RELEASE DATE: 7/20/04

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MANSFIELD’S MICHELLE ROHL QUEST FOR FOURTH OLYMPIC BERTH ENDS 1,000 METERS SHORT – ROHL RECEIVES RED CARD 1,000 YARDS FROM FINISH LINE

SACRAMENTO, CA – Mansfield University assistant track and field coach Michelle Rohl saw her bid for a fourth Olympic berth come to a heart-breaking end when she received a disqualifying red card 1,000 meters shy of the finish line in the 20,000 meter Women’s Racewalk at the U.S Olympic Team Trials in Sacramento, CA Sunday morning.

“I’m disappointed it ended this way,” Rohl said shortly after the race ended. “Nobody wants their career to end on a red card, but it’s been a great career and it’s hard to complain when you have already competed in three Olympic Games.”

Rohl was in second place and on pace to hit the qualifying Olympic “A” standard of 1 hour, 33 minutes, 30 seconds to earn her fourth berth on the U.S Olympic Team when she received her disqualifying red card.

Racewalking is a very technical sport with judges staged throughout the track to ensure form. One of the many form requirements is that one foot must be in contact with the ground at all times.

“It’s just so ironic,” said Rohl’s husband Michael. “Michelle hasn’t gotten a red card in eight years. She was where she needed to be, but in the end her leg injury did her in.”

Rohl, a 38-year-old mother of four, has been hampered this season after twisting a fibula during training this winter. In the end, the injury forced her to overcompensate and break form.

Rohl finished 20^th in the 20,000 meter racewalk at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, 14^th in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and 17^th at the 2000 Sydney Games. She is a five-time U.S. Indoor champion and four-time U.S. Outdoor champion. Rohl won a Silver Medal at the 1995 Pan-American Games. She has won 22 National Titles and holds 11 U.S. Racewalking National Records.