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Show Monday, September 25, 2000 The Salt Lake Tribune cs SYD NE YORY2 0 0 0 After Long Wait, Palmer Ready to Throw Hammer Grantsville resident part of event’s Olympic debut BY MICHAEL C. LEWIS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE SYDNEY, Australia — Wandering through the zoo and picnicking in the nearby mountains with her husband, Grantsville’s Amy Palmer has heard “bits and pieces” about the good fortunes of Utah’s other female athletes at the Sydney es. Soon, she hopes tojoin them. Palmerwill be the last of the Utah athletes to begin competition at these Games, opening the first hammerthrow for women watch them on television rather than wear herself out in the Olympics with qualifying rounds Wednesday morning. And although she has only the 13th-best qualifying throw going into the event at Olympic Stadium, the former Brigham Young star said she can join the likes of Natalie Wi ‘Tom and Courtney Young Johnsonin contending for a medal. “My throwing has been going well,” she san“Tve prepared and done everything I yed fromtherest ofthe Olympics. “This way, I can live life and do whatI'm here to =‘put at the same time, enjoy myself,” she said. “We have been having areally time. We've been eueyine the sights and the people and the a arriving in Sydney with her hus- Butafter nearly two weeks of waiting — band, Rick, just before the Games began, and watching others carry away their golds, silvers and bronzes — Palmer is Palmerhas made conscious effort to enjoy the experience andstayrelaxed. Rather than stay in the sometimes hectic confines of the Olympic Village, she has been staying with local families, currently onein nearby Parrametta. She skipped the lavish Opening Ceremonies, choosing to ready to throw. the last ones. She did thatin the U.S. OlymPictrials, fouling on herfirst two throws of the qualifying round before getting a good toss on her final preliminary try. “WhenI try a little too hard, those things happen,” shesaid.“I just have to go in and re mybody do whatI’ve beentraining it to 0.” Palmer will welcome her parents from Utah on Tuesday and knowsthat pretty muchthe entire town of Grantsville — as well as muchof her homestate — will be pulling for her in her first Olympics. Members of the community helped pay for the With her physical preparation finished, she has not had any really hard workouts in Sydney, and she has tried not to worry Palmers’ trip, and she wouldlike nothing more than to repay them by showing up on the medal stand. abouther recent tendency to foul on early throws, putting pressure.on herself with “It would mean everything,” Palmer said. “That’s what you've worked for.” WRESTLING BOXING BY TIM DAHLBERG FormerHighland High volley: SLOC’S Press According to Ron C. Judd of: the Seattle Times, his annoyance : at finding outthat Paul “Crocodile Dundee” Hogan wouldbe at the closing ceremo- any gold medal fight. NBC Changes Based onits experience in Sydney, NBC will make twocrucial changes to its Olympics program- -time world champion Savon. Butit is lgaded with enough subplots to make a “B” movie. , It’s also loaded with risk for Mustin’s team. The Americans have yet to show they can beat the Cubans, who have dominated amateur boxingfor muchof the last quarter century. :Bennett will be the first American to fight a Cuban in Sydney, andit could set a tone for the six other remaining U.S. boxers who mayface Cubans in either semifinial or gold medal fights. In the last two @lympics, Americans are 2-7 against Cuban boxers. \i,Bennett’s role as thecritical peg of the U.S. team could not be a more unlikely one considering he was serving timein an Ilinis prison for armed robbery during the last Olympics. ‘Now,he has his own Website and pubIiéist. If he wins the heavyweightgold, he ¢8uld be worth millions. Bennett has had fewer than 40 fights since his release from prison in July 1998, David Guttenfelder/The Associated Press USA's Garrett Lowney throws world champion Gogui Koguachvii of Russia in a Greco-Romanqualifying match. ThrownInto Victory U.S. wrestling upstart upsets world champion in Greco-Roman qualifier BY ALAN ROBINSON ‘THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS: U.S. championship and fought his way into the finals of the 1999 world SYDNEY,Australia — This was Rocky ona wrestling mat. An inexperienced American,barely out championship. of his teens and eight years younger than but was such a quicklearner that he wona It was there that he was supposed to meet Savonthefirst time. But the Cuban boycotted the boutas part of a Cuban protest over scoring in anotherfight and Bennett was given the worldtitle. Helping Bennett do battle is someone who knowsa