by Laurie Fruth
They worked 10-hour days in sticky, intense heat. They fought their way through maddening crowds of camera-toting tourists. They struggled to overcome the fear instilled by a senseless bombing. They gave heart and soul to jobs they knew would disappear after just a few short weeks.
And they wouldn't have missed it for the world.
It was, after all, the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
Several individuals from UNLV participated in the Games in a variety of capacities. UNLV Magazine interviewed three of them - alumna and former student athlete Lori Harrigan, academic adviser Vaune Kadlubek, and head volleyball coach Deitre Collins - to find out about their experiences there.
Though each had different responsibilities during the Games, they came away from their time there sharing a certain awe of the experience. And each had a different story to tell.
Lori Harrigan
One of the U.S. champions was softball player Lori Harrigan, who
brought home the ultimate prize - a gold medal. But for this two-time
All-American softball pitcher, simply competing in the Games was more
than she had dared to dream.
She had already reaped many rewards from her athletic talent, including a full athletic scholarship to UNLV in 1988, national recognition in the 1990 and 1991 College World Series, and wide acclaim as a member of the National Women's Softball Team. But her Olympic aspirations didn't take hold until 1991 when the Olympic Organizing Committee decided to include women's softball as a medal event.
The decision heralded the start of an arduous four-year tryout period for Harrigan and the 19 other women who would ultimately comprise the U.S. Women's Softball Team.
"The selection committee followed us all four years, keeping a book on everything we did. If I had a bad day or if my attitude wasn't good one day, all that went down in their book. It was really stressful. After I made the team, most of the stress was gone."
Normally an active person, Harrigan curtailed all athletic activities except softball during the tryout period to minimize the possibility of injury. Each year she tried out for and was selected to play on the National Team, which she believes strongly enhanced her chances of her going to the Olympics.
"If you didn't make the National Team, you had to find a way to work yourself back into the loop. It wasn't impossible, but it was more difficult," Harrigan says.
Once the Olympic team had been assembled, preparations for the Games began in earnest. Harrigan and her teammates traveled to Columbus, Ga., where they lived for four months prior to the Games.
"We needed to get adjusted to the heat and the humidity in Georgia," Harrigan explains. "But it was tough being away for so long. My employer [Rod Yanke, CEO of Enviro-Tech International] was very supportive. He continued to pay my salary while I was away. And my boyfriend, John Johnson, is a musician so he understood my crazy schedule. But it was still tough. I only saw John once in four months."
Thoughts of home dissipated once the Games began. Harrigan and her teammates played nearly every day of the two-week event with only one day off before the final game. But the hard work paid off when the United States captured the gold.
"It's hard to describe what it was like standing on the podium to
receive my medal," Harrigan said. "I felt so many emotions. My family and
I had had a falling out prior to the Games, so they weren't there to see
me get my medal. That was disappointing. My boyfriend couldn't afford to
fly to Georgia, and I was sad about that. At the same time, I had just
won a gold medal in the Olympics. It was very emotional."
Harrigan's return to Las Vegas prompted a flurry of media attention.
"The questions I was asked most often in interviews were about my hair, my makeup, and my red, manicured nails. Everyone thought that I was making a statement about female athletes being feminine. But this is just me. I like to wear makeup and have my hair nicely fixed."
Statement or not, Harrigan and her teammates have become role models for a generation of young girls who aspire to become elite athletes. But Harrigan is quick to acknowledge the contributions of those who went before her.
"Those who go before pave the way for those who are coming up," Harrigan says. "I'm just part of that process now."
In the months following the Olympics, Harrigan's life returned to normal. She continues to coordinate seminars for motivational speakers and is beginning to develop her own talents as a speaker.
"I was recently asked to speak before a group of 2,000 people, and I was scared to death. I can pitch before 10,000 people, and it doesn't bother me a bit. But speaking in front of an audience terrifies me."
Her strong belief in the message of her speech - "never give up" - brought her through the experience. "I consider that to be my personal motto," Harrigan says.
Eventually, Harrigan hopes to open a school for girls interested in athletics. But her immediate goal is to continue playing on the National Team while training for the next Summer Games in the year 2000.
Vaune Kadlubek
UNLV academic adviser Vaune Kadlubek is also making plans for the Games in the year 2000, but not as a player. The former All-American women's water poloist hopes to become the head coach for the first women's water polo team in the history of the Olympics.
"I truly believe that the time has come for women's water polo to be included, but the decision won't be made until sometime later this year. I think our chances are good because we're not asking for a new sport. Men's water polo has been a medal event since 1904. Women's water polo is the only counterpart sport that is not represented. It's time to break that barrier."
