ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: NOTES
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
Among the huge crowd in Olympic Stadium today, Tisha Waller said she still will hear the little voices.
Waller, a South Boston, Va., native, is one of the locals in the Atlanta Games. She grew up in Decatur and is a kindergarten teacher in Tucker.
She's also the U.S. hope for a medal in the women's high jump, which begins preliminary competition today. Waller, a three-time All-America jumper at North Carolina, won the U.S. Olympic Trials here in June with a leap of 6 feet, 43/4 inches.
``During the trials, most of my students sat directly behind the high jump,'' Waller said. ``They were very excited. They're 5 or 6, so when they see their teacher in any capacity other than in the classroom, they get very excited.''
The 6-foot Waller, 25, said most of her students' parents had bought Olympic track and field tickets to her event even before she qualified, ``so they had a lot of faith.''
Whether or not she wins a medal, she does have a gift for each of her students. The Mattel Co. has provided her 26 Cabbage Patch Kid dolls to give to them.
Of course, teaching and high-jumping don't exactly mix.
``During the fall I travel 30 minutes to work,'' Waller said. ``After school, from 4-9 [p.m.], I train at Emory University. This doesn't give me a lot of free time. I have to sacrifice and that's why I have been successful.
``I am a role model as a teacher. That's what I do, so I take on that responsibility. I try to show you can be an athlete and a student to the children. I teach individualism and giving your best.''
Those students will return her devotion today in the kind of field trip they may never experience again.
WHO'S NEXT: The defection Tuesday of Cuban assistant boxing coach Mariano Leyva, who had been on loan to Mexico's program, has Games watchers asking whether any more from the island nation will follow.
Although there is no indication that any Cuban baseball players will follow the exit last month of pitcher Rolando Arrojo, scouts say two players could command big bucks in the major leagues: third baseman Omar Linares and hard throwing right-hander Pedro Lazo, the best pitcher remaining on a defection-depleted staff.
MORE GAMES: The crowds will leave Georgia's capital after Sunday night's Closing Ceremonies, then - albeit on a smaller scale - return 10 days later.
The Olympic city is the host for another quadrennial international sports event, the Paralympics. About 3,500 disabled athletes from 127 nations will compete here in the Games from Aug.15-25.
The Paralympics' mascot, a bird named Blaze, has been displayed prominently in some locations during the Olympics. There also is a Paralympics phone ``hotline'' for questions - (404) 222-8691.
About half the number of Olympics visitors are expected in Georgia for the Paralympics, which is forecasting 1 million visitors to support the 3,500 athletes. The Olympics has 10,700 competitors.
LONG WAIT: Deservedly, much has been made about how long women's softball has waited for a berth in the Olympics. When the U.S. won the gold medal, it ended a long wait for a man, too.
U.S. coach Ralph Raymond, 72, has been coaching women's softball since 1963, and is a former coach of the famed Raybestos Brakettes.
Raymond is known for his incessant singing, and his constant comparisons of his gold-medal team to baseball players who played long before his medalists were born.
``They're a throwback to the days I played,'' Raymond said of the U.S. team that won the gold by beating China on Tuesday night in Columbus. ``You enjoyed every single minute of every inning you played.
``That's how this team is. The bottom line isn't money. The bottom line is playing the game.''
POWER AID: Bromantan, the drug detected in the systems of three medal winners who were disqualified from the Atlanta Games earlier this week, was described as a ``designer drug,'' by an IOC medical official.
The drug is regarded as a powerful central nervous system stimulant that reduces the perception of fatigue. The factor that has raised eyes here, however, is the drug's ability to help the body tolerate high temperatures.
Was it created just for the Atlanta Games? There are no answers yet, but two Russians, a swimmer and a wrestler, and a Lithuanian cyclist lost medals after they tested positive for it. The earliest published research on bromantan dates to 1993, according to a prominent Montreal lab.
MAIL CALL: Supposedly, neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow can stop the mail. The Olympics have.
For two weeks, the U.S. Postal Service hasn't been able to get to the 40 mailboxes inside the Olympic Ring in downtown Atlanta. In fact, the boxes were removed from the streets during the Games.
The Postal Service didn't want mail dropped in them, because nothing could be collected. Area residents and businesses were told of the mailbox removal before the Olympics.
Within the Ring alone, 47,084 residences and 9,546 businesses are usually served by the Postal Service.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Members of the gold medal-winning U.S. softball teamby CNBtake a victory lap as they acknowledge the crowd Tuesday night after
their 3-1 victory over China in Columbus, Ga.