little about heavyweight boxing — four-time heavyweight champion EvanderHolyfield. |. Holyfield scouted Savon’sfirst fight, in hich he dismantled a Nigerian in less in two rounds, and has conferred with U.S. coaches on what he thinks is a good battle plan against the Cuban. {, Cuban fighters have been spectacular a groupin Sydney, winning all but two ips and advancing 10 of 12 boxers into he semifi ‘The U.S.team started offstrong, but had tiBuble in second round matches, and now 1 only seven boxers remaining. = any of his teammates, beat a five-time world champion and gold-medal favorite. It just doesn’t happen,especially not in the Olympics, Garrett Lowney madeit ppen. In oneofthe greatest upsets in Olympic wrestling — and certainly in the United States’ undistinguished Greco-Romanhistory — Lowney, a 20 year-old wrestler for the University of Minnesota, stunned 213¥-poundfavorite Gogui Koguachvili of Russia 8-3 Sundayin overtime. It wasn’t just that Lowney beat a man considered one of the best Greco-Roman wrestlers in the world. It also was how hedid it in his first international tournamentof note, with a five-point throw that is wrestling’s equivalentof a grand-slam homerun. Koguachvili had won the last three world championships since failing to win the gold medalin Atlanta in 1996 and was considered a virtual lock to win in Sydney. Maybe it was because Lowney had never faced Koguachvili, except to work out with him in Moscowrecently, that he didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to win. “This doesn’t mean the gold medal, but he’s the best wrestlerin this weightclass,” said Lowney, who had the Olympicrings and a Minnesota “M”tattooed onto his vy) right shoulder a few weeks ago. ef US. team officials Fa\ee couldn't think of a compara: ble upset, perhaps because Americans have rarely ex: celled in Greco-Roman. Most ofthe U.S. success comes in freestyle wrestling, which is similar to that in U.S. high schools and colleges. The United States hasn't won a gold medal in Greco-Roman since the boycotted Los Angeles Games in 1984, andits Atlanta haul of three silver medals in 1996 was seen as an excellent showing. Now, Sydney could be even better as three of the four Americans who wrestled Sunday moved into the championship bracket. Matt Lindland, whose summer-long legal appeal to makethe team wentall the way to the Supreme Court, won three matches at 167 pounds to winhis fourman pooland advance into the semifinals. Kevin Brackensplit his two matches in Lenny’s Future but reached the quarterfinals via the tie- Three gold medals aren't enough for Lenny Krayzelburg. The U.S. swimming star said he has noplans toretire after winning the 100- and 200-meter backstroke, as well as taking part in the world record-setting 400 medley relay team. In fact, the 25-year-old Krayzelburg already has his eyes on the 2004 Athens Games.“The key is staying healthy,” hesaid. ““But I'm going to keep going.” breaking system. All three wrestle again Tuesday, with Lowney meeting Georgia’s Genadi Chkhaidze, who upset two-time Olympic champion Andrzej Wronski of Poland. Lowneylost a 3-0 lead and was in danger of losing on passivity when he ducked behind Koguachvili and lifted him onto the mat. A five-point, high-amplitude throw is the biggest scoring move in a sport where matchesoften are decided by low scores. “T knew they would make it tough for me and I wouldn’t get any breaks,” Lowneysaid. “He got onepointand that’s all he earned. The other twopoints were a gift.” Steven Mays, the U.S. Greco-Roman captain from Pensacola,Fia., lost his three matches at 119 pounds and was eliminated. who upset any notion of what is Hi¥dictable, Imagine, however,that you with athletes are typically sharp Saturday over Japan: “| [Cantor] are Costas, NBC's Sydney studio in chief. Costas is bright andra: tional. He is a pro. Costas, though, has to know by now that the audience numbers are in the and composed. If anything, the longer the Games go on, the more make Pavarotti jealous.” can, the response tothe delayed broadcasts is negative and critics have lambasted the network's coverage of the Games’ prime television draw, gymnastics, Yet, Costas carries on as if the Games are a hit. Herefuses to embellish any accomplishment with rhetorical overstatement. His relaxed post-eventinterviews carefree Costas appears. Heis either exhausted or has said to himself, “The heck with it. I'm going to do the job for those whoare watching.” Costas, whoat times tends to fall in love with his owncleverness, has even kept a check on his famous dry wit, using it as needed. Hereis his take,for ex ample, of Andres Cantor's ex tended “goal”call during the im- probableU.S, soccer victory ming whenthe 2002 Winter Games comes to Salt Lake City, NBC presidentofsport Dick Ebersolsaid. Withouta 17-hour time differ- _ ence to deal with, NBC will break away from taped coverage, Eber. sol said. All figure skating, speed... skating, and hockey games will be shown live. Whileits coverage will air from 7:30 p.m.to 11 p.m. .