Kadlubek knows all about breaking barriers. While in high school in Santa Barbara, Calif., Kadlubek became the first girl in the country to play on a boy's water polo team.
"I was a great offensive weapon," she explains. "The boys on the
opposing team didn't know how to guard me, so they left me alone."
Kadlubek's talents and enthusiasm for the game eventually led to a position on the first U.S. Women's Water Polo Team in 1979. Thousands of miles and three world championships later, she was named head coach of the Women's National Water Polo Team in 1995.
"1996 was my last chance to be included in the Olympics as an athlete," Kadlubek says. "But I'm not discouraged. I had three goals in life: to play water polo, to coach water polo and - when I'm too old to do either of those - to wheel my chair to the side of the pool to watch water polo."
Watching water polo from the side of the pool is exactly what Kadlubek got to do at the 1996 Games. Hired as a spotter for the men's team, Kadlubek worked on the pool deck identifying players and clarifying calls for the television production crew.
Aside from some cursory instruction on television jargon and camera positions prior to the start of the Games, Kadlubek required little preparation for the job. However, she admits she was unprepared for the toll the hot, humid weather would take.
"I must have had five bottles of water a day," she says. "Our venue was outside, so we were in the heat every day from nine in the morning to 10 in the evening. But tough as it was for those of us on the deck, it was even harder on our dedicated fans who sat in the heat for hours watching the matches. "
Although she wouldn't have dreamed of missing the experience, she admits that she was ready to return home to resume her duties as academic adviser to UNLV student athletes.
"I'll always be involved with athletics. I'm now responsible for advising students in four sports: men and women's swimming, basketball, and softball. And I remind all my kids that they are fortunate to have a talent that lets them play a game they love. A lot of opportunities will come their way if they are willing to work hard."
Deitre Collins
Former Olympian and UNLV head volleyball coach Deitre Collins understands well the level of commitment needed to succeed as an elite athlete. A 1988 Olympian and a leading volleyball player both nationally and internationally, Collins has traveled the world playing the game she loves.
Her experience with the game and her knowledge of the players on the
1996 Olympic Volleyball Team made her the ideal candidate to serve as a
spotter for the volleyball events.
"My job basically was to serve as the eyes and ears for the NBC director, camera people, and producers who were covering the volleyball games," Collins explains.
She was employed by Atlantic Olympic Broadcasting, the organization that provided the television feed for countries covering the games.
"Usually, the camera people feed off of what the commentators say. However, in this case, they had to feed off of what I said. So I did the play by play. I had to know who was going to jump serve, who was going to make the kill [the shot that scores the point], which side the serve was going to be on, and so forth."
Collins worked long hours; she was often at the event from 9 a.m. to midnight with just a short break in the middle of the day.
"Having been to the Olympics as an athlete and then as a paid employee, I can definitely say that it is so much better being an athlete," she says with a laugh. "Athletes are taken care of. They don't have to deal with the crowds. They have people whose responsibility it is to get them where they need to be. All they have to do is show up and perform."
The little free time Collins did have, she spent with her friends on the team - a bittersweet experience for the recently retired Collins.
"It was difficult. These were people who I had played with, and they were still on the team. I didn't make the 1992 Olympic team, but I played with these women from '92 until '94 when I retired."
Collin's favorite memory of the Olympics was the first night that the women's basketball team played. "The crowd was huge. I got goose bumps just being there. To hear that crowd roar was very exciting."
Aside from that game and the long hours, what Collins remembers most
about the 1996 games was the security. Because she was housed in the same
hotel as the Dream Team, she had gotten accustomed to the intense
security surrounding the hotel. But the bombing at Centennial Park was a
wake-up call to all involved in the Olympics, as well as to the rest of
the country.
"When I played in France, there was a lot of violent activity in Saudi Arabia and that felt close. I remember thinking, 'I can't wait to get back to the United States where I'll be safe.' But after the bombing, I wondered if it was safe anywhere anymore."
The bombing, the early defeat of the U.S. Volleyball Team, and the long hours all caught up with Collins the last week of the Games.
"I had fun watching the games, and I learned something new, but I was anxious to get back to UNLV. As much as I've been involved with volleyball as a player, to be a head coach and to be building my own team was more important to me this past summer than being at the Olympics."
"When you have done something so thrilling for a long period of time and then that comes to an end, you have to find what to do next. A head coach position is the perfect opportunity for me at this time in my life, and I truly believe I can make a contribution here."
