Unexpected return

Inspired by Strug, D'Andrea drafts own Olympic story

Posted: Mon February 2, 1998 at 8:30 PM ET

D'Andrea was seriously injured in a 1996 car accident but has recovered to qualify to skate three distances in Nagano -- the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters   AP

NAGANO, Japan (AP) -- The latest comeback for Moira D'Andrea began when she was sitting on her couch in the summer of 1996, watching the Atlanta Olympics on television.

Like the rest of the world, she looked on in amazement as Kerri Strug balanced on one leg, her badly torn left ankle up in the air, after nailing the vault that helped clinch a gymnastics gold medal for the United States.

"Things like that really kind of stay in your head," said D'Andrea, who will be making her second Olympic appearance in speed skating at the Nagano Games. "It makes you really believe that anything is possible. I had a whole year to prepare. She had only a minute."

At that moment, D'Andrea decided it was time to get back on her feet. A couple of months earlier, while riding her bicycle on a training run in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield, she slammed into a car that was making a left-handed turn.

D'Andrea smashed through the windshield and wound up fracturing her pelvis in three places, severing her left triceps in two spots and suffering a broken elbow for good measure. It seemed her dream of returning to the Olympics in Japan was finished.

"Some people have nagging little knee problems that keep them from ever competing again," she said. "For sure, I was worried that I would never be quite right."

Inspired by Strug's courageous vault, D'Andrea decided the very next day to make the 16-hour drive from Milwaukee to Atlanta with a friend, even though they didn't have tickets or a place to stay.

They wound up at the mountain biking and track cycling events, inspiring D'Andrea to continue pursuing her own Olympic dreams.

"I had not even exercised [since the accident]," she said. "Standing up all day at the mountain biking was huge for me. I walked the course a little bit and was on my feet for seven hours that day. That was a good day. It gave me a lot of confidence."

D'Andrea surprised everyone by returning to competition last season. The turning point came in January 1997, when she finished seventh against a world-class field in Calgary.

"To even skate last year was remarkable," said Guy Thibault, the U.S. sprint coach. "And she not only skated, she had good results, too."

D'Andrea, who also competed at the 1992 Albertville Games, completed her comeback by qualifying to skate three distances in Nagano -- 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters. She's not considered a medal contender, but just being at the Olympics will be reward enough.

"She's a fighter," Thibault said. "She's someone who won't accept medium results knowing that she can do better. She's always felt like she never achieved her goals. She could never skate to her potential due to the car accident and whatever."

The "whatever" Thibault is referring to is all the other misfortune that has plagued this 29-year-old native of Saratoga Springs, New York.

D'Andrea was involved in another serious car crash in 1991, suffering a concussion, bruised kidney and internal bleeding, but managed to qualify for the Olympics the following year, finishing 32nd in the 1,000.

She failed to qualify for the '94 Lillehammer Games and then was diagnosed with hepatitis A, which causes fatigue and made it impossible for her to train for months. In fact, that fateful training ride in 1996 was her first since contracting the virus.

"This is really the first season that she's been able to complete without any major illnesses or accidents," Thibault said. "She's doing the best skating of her life."

D'Andrea doesn't have to worry about colliding with any more cars on her training rides, either.

"I stick to the trails now," she said with a smile. "I'm a mountain biker."