August 2, 1996
Jackson hopes to hit for the cycle
By CHRIS STEVENSON -- Sun Sports
ATLANTA -- Linda Jackson makes perky Mary Hart look like she's overdosed on Valium.
Linda Jackson makes the Tasmanian Devil look like he's out for a casual stroll to the pickup window.
Driven would be an adjective frequently used in connection with Linda Jackson's name.
So would bubbly, energetic, insatiable, dynamic, hungry, relentless, desperate, inspired, nuts and crazy.
Certifiable.
As a teenager, she once dictated an essay to a friend sitting on the stairs nearby, all the while mowing the lawn at the Jackson household so she and her friend would have enough time to go to a movie.
This is the same girl who wanted so badly to raise money for her swimming team, she would go door-to-door on crutches on icy steps in February.
So, of course, the Nepean cyclist will compete in the women's individual time trials tomorrow, one day short of two weeks after ripping her right forearm open in a horrific, first-lap crash in the women's road race.
Now, she not only says she'll compete in tomorrow's individual time trial, but is out to, pardon me, win.
First. Gold. Not-here-to-trade-pins stuff.
"I hope I can get in the top five, but I want to win," said the 37-year-old, who gave up a $300,000-a-year job as a vice-president of an investment banking firm to pursue her Olympic dream.
"When they carted me off to hospital, they told me my arm was broken and my dream was over. Now I've got a pretty good shot. I'm completely ecstatic. Everything I didn't get a chance to give in the road race, I'm going to give tomorrow. I'm pretty pumped."
As you might have gathered, a lack of enthusiasm is not one of Jackson's problems.
After ripping her arm open just below the right elbow on a signpost or a mailbox -- she was going by so quickly it was hard to notice exactly which -- she suffered extensive tendon and muscle damage.
As Clara Hughes was being awarded her bronze medal, Jackson stood by, her arm in a sling, her eyes red from crying.
All the sacrifices she had made, giving up her job, the comfy security, the jet-set lifestyle, the buzz of pulling off $5-million deals, all had appeared to be for almost nothing, seven lousy minutes of racing, hardly enough to break a sweat before the confusing tangle of bodies and bikes sent her flying.
After consulting with Team Canada physiotherapist Sandy Rennie, she put a bandage on her arm and got back in the saddle.
She missed just one day of training.
"I think she was p---d off that she fell," said Rennie. "She wanted desperately to come back again after all the work it took to get here.
"Linda is really focused right now. I think it's because mentally she knew within 24 hours of her fall that her injuries would not hold her back. That allowed her to not think about anything else except wanting to be in the time trial."
She couldn't really hold the handlebars, but, hey, she's never really been bothered by minor inconveniences.
So, why wouldn't she race in the time trial tomorrow?
She makes you feel stupid for asking.
"I'm going to give it everything I have, every ounce of energy," she said.
Okay, okay. You get tired just listening to her.
"I know this isn't my main event (the road race was -- she's a good climber, not so good sprinting), but when (American speedskater) Dan Jensen won, that wasn't his main event, either. The Olympics are filled with lots of stories like that."
Jackson goes off at 2:13:30 tomorrow afternoon, about in the middle of the 25-woman field.
The riders are sent off in 90-second intervals and must complete two laps of the 26.1-km course through suburban Buckhead. Whoever has the best time wins. Hughes is a strong medal favorite.
Jackson has been training in Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta and staying at a friend's place. She found the athletes village "a zoo," especially after the bomb went off in Centennial Park early last Saturday morning.
She wanted to go somewhere, but couldn't because there had been a bomb scare and the security people were doing a sweep. She didn't want any distractions.
"I'm trying not to think about the race during the day. I'm just trying to stay nice and quiet," she said.
Quiet?
She'll probably have an easier job winning tomorrow's race.
