KIMIKO
HIRAI SOLDATI
OFFICIAL SITE
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OFFICIAL SITE |
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Toughness comes with age Soldati, 30, clinches Olympic berth with her final dive
By David Woods June 13, 2004
ST. PETERS, Mo. -- Diving is a blend of acrobatics and aesthetics. For Kimiko Hirai Soldati, the sport became one of endurance. Yet how much was she supposed to endure? When she was in high school, her mother died. She underwent four surgeries on her shoulder and one on her knee. She missed a dive Saturday just as she seemed sure, at age 30, of a berth in the Athens Olympics. "You've got to be mentally tough in this game and in this sport," she said. If she isn't, no one is. Soldati, once an NCAA champion for Indiana University, became the 3-meter springboard champ at the Olympic Trials. Her Japanese father, Gary Hirai, who was born in an Idaho internment camp, will watch his daughter represent the United States in Greece. This was Soldati's last realistic chance to make an Olympic team. Maybe ever. In a contest decided on the last of five dives, the moment was more tense for husband, family and friends than for her. She didn't know the scores. "Sure, we all up in the stands knew what was going on," said husband Adam Soldati, a former IU diver and coach. "It was fun, but tough to watch, that last one." Hit the dive, and Soldati was in. Miss it, even by a little, and she was out. She scored 8s on a reverse 21/2 somersault in pike position. It was 4s and 4.5s on her second dive that imperiled her Olympic hopes. "I didn't look at it as, 'Oh my gosh, this is my last dive. I have to hit this to make an Olympic team,' " she said. "It was, 'Oh cool, I'm going to hit this and I'm going to make an Olympic team.' " Soldati finished with 884.70 points. Rachelle Kunkel was second with 874.38, and 2000 Olympian Michelle Davison was third with 870.60. If Soldati had scored 6s, she would have dropped from first to third. Top two go to Athens. As she prepared, Soldati listened to the song "Yeah!" by Usher. The 5-1, 112-pound diver said she felt "like King Kong" on the springboard. "I was juiced today," said. Later, as she spoke at a news conference, she became choked up as she recounted her career. The former gymnast didn't get on a 3-meter board until she was 18. She transferred from Colorado State to Indiana, where she was coached by Jeff Huber. She won her NCAA title on 1-meter in 1996 and graduated first from IU's school of Health and Physical Education and Recreation. The Soldatis lived with family friends for a year after moving to Texas in December 2000. They relocated so Kimiko could work out at USA Diving's training center at The Woodlands, a Houston suburb. "I will not, and I can't, look back on my career and have a regret," Soldati said, "because I've followed my heart on every decision I've made." She followed two other female divers out of IU onto the Olympic team. Sara Hildebrand and Cassandra Cardinell, who made it in synchronized platform, finished fifth and seventh on 3-meter, respectively. Purdue's Carrie McCambridge, a Big Ten Diver of the Year, was 12th. |
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