She's a Good Sport

"Pentathlon," she said, "has made me cry."

She, however, has had the opposite effect on the sport.

"The media attention for our sport [because of Taormina's presence] not only in North America but also worldwide will, I think, be enormous," Angela Ives, president of the Canadian Modern Pentathlon Association said in an e-mail from Budapest. "Pentathlon generally gets very little media attention on this continent. . . . I haven't known Sheila long but have been very impressed by her -- not only as an athlete but also as a person."

Said USOC chief executive Jim Scherr in a statement: "Qualifying for the Olympic Games in one sport is difficult enough. But to do so in three sports -- and be internationally competitive in all three -- is a remarkable accomplishment."

In what will be an almost comic pairing during the lead-up to the Games, Taormina will be hanging out with teammate Margaux Isaksen, who at 16 will be one of the U.S. squad's youngest members. At 39, Taormina will be one of the oldest. Taormina noted that her brother joked that the pentathlon team is full of hormones, with one woman going through menopause and the other puberty.

"I'm tired and old and cranky, and she's all bright and bubbly," Taormina said. "Her mother's more my age. She is my age, actually."

(Isaksen's mother, Kathleen West, said that wasn't quite accurate but declined to reveal the extent to which Taormina had erred.)

NBC Universal spokesman Mike McCarley said the network planned more coverage of modern pentathlon than previously, with the entire competition streamed live for the first time on nbcolympics.com and at least one hour shown on cable television (the same as in 2004). The network, he noted, would respond to exceptional stories as they evolve during the Games, meaning Taormina could end up as part of the prime-time broadcast depending on how her medal quest unfolded.

That, of course, remains a big question. She said her body moves more slowly than it used to. Her muscles are tighter. She underwent her first surgery a few months ago. She said the idea that she would continue competing after these Games is laughable.

But in just three years she became the top-ranked U.S. woman in her sport.

Ranked ninth overall in the World Cup standings this spring after competitions in Cairo; Mexico City; Millfield, England; Madrid; and Kladno, Czech Republic, Taormina offers intriguing possibilities. With her strong background in swimming and running, she is always a candidate to land on a medal stand. But with her inexperience in shooting, fencing and, in particular show jumping, she is also a candidate to land, literally, on her derriere. At the World Cup in Madrid, a horrific ride on an uncooperative horse left her with zero points in the equestrian segment of competition.

"I will not put that pressure on myself," Taormina said about winning a medal. "There's been too much pressure to make the team. . . . [I hope people say] she had enough guts to go for this and put herself on the line."