Olympic gold medalist coming to town in October

As American discus Olympian Stephanie Brown Trafton sent her first throw sailing into the humid Beijing night, she knew it was going to have to be a good one.

"When I throw it well my first time out, I usually get too excited and start throwing the disc into the cage on my remaining attempts," Brown Trafton said with a laugh. "So I came back with a couple of fouls, but I was happy just to get a couple more out there."

It didn't end up mattering as that first throw, which traveled 212 feet and 5 inches, was enough to carry Brown Trafton to the Olympic gold medal in August.

And it's carried here just about everywhere else in the month since.

"I've been doing so many different types of media events," she said. "Interviews, television, radio, newspapers. I've been going to elementary schools to talk with kids about my experience and showing everyone the gold medal.

"The thing is, this kind of thing only comes around once in a lifetime. They Olympic fascination dies down pretty rapidly once the Games are over, so you have to get out there and share the experience while people are still thinking about what happened."

That's just what she'll be doing next month as she serves as the special guest speaker at the third annual Boys and Girls Club of Carson Valley "Go To Bat For The Kids Sports & Travel Extravaganza" at the Carson Valley Inn on Oct. 18.

Brown Trafton had a roundabout connection with a local coach whose wife was friends with event chair Renea Louie.

"I'm a big supporter of any charitable organization that deals with trying to keep kids on the right track, developing social and life skills. Boys and Girls Club is definitely a great one," Brown Trafton said.

She'll also be going an autograph and picture session at Fleet Feet in Carson City earlier in the day.

"I've been keeping pretty busy," she said. "But I have some vacation plans coming up and I'll get some rest and relaxation after the frenzy kind of dies down."

And after that, it'll be back to work.

"I'm scheduled to get back into sport-specific training in December," she said. "I'm working out and keeping in shape until then."

This year has been a breakout season, to say the least, for Brown Trafton.

She made the Olympic team in 2004, but didn't make it out of the preliminary rounds in Athens. Since then, she's just been trying to find the right balance for a working, non-college athlete. It all came together for her this year.

"The past four years I've just been trying to figure out the entire package of an elite athlete not supported by a college," she said. "You have to wear many masks.

You're an athlete, but you're also a self-motivator and a coach. I also work part time. It takes a lot of time management, just figuring out a balanced routine.

"With the Olympics coming up this year, it was really a great motivator for me to get things together."

Indeed, she started clicking on all cylinders early in the year and posted a personal best of 217-1 coming into the Olympics.

Still, she only placed third at the U.S. Olympic Trials and was considered a long shot at a medal.

"Nobody had really expected me to make the Olympic team in 2004 and I shocked everyone then," she said. "I ended up being able to shock everyone one more time."

After her home run of a first throw, she fouled on her second and third attempts. She followed with successful throws in the fourth and fifth rounds, but it was the initial throw that stood firm.

It was the first U.S. gold in the event in 76 years and the first medal of any color in the event since 1984.

It was only after Brown Trafton had it hanging around her neck, however, that the weight of what had just happened began to sink in.

"Being on the podium and hearing the national anthem is something every athlete wants to do," she said. "It's such an intimate experience, but at the same time you are sharing it with the rest of the world. That's why everyone loves to watch the Olympics, they get to share in those intimate moments."

Brown Trafton is hardly a stranger to Douglas County.

She was married in 2005 at Edgewood-Tahoe and visited the Lake in March to celebrate her anniversary with her husband.

"We haven't spent a ton of time up there, but we love it," she said.

The Boys' and Girls' Club dinner is set for 5 p.m. at the Shannon Ballroom in the Carson Valley Inn.

Tickets are $50 each for a cioppino and pasta feed and silent auction, which includes items like a private airplane ride over Lake Tahoe, various vacation destinations, NASCAR, MLB and NFL tickets, ski passes, sports memorabilia and restaurant and hotel gift certificates.

Special guests include Brown Trafton, members of the Reno Bighorns NBA Developmental League team and possibly a number of Professional Golf Association stars.

Tickets to the event are available at all Carson Valley Edward Jones offices, Carson Valley Accounting, Carson River Community Bank, the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Nevada State Bank Minden branch.

For more information, contact Renea Louie at 782-6715.