Issue Date: August 24, 2003

In this article: Swimmer Natalie Coughlin Fencer Iris Zimmerman Softball pitcher Jennie Finch Talking with Jackie Joyner-Kersee & Marion Jones (Full Web version)

2004 OLYMPIC PREVIEW

American Women: Why they will rule

Men may draw larger salaries, more media play and bigger endorsements, but USA WEEKEND Magazine explains why our female competitors hold so much promise for Athens.

By Scott Gummer

Click on links For more interview highlights, visit us at usaweekend.com.

The Olympic gender barrier was broken long ago. Women are no longer a novelty -- they are a force. Next year in Athens, there could even be more female competitors than men, which would be an Olympic first. Women have never been closer to proving they can compete at a level of strength, stamina and speed once reserved only for men, says Stanford University women's swimming coach Richard Quick, a five-time Olympic coach. "The great female athlete is every bit the athlete as the great male athlete -- in any sport," he says.

A year away from the 2004 Summer Games, we decided to take a closer look at some American women who hope to stand on the podium at the birthplace of the Olympics. Since they were first invited to participate at the 1900 Paris Games, women have made tremendous strides. The last decade alone produced female American gold medal teams in soccer, softball and basketball, as well as multi-medalists Marion Jones, Shannon Miller, Dara

Torres and Jenny Thompson, whose 10 medals, including eight gold, make her America's most decorated female Olympian. Between 1980 and 2000, the number of male Olympians rose by 60%, while the number of female competitors soared 270%. During that same period, the number of sports women competed in more than doubled (from 12 in 1980 to 25 in 2000). And in 2000, women competed for the first time in the same number of team events as men; in Athens, women will compete in wrestling for the first time, as well as the saber event of fencing.

While women and men will compete together in 10 events (equestrian events and yachting are two) in Athens, Olympic officials don't envision co-gender contests in major sports such as swimming or track any time soon. "The trend has been toward the creation of more women's events rather than [co-gender] events," says Wayne Wilson of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, where he tracks Olympic sporting trends. What's that mean for female athletes?

"Women's sport, like men's, has become increasingly professional," Wilson says. "The training has become more scientific and systematic. And the rewards for being successful have increased. As a result, women are performing at higher levels than ever before."

Here, we profile a trio of Olympic hopefuls who aspire to make their mark in Olympic history when the games kick off Aug. 13, 2004. We also speak with two American women who already have: Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Marion Jones. They represent America's best.

Swimmer NATALIE COUGHLIN
Maximizing opportunities unavailable to women a generation ago

Like many college students, Natalie Coughlin (COG-lin), who turns 21 this weekend, is decidedly undecided about her future. The standout swimmer, a psychology major who is heading into her senior year at the University of California at Berkeley, doesn't want to limit her opportunities. Luckily, she is rich in the most precious of commodities: talent. A nine-time NCAA champ (in five events), Coughlin holds five world records.

Coming out of Carondelet High School in Concord, Calif., Coughlin had a short list of schools she wanted to attend. "I only wanted to go to Cal, Stanford or UCLA," she says. Straight A's could have earned her an academic scholarship almost anywhere, but Coughlin was able to call the shots and get a full four-year athletic scholarship to Berkeley, thanks to astounding achievements in the pool, including becoming the first swimmer in history to qualify for U.S. Nationals in every distance and every stroke (14 events total), at age 15.

Consider: Olympic gold was not enough for swimmer Donna De Varona to get a scholarship to college when she captured two gold medals at the 1964 Olympics. Athletic scholarships for women didn't exist then. Since the adoption in 1972 of Title IX, which enforces gender equity in sports programs and activities, thousands of female athletes have benefited both academically and athletically. The NCAA today allots 8,000-plus women's teams scholarships a year, and athletes like Coughlin benefit.

"Without the scholarship, I definitely would not be swimming as well as I am," she says, "and I might not be swimming at all." Finances certainly were a consideration. Both her parents worked to put their two daughters through private school. When Coughlin's abilities in the pool became apparent, she says, "it made me feel good to know my parents would not have to pay for my college."

