U.S. poised to set its team for Beijing

One month from Tuesday, the Olympic Games open in Beijing.

They'll light the flame on Aug. 8, and we'll find out for ourselves just how this thing's going to turn out.

Will the pollution be gone? How oppressive will Chinese security be? Who exactly are those surface-to-air missiles meant for? Who among athletes will be first to speak his mind about China? And are they going to get rid of that algae muck at the sailing venue in time? (Is that what China meant when they promised a "green Games"?)

But with the U.S. Olympic trials in track and field and swimming concluding today, attention has turned to the athletes, which is where China undoubtedly hopes the spotlight will remain.

After today, the U.S. Olympic team will be mostly set. More than two dozen competitors with Washington ties will be making the trip to China, and in the next few weeks, The Seattle Times will be telling you more about them.

With a month to go, here are some early local story lines to watch:

• 1. Megan Jendrick, Tacoma, is the rare swimmer to win gold (two actually) in one Olympics (2000), fail to make the team four years later, then come back to qualify again. Few can appreciate fickle fate more than Jendrick, who lost her team slot in 2004 to local rival Tara Kirk by 11 hundredths of a second, then won it back by one hundredth of a second by beating out Kirk on Tuesday in the 100-meter breaststroke. Will all this translate to a medal in Beijing? Jendrick swam a 1:07.50 at trials, behind Jessica Hardy's 1:06.87. They'll have to find more speed in the next four weeks. Leisel Jones and her eye-popping world-record time of 1:05.09 await.

2. Brad Walker, Mountlake Terrace, looked like a sure bet for an Olympic medal in pole vault a few weeks ago, but nothing's certain when you make your living as a human catapult. Walker is the reigning world champion and has jumped higher than anyone in the world this year. In the trials, Walker was undone by crosswinds and barely qualified for the team. Now we'll see if he can regroup to beat a field that includes Russia's Evgeniy Lukyanenko and Australia's Steven Hooker on Aug. 22.

3. Jill Kintner, Seattle, is competing on a blown-out knee after crashing, twice, in training. If she medals in the new sport of BMX, it'll be fitting for a sport known for spectacular pileups.

4. Hope Solo, Richland, is playing with a women's soccer team that has a new coach, a new playing style and an old score to settle. If all goes to plan, Solo will be in the net this time, and the Americans will make up for that humiliating 4-0 defeat in last summer's world championships.

5. Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, now with the Seattle Storm, play against one another in the Olympics. Aging stars and new blood signal a change in U.S. women's hoops. Can Bird help fend off the rest of the world — namely, Russia, Brazil and Jackson-led Australia — for a fourth straight gold?

6. Bernard Lagat has already qualified in the 5,000 meters and tries today to make it in the 1,500. He was barely breathing hard in the TV interview following his win in the 5,000 last week in Eugene, so watch for him to race in both arduous events in Beijing. The expressive Lagat is a Kenyan-turned-American who graduated with a double major (economics and computer science) from Washington State. But it was his stunning double at the 2007 world championships (gold in the 1,500 and 5,000) — the first male to accomplish that at worlds — that suddenly made Lagat the favorite for two golds at the Games.

Some comments from swim trials

A couple of thoughts as the Olympic swim trials conclude today in Omaha:

• In winning the short-course world championships this spring, Bremerton's Nathan Adrian used a risky strategy to position himself in the outside lane for the final. It meant swimming fast enough to make the final eight, but slow enough to be placed in the outside (faster times get inside lanes). The theory is that outer lanes have smoother water to plow through.

Adrian, at 19 the youngest in the field, wound up making his first Olympic team with a strong fourth-place finish (48.46) in the final last week. He had thought his Olympic dreams were over after tying for ninth following the semifinals. But Ryan Lochte dropped out to concentrate on other races, and Adrian won the swim-off to make the final. His fourth place qualifies him for a spot on the 400-meter freestyle relay team in Beijing.

• What's next for Tara Kirk?

As of Friday, she was considering retirement after feeling "devastation" in the aftermath of missing the Olympic team by one-hundredth of a second in the 100-meter breaststroke Tuesday night. Kirk, 25, had another chance to make the team in the 200-meter breaststroke, with the field's fifth-best time going into prelims (2:26:64), but in an event she hadn't been swimming well lately.

Unlike Jendrick, who in 2004 went on to finish sixth in the 200 breaststroke after her brutal defeat to Kirk, the 100 hangover lingered. Kirk finished 32nd (2:33.74), not even qualifying for the semifinal.

No one would blame her if she hung up her suit. Kirk would be 30 in 2012, when the next Olympics are in London. She won 2004 Olympic relay silver, had an undefeated NCAA career and is planning her wedding for next year. She has bachelor's and master's degrees from Stanford. And besides, not many elite athletes have the experience of being a Rhodes scholarship finalist to put perspective on a crushing swimming defeat (see Kirk's blog at wcsn.com/swimming).

But her competitiveness could keep her in the sport. She doesn't want to go out on a bad note. Four years is a long time — just ask Megan Jendrick. Stay tuned.

NOTE

• Items from USA Softball's Pink Out game, in which players wore pink uniforms to honor breast cancer survivors, will be auctioned on eBay with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Bid on game jerseys, a uniform autographed by the team, personalized cleats, pink gloves and more. The auction began Friday and ends at 11 a.m. July 14.

Meri-Jo Borzilleri can be reached at merijoborz@hotmail.com