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A Search
For Family
U.S. race walker Curt Clausen finished 50th in the 20-kilometer event yesterday, but his real race begins now. Because of the Olympics, Clausen had taken a break from his two-year search to find the couple that put him up for adoption soon after his birth in Trenton, N.J., in 1967. That search, handled through Catholic Relief Charities (CRC), has already yielded a biological sister, Lisa Carter, who was also put up for adoption. Carter was among 40 teary-eyed friends and family members applauding for Clausen at the finish line. CRC provided him with "nonidentifying information" about his parents but will not be more specific. He knows, for example, that his biological father studied physics, played football and was allergic to tomatoes, and he knows that his birth mother originally named him Paul. "Maybe I was named for Paul McCartney," says Clausen. "He was big then." After being hooked up by CRC, Clausen and his sister met for the first time in May 1995 and discovered one odd similarity. "Curt has three bins in his kitchen—for plastic, for paper, for other things," says Carter. "And my friends tease me because I'll hold a can all day so I can recycle it. What are the chances there are two maniac recyclers who are long-lost brother and sister?" Clausen says he has no regrets about his childhood with his adoptive mother, Virginia, and certainly none about his Olympic experience. "But finding my biological parents has always been in the back of my mind," he says. If you have any information for him, Clausen would appreciate a call. He'll run—not walk—to get it. Hakeem Olajuwon dropped by the men's U.S.-Russia team handball game on Thursday night at the World Congress Center, and, sadly, he must have felt right at home. With relentlessly jingoistic announcer Mike Noble bellowing over the P.A. system for the crowd to "Pump it up" and "Make a little noise out there," and with such arena rock standards as Shout! and Great Balls of Fire blaring at excruciating volume at every break in the action, the ambience was far more NBA than Olympic. In fact, it bordered on monster truck. The same sonic assault is occurring at other venues, where, to the pounding beat of apoplexy-inducing tunes like Y.M.C.A., some announcers seem more intent on hyping the event than on providing information. IOC rules quite rightly prohibit advertising banners in venues, mercifully sparing spectators the signage overload that must be endured in pro arenas—and, more important, preserving the Olympic tone. And they should pump down the volume as well.
Australian Michele Timms To fair-dinkum go is Australian for "go flat-out." Michele Timms, a buzz-cut, bottle-blond 5'4" point guard, is the engine that makes the Aussie women's basketball team fair-dinkum go. The unitard-clad Aussies are 3-0 entering tonight's game against the U.S. If the team brings home a gold or a silver, Timms, 31 (above), plans to get the Olympic rings tattooed on a body hardened by years of playing Aussie Rules football with her six brothers. When asked if the Aussies were shy about their body-hugging unis, Timms said, "People don't laugh at them. People admire what's in them. But if you want to have a giggle, go ahead. I think you'll be on your own."
Ever since the opening ceremonies for yachting competitors in Savannah were squelched by a squall last Saturday—forcing Juan Antonio Samaranch and Billy Payne to huddle among commoners on a sheltered stage—the competition has been beset by postponements and roiling waters. Storms have interrupted all but one day of races. "I'm surprised they started a race in that weather," said U.S. sailor Courtenay Becker-Dey after capsizing in Thursday's second Europe class race. "Conditions like this mean there's a lot more luck involved." And danger. Several boats were flipped by Thursday's tempest, damaging sails and imperiling masts, which—in water no deeper than 15 feet—might have snapped against the floor of Wassaw Sound. With Monday's medal ceremonies in jeopardy of being delayed, organizers are feeling pressure to forge ahead through the storms. Yachters would do well to adopt the stoicism of Brazilian skipper Torben Grael. "You can't get too upset about it," he says. "That's just sailing."
A few days ago there was the plaintive complaint of Charles Barkley, whose "small" room at the Omni has been rendered painfully smaller "by all the stuff they're giving us." It turns out that's not the only burden being inflicted upon the Dream Team. Reggie Miller brings us up-to-date: "They [the media] make it look like we're staying at the Ritz-Carlton, when we're staying at a one-star hotel. The room service is terrible."
Britain's Steve Redgrave Britain's Steve Redgrave quit school at 16 and for years did construction work. Not the usual resume for a rower, especially not one who's trying to become the fifth Olympian to win gold in four straight Games. A victory in today's coxless pairs would seal Redgrave's spot at the pinnacle of a sport filled with private-school types who view him as what the Brits call a "thick git." He and Oxford-educated teammate Matthew Pinsent are favored today, and Redgrave, 34 (above, right), is clearly in peak form. Besides flinging iced irony at every chance—in one interview, he claimed not to understand precipitous because "my education isn't that good"—he also secured a British Olympic Association car for himself and Pinsent, a slick spot of handiwork from a blue-collar bloke in a blue-blood sport.
Carl Lewis—he of the short sprints and the long jumps—at least appreciates what a real distance is. At a press conference yesterday Lewis turned to U.S. marathoner Jenny Spangler and said, "Everywhere I run in town I see that blue line. You all are really going to run that far?" Cycling fanatic Wolfgang Puck, the renowned chef and part owner of Spago restaurants, has dispatched three chefs from his Las Vegas Spago to rustle up fare for the U.S. riders, who are staying at a Stone Mountain estate. So far the meals have earned rave reviews—nothing less than five rings—from team members. A recent repast included linguini with meat sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and a medley of asparagus, onions and peppers. Puck will cover the team's roughly $12,000 food bill, which the riders consider money well spent. "We have no leftovers," says coaching director Chris Carmichael. One of the most enthusiastic diners has been cyclist Erin Hartwell. "The food's so damn good I'll be 10 pounds heavier by the time I compete," Hartwell said early in the Games. Then he went out on Wednesday and earned a silver medal in the one-kilometer time trial. Pass the truffles.
New Zealand equestrian Blyth Tait wouldn't even have been in the individual three-day event had legendary countryman Mark Todd not withdrawn due to an injury to his horse (Olympic Daily, July 19). Yesterday, aboard 8-year-old Ready Teddy, the youngest, least experienced horse in the field, Tait won the gold. How did he explain his success as well as that of his team, which won the silver medal? "It's got to do with whatever they put in New Zealand beer," Tait said. |
Jon Clark
U.S. men's field hockey coach, on the surprisingly large crowds that have watched his team compete in Atlanta: "We usually are playing in front of three men and a dog, and the dog is there because one of the men is blind."
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SI Olympic Dailies
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