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WASHINGTON: Sheila Taormina has coped with threats from a stalker,
faced down her own self-doubts, started over twice in her sporting
career and even sold her house to finance her Olympic dream.
The result is Olympic history.
The 39-year-old motivational speaker will
compete in her third different Olympic sport next month at Beijing
when she appears in her fourth Games, this time in the modern
pentathlon.
“No one has made an Olympic team in a third
sport. I thought it was an interesting challenge and maybe I could
do it,” Taormina said.
It’s not like she is chasing gold. After
failing to qualify for the 1988 and 1992 US Olympic swim squads,
Taormina won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as the third
leg swimmer on the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Taormina switched to triathlon for that
sport’s Olympic debut at Sydney and finished sixth, then placed
23rd at Athens after leg cramps while cycling. That looked to be her
farewell.
But she explored modern pentathlon in 2005,
looking for support but finding little.
“I was on websites looking up depression. I
definitely had anxiety. I would cry all day,” Taormina said.
Then a former triathlon coach prodded Taormina,
saying, “This is your dream. Nobody owes you a thing. If you want
to sell your house, sell your house.”
She did, leaving Florida two years ago to spend
a year training at the US Olympic Center in Colorado before moving
back to Michigan, where she grew up.
Now Taormina is ready for the five-sport
challenge—shooting, fencing, swimming, running and horse riding.
This really will be her Olympic swan song.
“No other sport in my life ever again,” she
said. “I know there will be no desire. Picking up the sports is
what led to anxiety. It’s not an obsession. I wouldn’t be
competing now if it weren’t my goal to make a third Olympic team.
“It’s time for me to retire soon. I’m much
more interested in life and people and not so focused on my little
mission.”
-- AFP
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