonight was really special because this one I really had to work
for,"Joyner-Kersee said.
Michelle Kaufman
Aug. 2, 1996
THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE.
OLYMPIC GAMES