Harrigan wants third gold medal

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

When she turned 30 last month, Lori Harrigan officially became one of the old hands on the U.S. Olympic softball team.

But that doesn't mean gold-medal celebrations are becoming old hat, or that the Las Vegan automatically needs to retire from the game that has brought her fame and satisfaction for more than a decade.

After being welcomed home from Sydney by nearly 150 family, friends and co-workers Monday, Harrigan left the door open for a third straight Olympic appearance in Athens in 2004.

Harrigan would be 34 then, but the left-handed pitcher feels she has four more years in her talented arm, and room for a third gold medal around her neck.

"There are still a lot of things I want to prove to myself," Harrigan said amid the throng of well-wishers at McCarran International Airport. "I want to work on my mental focus, my concentration.

"And I want to pitch the gold medal game. I want to be the person the coach looks to when it matters the most."

Going to Athens would require another four-year commitment, but Harrigan said she is ready to make it. She is not worried about being too old in 2004, though she's the fourth-oldest current player behind Dot Richardson (39), Sheila Douty (38) and pitcher Michele Smith (33).

"Physically, I will be able to continue," Harrigan said. "My shoulder feels great. But it will depend on a lot of factors -- financial and whether I can keep getting time off work. But as far as wanting to go (to Athens), of course. There's no reason I need to stop now."

Indeed, why not try for a third gold medal? After all, the former UNLV star doesn't appear to be in retirement mode, if her terrific pitching in Sydney was any indication.

Harrigan was tabbed to start Team USA's preliminary opener against Canada on Sept. 16, and she responded with a game for the record books, tossing a complete-game no-hitter in a 6-0 win. She retired 20 batters in a row in the first solo no-hitter ever in Olympic softball.

But Harrigan's most crucial performance came six days later when Team USA needed her most. After 112 straight victories, the favored U.S. had amazingly lost three in a row to Japan, Australia and China, all in extra innings, and was in danger of missing the medal round.

Harrigan was called on to stop the bleeding and she proved up to the task, holding New Zealand to one hit in 5 1/3 innings in a 2-0 victory. She struck out eight before reliever Christa Williams closed out the final five outs.

From then on, having regained their equilibrium, the U.S. women motored to the gold medal, turning back China 3-0 in the semifinals, Australia 1-0 in the finals and Japan 2-1 in the grand final. Harrigan didn't pitch any of those games, somewhat to her chagrin.

"I wasn't going to stress about it," she said. "I just wanted to be ready if I was called."

"She really wanted to pitch again," said her father Dan Harrigan, who attended the Games along with her mother Sherry. "But Lori knew she was part of the team, and she did everything she was asked to do."

After missing their daughter's return to Las Vegas after the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, there was no way the Harrigans were going to miss this year's party. They told Lori they probably would not make it from their home in Anaheim, Calif., but she suspected they were fibbing.

"I gave them a call from San Francisco (en route to Las Vegas), but I got the answering machine," Harrigan said. "That made me think they were probably going to be here."

The welcoming party also included members of the UNLV softball team -- Harrigan starred for the Lady Rebels in early '90s -- and co-workers from Bellagio, where Harrigan works in security. One of two Bellagio banners called Harrigan, "Our 2-time Golden Girl."

In 2004, the 2 might have to be X'd out and replaced by a 3.

"She wants to shoot for Athens," Dan Harrigan said. "I thought she was going to retire, but now it looks like she is going to stick with it."