Michelle Rohl is a four-time U.S. outdoor champion in the 20-kilometer race walk.
By DAN SWEENEY
Star-Gazette
MANSFIELD -- Although small in stature, she is a giant in the little-known sport of race walking.
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| Provided by JEFF SALVAGE/www.racewalk.com Michelle Rohl is a four-time U.S. outdoor champion in the 20-kilometer race walk. |
Three-time Olympian and Mansfield University assistant track and field coach Michelle Rohl is giving the Olympics one last shot. On Sunday morning, she'll compete in the 20-kilometer women's race walking final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials in Sacramento, Calif. The race starts at 7 a.m. Pacific time.
Rohl hopes to become the first woman in U.S. race walking history to compete in four Olympic Games. She finished 20th in 1992, 14th in 1996 and 17th in 2000.
"It's a one-shot deal," said her husband, Michael, head coach of track and field and cross country at Mansfield. "She either gets the Olympic "A" standard or doesn't go to Athens."
To make it to Athens, Rohl must finish in the top three Sunday and reach the Olympic "A" standard of 1 hour, 33 minutes, 30 seconds. If she doesn't meet the "A" time, she must win the event and meet the "B" standard of 1 hour, 38 minutes.
Her qualifying time for the Olympic trials was 1:34:30.31.
Rohl will have help Sunday from longtime friend and race walking competitor Joanne Dow. Dow is the only woman who has reached the "A" standard, and will be in control of the race.
"Since Joanne is the only one who's reached the "A" standard, she's going to be in the driver's seat," said Michael Rohl. "Michelle and Joanne have been friends for a long time, and they're going to work together to make sure Michelle gets the "A" standard."
Rohl, who is coming off a twisted fibula she suffered over the winter, expects this to be her most daunting Olympic qualifying challenge. But the 38-year-old mother of four likes where she stands heading into the race.
"I'd rather be the underdog," she said. "It's a lot easier going in when you're not favored to win. This is the first time I haven't been the No. 1 walker in the country (by Track and Field News) in a long time, but I'd rather have it that way because there's less stress and expectations."
Rohl was introduced to race walking almost by accident.
She attended the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, which has an internationally acclaimed race walking program. But Rohl went to the school on a running scholarship and began race walking only as rehabilitation for an injury to her Achilles' tendon.
"I never competed in college, but that's where I got my start," said Rohl, who met her husband at Parkside. "I started walking, made an Olympic team, then just kept going from there."
Like any sport, training is an important part of a race walker's performance. Rohl runs for two to three hours every night, lifts weights at least three times a week, and gets regular massage and chiropractic therapy. On top of training and competitions, she's also an assistant track and cross country coach and a full-time mother.
"Michelle is a very accepting and kind person," said Michael Rohl, who was one spot away from qualifying for the 2000 Sydney Games in race walking. "Over everything, she values being a mother most, including the Olympics. She agonizes (about) leaving the kids at night just to go for a run."
Mansfield senior co-captain Stephanie Cadwell runs cross country for Rohl and is benefiting from her coach's experience and generosity. In exchange for Cadwell helping take care of their four children, the Rohls are allowing her to stay at their home for the summer.
Cadwell knew Mansfield would be a perfect fit for her when she visited the school on a recruiting trip and first spoke with Rohl.
"She told me about her past success and how excited and serious she was about training," Cadwell said. "I knew if she was that serious about her own training that she would be that serious about coaching."
During practice, Rohl keeps the runners motivated by working out with them.
"She knows how we feel at the end of practice because she practices with us," Cadwell said. "She's always pushing us and telling us not to get down on ourselves and just as long as we've done our best, we have nothing to be down about."
Rohl said making her first Olympic team when no one believed she could is her most memorable moment as a race walker. But she said one of the great joys of her career was representing her country on home soil at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
"The best way to describe the feeling is like a little kid at Christmas time; you're so excited," she said. "Then it finally comes and it's over so quickly.
"But it was great for my friends and family to see me compete. Because of the cost, the chance to travel to the Olympics is very prohibitive. Then to look up there and see everyone cheering, dressed in red, white and blue, is great."
Rohl has been battling nagging injuries throughout the year but has received treatment from chiropractors and massage therapists since arriving in Sacramento for the trials.
"She's almost repaired 100 percent," Michael Rohl said. "A few weeks ago we weren't sure how she would be feeling because she was so banged up."
Regardless of Sunday's outcome, Rohl will retire from race walking after this year.
"My body has had enough," she said.