KIMIKO
HIRAI SOLDATI
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Twinge of disappointment Longmont native Soldati had high hopes; in 3-meter springboard qualifier, they sank By Clay Latimer,
Rocky Mountain News ATHENS - Returning to the Olympic Village six days ago, Kimiko Soldati hurried to her dorm room, clicked on her laptop and began downloading her worst fears into an e-mail. "I've been off for a week, my shoulder has hurt the worst it has ever hurt, I am in a tough atmosphere at the biggest meet of my life, and I was hoping to feel extremely confident and sure of myself," she wrote to friends. "Well, I don't." Soldati could see it coming. A 12-year journey marked by pain ended in pain Wednesday when the 30-year-old Longmont native failed to qualify for the semifinal round in women's 3-meter springboard diving. Soldati finished 21st, three spots behind the 18th, and final, qualifier. Soldati's performances often have been overshadowed by overwhelming problems: four shoulder operations; two knee operations; the death of her mother, Judy, at 40 from breast cancer; and her own battle with depression and an eating disorder. "A lot of people probably say, 'Why does she keep going on?' But it's who I am. It's my story." Despite the setbacks, Soldati won the 2002 U.S. National Championship in the 3-meter springboard, the 2002 World Cup silver medal in 10-meter platform and the Women's All-Around Award at the 2001 Indoor Nationals. She also was named 2002 U.S. Diver of the Year. In addition, she carried the U.S. flag during the Opening Ceremonies at the 2001 Worlds in Fukuoka, Japan, a tribute to her father, Gary Hirai. Silence about the past Born in an internment camp in Hunt, Idaho, in the final months of World War II, four years after his parents were uprooted from their home in Seattle, Hirai pushed the past to the side when he and his wife started a family. "My parents didn't bring it up much," he said. "And my wife was Caucasian, so we didn't make a big deal of the Japanese part at all." Hirai never has visited Japan and doesn't speak Japanese. His daughter's birth name is Kimberly Mae, after his mother, Mae Hirai, who is 89 years old and living in California. Hirai nicknamed his daughter Kimiko, although he doesn't know what it means in his ancestral land. And he never has returned to the internment camp, although a national monument was established there three years ago. "My life has been very American," he said. "And looking back, somewhat of a success." Inspired by Mary Lou Retton, Soldati originally hoped to become an Olympics gymnast, a dream that ended during her freshman year at Longmont High School, when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during a dismount. Soldati's father suggested diving, a natural complement to gymnastics and a switch that intrigued her. But those were rough years for the family. Soldati's mother died after a 10-year battle against cancer, a loss that would affect her in profound ways in college. In Judy Hirai's final weeks, she wrapped gifts and wrote notes for Gary to give to Kimiko at important moments: her 18th birthday, 21st birthday, wedding day. "I cry and cry," Soldati said of the occasions. Diving talent apparent As her natural talent as a diver surfaced at Colorado State, Soldati began sending highlight tapes to elite programs, including Indiana, which gave her a scholarship. In 1996, she won the NCAA 1-meter title. "She kind of came out of nowhere," Hirai said. There were some eyebrows raised there." One day, looking for a fresh challenge, Soldati climbed to the top of the platform at Indiana, then launched into an awkward dive. When she hit the water, "my right arm jerked behind my head and ripped my bicep off. I shouldn't have been up there. I really didn't know what I was doing," she said. During the next four years, Soldati underwent four shoulder-related operations, ruining her hopes for the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. She also suffered from depression, and body image and self-esteem issues, developing a compulsive addiction to exercising - a condition known as anorexia athletica, an eating disorder. "I had a difficult time mourning my mother's death," she said. "I think it was easier for me to not feel it and move on with life. I think that actually came back in college. It coincided with the injuries, for obvious reasons. "In college, a lot of my identity was tied into diving. My self-worth was based on how I was diving. So when I had my diving taken away, I just kind of fell apart, emotionally. I felt like, 'Who am I?' "It was a very shaky time." Found her 'rock' At Indiana, she met her future husband, Adam, who also was on the diving team. Drawing on deep religious faith, they worked through her problems together. "He was a rock through those times," she said. "My personality is pretty strange: Everything's black or white; I'm a perfectionist. So he really helps keep things in balance and helps me deal with emotions of injuries and surgeries. He's been absolutely incredible. "Both our passions are diving. We love everything about it." Soldati graduated in 1997 with a 4.0 grade-point average as the valedictorian of Indiana's kinesiology school. She also maintained a 4.0 GPA while earning a master's degree in athletic administration and sports management in 2001. But in November 2000, feeling her career had stalled, she moved to The Woodlands, Texas, to train under Olympian Laura Wilkinson's coach, Kenny Armstrong. "My diving took off. Five months after I moved, I made my first world team. I was a totally different diver. It was amazing," she said. Soldati placed second on springboard and platform at the 2001 U.S. indoor nationals and was sixth on synchronized platform and eighth on synchronized springboard at her first World Outdoor Championships. "Things were going great. I was really excited, and then - boom - I crashed in the national championships. My shoulder was killing me." A magnetic imaging resonance exam revealed that Soldati had torn a rotator cuff again. Doctors assured her she would be sidelined only temporarily. "I said, 'OK, I've been through this before.' But when they went in, they found I'd torn off the bicep again," she said. Kimiko's day Everything seemed perfect for Soldati at the U.S. Olympic trials. She held a commanding lead going into the finals. Her father, grandmother and more than two dozen family members and friends were in the stands in St. Louis. She wore her mother's wedding ring on her right hand on each dive. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Or could it? On her second dive of the finals, she over-rotated on an inward pike 21/2 somersault, making a huge splash that drew gasps from the crowd. Scores in the 4.0 to 4.5 range dropped her into second. And only one diver would earn an Olympics berth. But Soldati nailed the next three dives, closing with a reverse pike 21/2 somersault that drew 8s from every judge except one. This was Kimiko's day. Family members, friends, teammates - everyone fought back tears. "It's been an enormous struggle just to get here," she said, her voice shaky with emotion. "I've hit a lot of obstacles, but champions turn them into opportunities."
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