Tiny, tawny Michelle Mitchell nailed down her second spot on the U.S. Olympic team with a superb final dive Saturday night that won the women`s platform trials.
She had slipped behind lissome Wendy Lian Williams on the fourth of eight dives when Williams uncorked a spectacular reverse 1/2 somersault with 1 1/2 twists to earn a pair of perfect 10s.
But Williams, who earned the other trip to Seoul, could not hang onto first place.
A shaky seventh dive left her in the lead by only a half point. Then, when her final dive had a sloppy finish, Mitchell got the calming word from coach Ron O`Brien ”to just do your basic forward 3 1/2.”
That meant to relax and let fly. She whispered a prayer and did just that.
For Mitchell, 26, a silver medalist in 1984, the victory brought her from the brink of disaster. She had undergone a second shoulder surgery last September, had to scratch from the indoor championships with a sinus infection, and then mysteriously lost confidence on three of her bread-and-butter dives.
”Sometimes that happens and you have to piece yourself together,”
O`Brien said. Mitchell spent more than 100 sessions with a sports psychologist, changed one of her major dives to one of less difficulty, and gradually regained form.
”But if she hadn`t made that change, she wouldn`t have made this team,” O`Brien said.
Mitchell finished with a two-day total of 913.68, less than seven points ahead of Williams with 906.87. In third place, with a spectacular performance, was ex-Olympian and former world champ Wendy Wyland at 871.74.
Wyland, who had risen from fifth place, was left in tears by her near-miss. Under the old format of starting fresh on the final night, she would have tied Mitchell and placed ahead of Williams to win a berth to Seoul.
Also out of luck was Mary Fischbach, who missed a springboard berth by .87 of a point and was a close third entering the final platform round. She clearly had lost her edge, however, and settled for a distant fourth.
Mitchell, 26, of Phoenix, said her comeback compares to that of Wyland, who also went through shoulder surgeries.
”It`s a shame that we don`t take three divers, because Wendy Wyland will be at home and she could have medaled, too,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said she had come here thinking she might be making her final performances at the trials.
”I think having peaked at this point and knowing that there`s people at home who would give anything to be in your shoes makes you feel that much better,” she said. ”When the Olympics are over, this bathing suit is going in the corner. My shoulders can`t take it and there comes a point in everyone`s career where you`ve just got to bow out and I was hoping it wouldn`t be tonight.”
