Columnist Dean Juipe: Olympian refuses to quit

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebookappears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4084.

She could have crossed the finish line in disgust and said "That's it. I quit."

At 41 years old and with two Olympic Games performances behind her, Victoria Herazo could have easily said her goodbyes and retired from the sport of racewalking after her disappointing performance in the U.S. Track & Field Trials that concluded Sunday in Sacramento.

Instead -- and despite her 13th place finish at the Trials -- she is already making plans to extend her career with the goal of adding to or bettering the many Masters records she already holds. The longtime Henderson resident, who has been staying and training in Carson City of late, has no intention of abandoning the odd sport that has made her a minor celebrity.

"I'm a little bit unusual," she admitted during a phone conversation. "The trials were very troublesome for me but I'm doing OK now. My competitive spirit will keep me going."

Herazo, who is also considering a return to school to complete her veterinarian studies, missed qualifying for the 2000 U.S. Olympic team for the first time in four tries. She qualified in 1988 but the U.S. didn't send a team; she finished 27th in the 1992 Olympics at Barcelona; and she was disqualified in the eighth kilometer during the 1996 Games at Atlanta.

Michele Rohl won the 20K trials at Sacramento with a time of 1:32.39, while Herazo came in at 1:45.23.

"I was so disappointed in myself because I've never done that poorly in a major competition," she said. "It was embarrassing because I let so many people down."

Still bothered by either nerve damage or a herniated disc that affects her right hip, Herazo received two red cards (for departing from the appropriate form) during the trials race and finished gingerly rather than risk a DQ. It says something about her that she completed the race and was back working out the very next day.

"I've had to hold her back, if anything," said her coach, Jim Bentley. "She's tough and she has some other goals."

He warned her before the trials that her age was due to become a factor, and they talked briefly about retirement afterward.

"I told her 'You know, Tori, you're not one of the fair-haired betting favorites for this race anymore,' " Bentley said. "I told her things had changed. She's had her ups and downs since she turned 41 and she's no longer one of the young ones out there.

"I thought she might retire after the trials but I don't think she seriously considered it. She wants every Masters record she can get her hands on." Of the 24 competitors in the trials, Herazo was the second oldest. But in Masters competition she's among the youngest.

"I want to break all the Masters records, or improve on the ones I already have so that anyone who comes after me will have a difficult time," she said. "That's reason enough not to quit."

Nor should she quit, given her spunk. The Olympics may be in her rearview mirror but life goes on and Herazo has modified her goals.

Very few of the athletes who participated in the trials and didn't make the U.S. team have her kind of stick-to-it-iveness, let alone tenacity.

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