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 Olympic Notebook: Rosensteel overcomes knee injury
Thursday, September 14, 2000 By Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
No matter what, Colleen Rosensteel's knee would have hurt. She was fighting in the world judo championships last fall when she slipped and her opponent fell right on her knee.
Now consider that Rosensteel competes in the heavyweight class. Now think about what happened to her knee. "That's a lot of weight," said Rosensteel, a Greensburg native, grimacing at the memory.
The injury turned out to be a partial tear of her posterior cruciate ligament, which isn't the typical knee ligament injury.
"I had to be original," she said.
Rosensteel soldiered on, but, by February, when the U.S. Olympic Judo team was competing in Europe, she simply couldn't do it. "Too much pain."
So it was back to Colorado Springs and the Olympic Training Center for Rosensteel, who had left there in the fall of 1996 when she decided she needed more specialized instruction. This time, four weeks of intense rehabilitation -- "They said, `You're strong -- we're going to make you stronger" -- performed wonders for Rosensteel.
She now describes the injury as "just an inconvenience" and is sure that she is better prepared for this, her third Olympic Games, than either of her previous two. She credits her new coaches, Steve and Irwin Cohen, and her move to train with them in suburban Chicago.
"My judo," Rosensteel said, "is night and day."
Rosensteel isn't quite ready to say it yet, but this may be her last Olympics. She is 33 years old, and her only post-Olympics plans include a trip home, where she hasn't really spent any substantial time since 1985, when she left to go to college at the University of Florida. For now, she is focusing only on her competition, which will take place Sept. 22. She is coming off a seventh-place finish at worlds, tied for her career best, and she would like to find herself in medal contention next week.
"Everything in the past has just build up to this moment," Rosensteel said. "Now I feel at the top of my game."
Pitt grad graces cover
The cover of the United States Judo media guide features another local judo player -- Marisa Pedulla. A Pitt graduate student, Pedulla fell just short of the medal round in 1996. She is shown fighting eventual gold medalist Marie Restoux of France.
DeHaven disappearing
Rod DeHaven is finding there is one problem with the Olympics. Between the travel and the obligations to fulfill, it's hard to find time to train ... which is an especially big problem for a marathoner. So DeHaven, who won the U.S. Olympic men's marathon trials that were held in May with the UPMC Health System/City of Pittsburgh Marathon, has found a way to squeeze in a few more intense workouts. He will leave Sydney the day after the Opening Ceremonies.
At the invitation of two-time Olympic marathoner Pete Pfitzinger, who won the 1984 Olympic marathon trials by one second over Alberto Salazar, DeHaven is going to New Zealand. Pfitzinger lives in Auckland now, and he contacted DeHaven immediately after the trials to invite him to visit. DeHaven was happy to take him up on the offer. The men's marathon is the last event of the Olympics; it will finish before the Closing Ceremonies on Oct. 1. "Usually, three weeks out from a marathon, you're still doing some good workouts," DeHaven said. "But at least I'll get something in two weeks before."
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