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August 25, 2004 11:18 am

Lindquist finishes ninth in triathlon

By MIKE PRATER

Gannett News Service

VOULIAGMENI, Greece - Barb Lindquist doesn't have a medal from her first and only experience as an Olympic triathlete. But now that it's over, she has a plan.

``We bought a house a year ago and it's very sparse. I'm excited to do some home decorating. We've been living with bare bones and I'm ready to buy carpet and chandeliers,'' she said.

Lindquist, who lives and trains on the Idaho-Wyoming border, finished ninth on a postcard kind of day at the Summer Olympics on Wednesday.

Mediterranean waters. Sandy beaches. Blue skies and temperatures in the low to mid-80s. The slick, ritzy tourist suburb of an ancient city. A challenging course for swimming, cycling and running. And 50 of the most well-conditioned athletes on the planet.

What more could you ask for?

``Obviously I'd love to be on the podium, but I did as much as I could today with what I had, and I'm so happy that an American got on the podium,'' Lindquist said after finishing in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 25.49 seconds.

Kate Allen of Austria charged hard in the final 200 yards of the run to win gold in 2:04:43.45, followed by early race leader Loretta Harrop of Australia (6.72 seconds back).

American Susan Williams won bronze, 25.47 behind the leader. Williams overcame an early crash on her bike to become the first American to medal in Olympic triathlon, which made its debut four years ago in Sydney. She made her move with the fastest bike ride of anyone in the field.

``I knew my strangth was the bike, even though the others (Harrop and American Sheila Taormino) were a little bit ahead. I still felt strong enough,'' said Williams, an aerospace engineer who wants to become an astronaut.

Lindquist, 35, didn't qualify for Sydney and plans to race only one more year before starting a family and opening a triathlon-themed bed and breakfast home in Victor, Idaho. She has been using that home as a training residence.

``We'll probably start it next year, test it out a little bit and hopefully go full bore after that,'' said Lindquist, who is married to her coach, Loren Lindquist.

The home they live in, the one she wants to decorate, is in Alta, Wyo.

``Right now I have nothing planned but the home, and that sounds really good to me,'' Lindquist said.

She said she's looking forward to a white Christmas. Then it's off to Australia for their summer racing season. And then it's time to start raising a family, she said.

Lindquist's most recent family has been the U.S. triathlon team. The three women here are close friends. They've been sharing the same house in Athens. At one point during Wednesday's 24.8-mile bike ride, the three Americans were by themselves in a bunch.

``Sheila said, `How cool is this,' and that said it all. This has been such a wonderful Olympic experience,'' Lindquist said.

``Sports is sports and all we really care about is having a good time,'' said Taormino, a Michigan resident and former Olympic gold medal swimmer who helped dominate that part of the race.

Taormino and Harrop emerged from the .9-mile swim with a two-minute lead over Lindquist, who does her swim training at the local recreation center in Jackson, Wyo.

``Sheila was just on fire in the water and it was really hard to stay with her,'' Lindquist said.

She burned a lot of energy in the swim, and once the bike race started, Taormino and Harrop dropped her on the first hill.

``Which was my plan to do to everybody else, but that's racing,'' Lindquist said.

She rallied hard and caught the two leaders, and when the bike race was over, she was in second place and only 17 seconds behind Harrop, the 1999 world champion.

Lindquist, ranked No. 1 in the world and the winner of a $250,000 payday at a triathlon in Minnesota last year, struggled with the 23rd fastest run of the day. She briefly moved into third place on the 6.2-mile course, but never challenged for the lead.

``If I had any energy left, I wouldn't have let all those people pass me,'' Lindquist said.

As Lindquist approached the finish line, with ocean waters on her left and a large grandstand area on her right, she heard through a loudspeaker that Williams had won bronze.

Lindquist, who promised to smile for the race, crossed the line just past noon Athens time with a huge grin on her face and sweat pouring down every other part of her body.

``I'm so psyched for Susan, she had the race of her life,'' Lindquist said. ``She had the swim she needed, she rode like a maniac and she had a really solid run and held people off when she needed to. I hurt right now, but I'm really happy.''

Taormina finished 23rd.

The men's competition is Thursday on the same course.

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