Dara Torres, a 45-year-old 12-time Olympic medalist, had created it look so possible for such a lengthy period in five Olympics: 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000 and 2008. She had created three of those Olympic groups before flourishing 17-year-old celebrity Missy Franklin was blessed.
But Thursday evening at the U.S. Olympic diving tests in Omaha hold'em, she just skipped creating it six, completing 4th in the 50-meter freestyle in 24.82 a few moments, nine-hundredths from second position and a journey to London, uk.
We think everything's possible at any age nowadays. Females pregnancy in their overdue 40s or beginning 50s. A former chief executive, Henry H.W. Shrub, sky-diving to enjoy his 85th wedding. Tom Watson nearly successful the English Start last year at 59. Glass pitcher Jamie Moyer successful Significant Group Football games in his overdue 40s.
We should keep in mind that these achievements are not the standard — comebacks are quite unusual in activities.
On Weekend, in the same half-hour that Torres certified third quickest in the 50 freestyle at the tests, 22-year-old 2008 Olympic females stuff all-around silver medalist Nastia Liukin thudded to the rugs, experience first, when her arms provided way on the irregular cafes, her specialised.
That very same evening hours, 31-year-old swimmer Anthony Ervin came back after a 12-year lack to create the U.S. group in the gents 50 freestyle, while 18-year-old gymnast Rebecca Bross, competitive with a horrible scratch snaking along her right kneecap, created three faults on the cafes, such as one harmful drop, that likely finished her profession.
And yet there stood Torres, who nearly made her sixth Olympic team 28 years after she made her first.
Afterward, she said she would retire.
"I think tonight it will probably sink in a little more," she said Monday. "I was very emotional before my swim. I was putting my suit on with my trainer, Anne Tierney, and we started crying."
Even though she has hardly had it easy, undergoing intricate shoulder and knee surgeries after winning three silver medals at the Beijing Games, Torres is everything the "older" gymnasts could not be. Though they are less than half Torres' age, they found themselves betrayed by time and their bodies in a sport that often places elite athletes on the discard pile before they graduate from high school.
A 13-minute span Sunday night in San Jose was especially devastating to two of the sport's recent stars. Liukin, attempting a late comeback after enjoying the spoils of victory after Beijing, gamely continued with her routine after her jarring full-body slam when her hands couldn't hold on to the bar. She finished proudly, never shedding a tear. Later, she performed a strong balance beam routine and sent off members of the 2012 Olympic team — the team she did not make — with words of support and wisdom.
Gymnastics is part sport, part high-wire act, and Liukin was not the only gymnast who fell Sunday night. After Bross' third miscue, her coach, Valeri Liukin — Nastia's father — told her it was time to stop. Bross has a bushel-barrel of world championship medals but had never made an Olympic team, hampered by injuries in 2008 and again this time. Because gymnastics favors the tiniest, youngest, most nimble bodies, Bross is almost certain to never have another chance.
