Las Vegas Olympians feel secure about trip

Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004 | 10:09 a.m.

Proud to be an American? Absolutely, say the three Valley residents who are representing their country at the Summer Games in Athens.

Concerned to be an American amid the politically charged climate that envelops the Middle East? Well, that depends on which one you talk to.

"I have an aunt and uncle going over on a vacation and to watch some of the games but my mom doesn't want me to go at all," said Cassie Rice, longtime coach of Las Vegas elite gymnast Tasha Schwikert, who will be accompanying her pupil in Greece.

Rice got her point across by emphasizing "at all" when she spoke of her mother.

"She has made that (her concerns about safety) abundantly clear, every step of the way," Rice said.

"You always have that in the back of your mind. There's a little bit of concern but there's really nothing you can do about it. You can't just stay home for fear. You never know when (something could happen), but I'm not going to stay home and quit living."

Former UNLV star Lori Harrigan, who will be trying for her third gold medal as a pitcher for the U.S. women's softball team, said she doesn't fear for her own safety. But she is concerned for those who will follow her and her teammates overseas.

"My concerns are mostly for our friends and our families," she said. "As a security supervisor at Bellagio, I know what goes into planning for (a major event). So I have faith in the Olympic Committee and what they're doing to plan for our safety in the village.

"We're going to be under tight security there, so my real concern is going to be for my parents and my friends who are going over. We're not going to be able to see them very much and they're going to be out in the open, so that's one of my major concerns."

Schwikert, who helped the U.S. women finish fourth in the team competition at Sydney four years ago and was named as an alternate to this year's team, said her family won't be making the trip this time, unless it appears certain she'll compete.

Unlike most of her fellow Olympians, Schwikert will spend the majority of her time in Athens in a private apartment away from the Olympic Village. A strong believer in fate, she also said she's not too worried for her safety.

"There are concerns, but you can't worry yourself away over them," she said.

Hoping to defuse anti-American sentiment, many of the U.S. teams have been cautioned against making pro-American displays and statements during their stay in Greece. Most team uniforms reportedly will bear little or no USA identification.

That's going to be a little difficult for Harrigan, at 33 the oldest memeber of the softball team, who said she still gets chills when the national anthem is played.

"That's why I'm having such a hard time letting go," she said, having already announced her retirement from competitive softball effective at the end of these Games. "The pride of playing with 'USA' across your chest is so special."

Of the three Las Vegans in Greece, only Harrigan has been exposed to the potential dangers confronting athletes in a foreign land.

"When we played in Medellin, Colombia, in '97, that was scary," she said. "A bomb went off right across the street from our hotel. We wanted to go home. We didn't care if it was a qualifying tourament. We couldn't care less.

"It sounded like thunder," Harrigan said, recalling the bomb going off. "We had a couple of girls from Oklahoma on our team, and it wasn't too long after the Oklahoma City bombings, and those girls were like 'That was a bomb.'

"We looked across the street, and there were a bunch of people running from what looked like a subway area. The next day, there was nothing on TV, nothing in the newspapers. We found out it was the government bombing a local lottery place because it was making too much money. But nobody wanted to talk about it."

Harrigan said it's times like those when the human drama of athletic competition takes a back seat to self preservation.

"It's scary," Harrigan added. "But a lot of times all you see is the hotel and the softball field and that's about it."

Schwikert said she and her gymnastic teammates don't have to be cautioned about wearing their American pride on their sleeve.

"All of us pretty much know not to do that," she said about her past international experience and competing abroad. "It's sad it has to be like that but that's the way it is now. So that's the way it is. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, I guess."

And when in Greece, be cautious, says Rice, who planned to rent (at substantial personal cost) a cell phone in Athens, provided they were made available to the coaches and staff.

"We're staying in an apartment in Athens on the second floor. No phone, no air conditioning. Sounds like fun," she joked, before turning serious.

"If you ask me, it's kind of a geographically stupid area in which to have the Olympic Games at this time. Right across from Beirut and Israel and then there's Iraq, right there on that side of the world.

"That's why I'm trying to get a cell phone. Twenty-five dollars a day minimum and 79 cents a minute."