Tammy Crow was supposed to share this medal, just as she thought she’d share her life.
She won bronze Friday night as part of the U.S. synchronized swimming team. Crow accepted it with pride and soon will leave Greece for uncertainty, her past hanging much more heavily than any medal.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” she said. “I’ve had the worst part of my life and the best part of my life.”
When Crow, 27, returns to Santa Clara, Calif., she knows what lies ahead. In October, she’ll begin serving a 90-day jail sentence for vehicular homicide.
In February 2003, Crow was behind the wheel of her boyfriend’s car when it slid out of control, crashing into two trees. Crow broke several bones, but both passengers–her boyfriend, Cody Tatro, and 12-year-old Brett Slinger, a student of Tatro’s–died.
In January, a judge agreed to postpone her sentence until after the Olympics.
Crow became one of the most controversial figures surrounding the 2004 Games. She waged a legal battle to appeal the conviction, never losing hope that she could compete in Athens.
“We both had plans to make our lives together,” she said of Tatro. “I don’t know what to do now.”
Preparing for the Games wasn’t easy, she said. There were times she didn’t want to come to practice, times her teammates had to plead with her. Navigating and negotiating her feels has been a non-stop battle, she said.
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“I felt like I was running a maze in my head,” she said.
Crow has hardly been portrayed as a sympathetic character. Her sport has traditionally lived well below the public’s radar, usually only surfacing as a punch line. But as Crow battled for permission to compete in Athens, critics popped up everywhere. The parents of Slinger, the young boy who died, have said Crow should not have been allowed to compete in the Games.
In Athens the team has met little criticism.
“Fortunately, people have been very, very kind,” said Chris Carver, coach of the U.S. team.
The only time the group worried about Crow’s state of mind was earlier this week when copies of a newspaper with a column critical of Crow began to circulate.
“Everybody was worried for her and wanted to hide the newspaper,” Carver said.
Crow saw it, but her nerves weren’t shaken. Her teammates said it would have been difficult competing without Crow.
“It was so exciting for our team to have her here as a swimmer and the spirit she is,” team captain Anna Kozlova said. “The Games meant even more for us to have her here.”
Carver again defended Crow’s placement on the team.
“This girl did not do anything that should have prevented her [from competing],” Carver said. “I don’t say that lightly.”