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Medal Makes It All Worth It

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A Tribune wire report

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 23, 2008

BEIJING - After the BMX cycling competition ended, Jill Kintner lingered, signing T-shirts and taking pictures and playing with the bronze medal hanging from her neck. It was as if she did not want to leave.

As Jan Kintner wrapped both arms around her daughter, their bodies shook as if on vibrate. Both knew what went into this moment.

"Jill was our most inspiring athlete, just because of what she's gone through," said Mike King, USA Cycling's director of BMX. "For her to medal is just as priceless as gold."

This was BMX cycling's Olympic introduction, and those who tuned in during prime time witnessed U.S. riders capture three of the six medals. None went through as much as Kintner to make it here. She had quit BMX six years ago, only to return after USA Cycling requested that she try for the Olympics, only to tear the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. She has postponed major reconstructive surgery until the fall, but had minor surgery to clean out the knee. She wore a red, white and blue-striped brace during competition.

Kintner knows that it sounds cheesy, but she felt her father with her, always. He died from heart failure in 2006 at 62. He was her wingman. He followed her around the world, watching her conquer different disciplines on different bikes.
Strange things happened along the way. Stars aligning is the best way Jan Kintner can describe it. Her daughter returned to BMX in just enough time to build a sizable points lead before the injury. She returned from the injury in time to beat her closest Olympic competitor by a single point after the final qualifier.

In China, she wrote "dad" on her glove and kissed it before each race. She rode bike No. 33. Each time during the semifinals, she finished third. She was assigned the third lane before the final race. And despite trailing almost the entire course, despite falling to last at one point, she avoided three crashes to finish in third place.

"I can't explain it," said Kintner, who won three world mountain bike championships before returning. "The Olympic medal is on a larger scale than anything else. This means more than any of my medals from the past combined. This is awesome."

U.S. Boxing Team Posts Poorest Finish

The poorest performance by a U.S. boxing team since the sport's Olympic debut in 1896 came to an end Friday when heavyweight Deontay Wilder dropped a 7-1 decision to Italy's Clemente Russo.

Wilder's automatic bronze for reaching the semifinals will be the Americans' only boxing medal of these Games.

Not since the 1948 London Olympics has a U.S. boxing team came away with a single medal. But at least in that one, the medal that welterweight Horace Herring took was silver. It is the first time in 112 years of the modern Olympics that no American boxer has done better than a bronze.

Blonska Stripped Of Heptathlon Silver

Lyudmila Blonska was stripped of her heptathlon silver medal Friday, the highest-profile athlete kicked out of the Games so far for doping.

The International Olympic Committee said Blonska tested positive for the steroid methyltestosterone after finishing second in the heptathlon last Saturday behind teammate Nataliia Dobrynska.

The IOC also has asked the International Association of Athletics Federations to adjust the heptathlon results and consider further sanctions against Blonska.

American Hyleas Fountain is in line to take the silver, with Russia's Tatiana Chernova moving from fourth to bronze.

Phelps To Write Book Titled 'Built To Succeed'

NEW YORK - Olympic superstar Michael Phelps will write a book telling the story behind his historic eight gold medal swims just in time for the holiday season, Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced Friday.

In "Built to Succeed," Phelps will also cover his philosophy on training and competition, as well as his life being raised by a single mother and coping with an attention-deficit disorder, the publisher said.

The book is scheduled to be released in December.

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