By Karen Clem Fritz
Never
set limits. Set goals and achieve the impossible.
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Anita
before opening ceremony
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The
advice of a grade school coach has become the motto U.S. Olympian
Anita Allen lives by as she pursues a dream at the 2004 Olympic
Games in Athens this week, where she will compete in the modern
pentathlon.
U.S. Army Capt. Allen, 26, a 2000 graduate of the U.S. Military
Academy at West Point, has the support of three hometown counties
whose residents are bursting with pride to have one of their own
representing them at Athens.
Anita grew up on a 1,500-acre hog and cattle farm in the northeast
corner of White County. She has a Star City (Pulaski County) address
and attended schools at Pioneer (Cass County). She feels blessed
to claim all three county communities as home.
And
she is grateful for the hometown support that is buoying her through
her Olympic odyssey, as she noted in an email back home earlier
this week.
“Walking into the Olympic Stadium Friday night with USA on
my shoulders was a dream come true,” she wrote. “It has
been a long road ... literally. From my familiar gravel road near
Star City, to the paved mountains of West Point, to the real mountains
and gravel roads in Colorado Springs (where she trained for the
Olympics) - some of you have been with me all the while, some for
years, and some of late. Regardless, your support and friendships
have meant a lot. Thank you.”
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Anita with some of her family (left to right)
father Dean, grandparents Jane and Harold Chambers, aunt Janice
Taylor and mother Barb.
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Anita
left for Athens on Aug. 11. Her parents, Dean and Barb Allen, with
other family members left for Greece this past week. They will watch
Anita compete in the pentathlon Friday and stay on for the closing
ceremonies.
Anita
qualified for the Olympics a year ago at the Pan American games
where she was the champion of the women’s pentathlon event.
Her U.S. teammates in Athens will be Chad Senior, who returns from
the Sydney Games, and husband-and-wife Mary Beth and Vaho Iagoras-villi.
The men and women compete separately. Their coaches are Janusz Peciak
and Victor Stavenko.
The modern pentathlon, re-introduced to the Olympic Games in 1912
is an Olympic sport which consists of competition in five events
in one gruelling day.
Competitors earn points for their performances in each of the five
disciplines: pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, riding (equestrian
show jumping) and cross-country running.
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Family members Chandra Allen and Janette and
Elizabeth Moore (left) look through the Olympic rings at this
sign at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
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The
total points scored in the first four events determine the starting
order for the final event, turning the cross-country running into
a handicap event.
The ancient pentathlon in the Olympic Games dates back almost 700
years B.C. Anita’s mom Barb explains that the sport originated
out of the skills an ancient warrior would need to successfully
deliver a message to his king or commander. Those skills in the
ancient pentathlon included running, distance jumping, discus throw,
javelin throw and wrestling.
The modern pentathlon was first dominated by the Swedes, then by
the Hungarians and Soviets following World War II. The Hungarians
are favored to win the gold medals in both the men’s and women’s
competition in the 2004 Games.
A swimmer in middle school, Anita turned to running at Pioneer High
School where she was a stand-out on the cross country and track
teams.Her success attracted the interest of the coach at West Point.
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