Ivy Olympian Misses Medal, Finds Glory of Olympics
Courtesy of the Steamboat Pilot & Today
Steamboat Springs, Colo. — It’s been said that the worst place you can finish in an Olympic event is fourth. That’s an experience Steamboat Springs Olympian Anne Kakela knows firsthand.
In 1996, she was part of the highly favored U.S. women’s rowing team that was expected to take the gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. The team advanced to the finals, but the week ended in disappointment for the Americans, who finished fourth behind the gold-medal-winning Romania, silver medalist Canada and third-place Belarus.
“We didn’t race well the whole week,” the Dartmouth College (’92) alum recalled recently. “I’m not sure what went wrong. We could chalk it up to nerves, or some of the other things that were going on in the boat that I wasn’t aware of until years later. But we never hit our groove and that hurt our confidence.”
The American team had dominated international competition leading up to the Olympic Games and expected to get a tough race out of the normally strong team from Romania, but there was no question the squad expected to medal. Kakela said getting beat by the Canadians and Belarus stung for years after the race.
“We had beaten both of those teams in the past. The Canadians were notorious for performing well at the Olympics, but the team from Belarus came out of nowhere, and I think that kind of stuck with us.”
Looking back on the games, Kakela said she prefers to focus on the positives of her Olympic appearance. She still remembers the joy she felt as she walked into the 85,000-seat Centennial Olympic Stadium — later converted into Turner Field — for the opening ceremonies. She also said she enjoyed watching several of the other events, including Michael Johnson’s world-record performance in the 200-meter dash.
“When I think about the racing, it’s still frustrating,” Kakela said. “But the opening ceremonies were absolutely incredible. I’ll never forget the sound of the crowd — it was like a dream come true.”
Kakela’s complete story can be found at the Steamboat Pilot & Today.
