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Sidelined U.S. women's captain Overbeck has Grave's Disease
Posted: Sunday April 09, 2000 07:05 PM
CHICAGO (AP) -- Carla Overbeck, the captain of the U.S. women's soccer team, is being treated for Graves' disease, a condition caused by an overactive thyroid gland. Overbeck is expected to make a full recovery and be available for the Olympic team, which has yet to be selected for September's Sydney Games. "For the last few months I really haven't been feeling well, especially during training," said Overbeck, who captained the Americans to the gold medal in the 1996 Olympics and to the 1999 Women's World Cup title. "Fortunately, I now know why I was having trouble and we are taking the measures to correct the problems." Another world-class athlete, sprinter Gail Devers, overcame Graves' disease to win Olympic gold medals in 1992 and 1996. "My goal is to get her back to top performance as soon as possible," said Dr. Ann Brown, an endocrinologist at Duke University, where Overbeck is an assistant women's soccer coach. "I'm impressed with how few symptoms she showed, except when she was at peak performance. Since she has so few symptoms at rest, I'm optimistic for a very rapid recovery. Her physical performance will not suffer in any way when this is fully treated." Overbeck has played 161 times for the national team since her debut in 1988 and is considered one of the world's best defenders. "I told Carla that she did not have anything to prove to me," said U.S. coach April Heinrichs, who preceded Overbeck as captain of the national team and played alongside her on the 1991 Women's World Cup championship team. "I know that when she is healthy, she is one of the fittest players on this team. She continues to be a great leader and motivator. "She's a world class player and I know that when she gets this condition under control, that she will be a consistent figure in our preparations as we move toward the Olympics."
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