Coughlin is rewriting the record books. In 2002 alone, the three-time NCAA swimmer of the year broke five college, 12 U.S. and four world records and became the first woman to break the elusive one-minute barrier in the 100-meter backstroke -- twice in two weeks. "She is the most versatile and greatest swimmer I have [seen] in all the years of my coaching, and she has a chance of being very exciting in the Olympic Games," Stanford coach Quick says.

A caveat: Injury or illness always threaten Olympic careers. A shoulder injury kept Coughlin from qualifying for the 2000 Olympics. And at last month's world championships in Barcelona, even though Coughlin captured first place in an early relay, a high fever hurt her performance for the rest of the event. Coaches saw that as a temporary setback. Next summer, Coughlin may well have multiple Olympic medals to show for her efforts. Not to mention a college diploma. "I started [swimming] at age 6, stuck with it, put in the work, and it has paid off," she says.

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Fencer IRIS ZIMMERMAN
Scaling heights no American athlete -- male or female -- has reached before

The spotlight shines on Olympic athletes every four years, and fencing gets far less attention than high-profile events like track and field. But Iris Zimmerman, 22, is focused on clearing that invisible hurdle.

In 2000, the American women's team placed a promising fourth overall; Zimmerman was 11th in the individual foil competition. Her most vivid memory, however, is of walking into the opening ceremonies. "It's not very often fencers hear a stadium full of cheers," she says.

Although three U.S. men have earned Olympic fencing medals (one silver, two bronze), the last in 1984, women have yet to do so.

"We feel a barrier, having never won," Zimmerman says on behalf of her fellow female fencers.

Next year, she hopes to land in the top 3. To work toward that goal, the Rochester, N.Y., native took a year-long sabbatical from Stanford University and moved to Manhattan to train. At press time, she was the nation's No. 1 foil competitor.

Zimmerman is familiar with clearing hurdles: She was the first American fencer, male or female, to earn a gold world championship medal (the under-17 title in 1995; since then she has won two additional golds, a silver and a bronze). For now, her sights are focused squarely on Athens. "Reaching the medal stand would prove a significant break in thought," she says.

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Softball pitcher JENNIE FINCH
Closing the ability gap between the sexes

American women have done especially well in team sports new to the Olympic program. When women's softball was added in the 1996 Atlanta Games, U.S. women won gold. In 2000, they took gold again. Next year, all eyes will be on the American team, specifically at the pitcher's mound, where 22-year-old Jennie Finch hopes to dominate.

The recent University of Arizona grad's lethal five-pitch repertoire and ability to hurl 70 mph heat -- equivalent to more than 90 mph in baseball -- helped Finch rack up an NCAA record 60 consecutive wins, back-to-back honors as the nation's top collegiate female softball player and the admiration of major-league -- read: male -- players like the Texas Rangers' Alex Rodriguez. Her pitching, he has said, "would be a challenge for anybody [to hit], even a big-league player."

Aside from her phenomenal talents on the diamond, the lion's share of attention she has received this year came after ESPN .com named the 6-foot blonde the "Hottest Female Athlete of 2003," dethroning tennis star Anna Kournikova. Finch, who dreams of playing major-league baseball, takes it in stride. "People write, 'I never watched softball, and now I do,' " she says with a laugh and a roll of her eyes. "Anything we can do to get people turned on to the sport!"

Finch sees a new era in women's athletics, and her ability to revel in both her femininity and her athleticism is a reflection of that. "Marketing focuses more on men's sports, and maybe the media does not look as hard for women's storylines," Finch says. That's why golfer Annika Sorenstam's recent foray onto the men's tour was "outstanding and admirable," Finch says.

Although USA Softball's Olympic roster won't be set until a few weeks before the 2004 Games, Finch hopes to be in Athens and continue to open eyes, both on and off the diamond. "The talent level is rising, and doors are opening," she says. "There are more opportunities for sponsorships and endorsements, for both women's sports and the players."

Scott Gummer is a senior writer for "Golf Magazine" and regular contributor to "Sports Illustrated" and "Vanity Fair". Additional reporting by Rosemarie Colombraro.

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Photograph by ERIC MILLETTE for USA WEEKEND