(EDT) most nights, coverage will extendto 11:30 on skating nights. Until Sydney, there had never been a five-hour Olympictelecast, andit’s one of the innovations that Ebersolwill jettison when he draws up a game plan for the 2002 Winter Olympics. “The first half-hour is probably a bridge too far,” said Ebersol. The 2002 broadcasts from Salt LakeCity,he said, would revert to the customary 4 hour format except when there is figure ne} final in the mix. his three-manpoolat 138% pounds pounds Eostas Has Been Constantly Good, Despite Bad Ratings Bare true unscripted drama, ' nies was mitigated by one factor: “The Good NewsIs: Salt Lake, which in 1998 trotted outan inflatable,frighteningly Flintstonesque, desert arch thatstill has peopleiin Naganoshaking their heads,is notpart ofthe closing. Although we could use some oftheir gulls to take care of this little moth problem.” “Michael Bennett will not carry just his riiedal hopes into the ring against Cuba’s fearsomeFelix Savon. Riding on his broad “ shoulders may be the hopes of the U.S. boxing team. Nes “It’s critical,” U.S. coach Tom Mustin said. The fight matches an inexperienced but talented 29year-old Bennett against the but powerful two-time Olympic and I Costas said somethinglike {Qt the other day. For every preordained victory Jwsigned to Marion Jones or Ian pe, there arethose,like Misty Hyman and the ican men's soccer team, Ip Atuhaire, from Kampala, was eliminated from competition on thefirst full day ofcompetition at the games Sept: 16. He recorded a— time of 1 minute, 22.35 seconds ithe the first heat of the 100-meter breaststroke,the slowest of65 2 ball player Logan Tom is getting «SYDNEY,Australia,— And now, the main event. .aThe schedule may read heavyweight quarterfinal, with the winner guaranteed nothing more than a bronze. But when the two star attractions of Olympic boxing meet Tuesday,it figures to be bigger than "This is a reminder. We tune the Summer Olympics for athletic competition. Ratings added commercialsaside, the —and athletics in general day. plenty ofattention from media outsideofSalt Lake City. Gil Lebreton ofthe Fort Worth StarTelegram said this ofTeam USA's’ young star:“If you want-o celebrate a young woman whoisa bigtime world-class athlete who competes in a real sport, get inearly , on Logan Tom.The 18-year-old volleyball player from Salt Lake City is an extraordinary athlete, although she couldn’t keep the cheekyBrazilians from taking a... 3-1 victory Sunday.” : Heavyweightfight begins crucial bouts with Cubans ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS An Ugandan Olympic swimmer arrested in Adelaide on a sexualassault charge was returned to Sydneybypolice. Joe Atuhaire,22, was charged, by Sydneypolice with sexual in-. tercourse without consentinvolv. ing a 17-year-old girlin the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe last Wednes- Tom’s Press Carries U.S. Hopes oti Swimmer Who _ Faces Sex Charge: Back in Sydney competitors. Bennett os OLYMPIC NOTES MARTIN RENZHOFER What“Pocket Hercules” Naim these Olympics, two Greeks have the chance to do in 2004. In Athens. Before their home fans. With the home-country advantage.It’s something Pyrros Dimas and Khaki Kakiasvilis can’t pass up: the chance to become the first Olympic weightlifters to win four gold medals in as many games. “Nowthat I have reached this pointandclimbed this high mountain, I will try for a fourth in 2004,” Kakiasvilis said after winning his third Olympic gold medal in his third weightclass on has lung capacity that would Alwaysthehistorian, Costas Sunday. rightly compared American Maurice Greene's 100-metervictory overclose friend and training companion Ato Boldon of Lifting Legends Suleymanoglu tried andfailed in TELEVISION Trinidad and Tobago toU.S. de- John Tesh appearpalatable, But cathlete Rafer Johnson's 1960 successful gold medalbattle againsthisclosefriend, C.K. for all of the negatives that have been slapped on the Sydney Yang of Taiwan. Games,Costas has remaineda constantpositive. Yes, sometimes announcers andanalysts do makeus cringe. Al Trautwig may actually make commentsat martyr@sltrib.com. Media Mandate The IOCis cracking down on swimmer Ian Thorpe and other athletes for writing diaries on their websites, There's an old rule in the Olympiccharter that states athletes cannot serve as journal- Martin Renzhofer welcomes ists during the Olympics. Staff, wire reports |
