THE 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES : Diving : Mitchell Somersaults to the Gold Medal

All was hanging on that tricky, fickle 1 1/2 forward somersault with 3 1/2 twists, and Michele Mitchell was concentrating intently, trying not to remember the error she had made in the qualifying meet.

She hesitated on the 10-meter platform at the Indiana University Natatorium for a couple of seconds longer, picturing the dive in her mind’s eye.

And then she did it. Correctly this time. Good for the Pan American Games gold medal, her first gold medal in international competition in years. Good for 79.68 points and an eventual Pan Am Games-record total of 453.96. Good for another diving gold medal for the United States, making it three-for-three and a solid bet for a sweep when Greg Louganis competes on the 10-meter platform today.

“I knew when I hit the water straight that I had it,” Mitchell said. “Then I was a happy camper.”

It was the seventh dive of her program, and it was crucial.

Until the seventh dive, Veronica Ribot of Argentina was challenging Mitchell for the gold, and Mary Ellen Clark of the United States was in line for the bronze.

But after Mitchell’s success and Clark’s failure, it was left to Ribot and Wendy Fuller of Canada to vie for the silver and bronze.

Fuller, 22, the older sister of springboard bronze medalist Debbie Fuller, scored 68.04 points on her last dive to finish with 391.32 points and the silver medal--her best finish ever in an international meet. She usually finishes behind her younger sister.

Ribot, 25, a graduate of Southern Methodist University who trains in Miami, took the bronze for Argentina after she missed on her last dive. She had won the silver on the platform in the 1983 Pan Am Games.

“Unfortunately for Veronica, her miss opened the door for me,” Wendy Fuller said.

That was what had happened for Clark in the U.S. trials at Battlesville, Okla., the week before. Clark was the surprise winner when Mitchell had trouble with her seventh dive.

Clark, a graduate of Penn State and a graduate student at Ohio State, where she trains with Vince Panzano, then won her first national championship and a spot on this Pan Am team. Her previous best had a been a fifth at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1987.

So it was quite an upset when she placed ahead of Mitchell, who had been the silver medalist in the 1984 Olympic Games.

That Mitchell was able to break the Pan Am record of 426.57 set by Wendy Wyland in 1983 was less of a surprise, however.

Mitchell trains with the Mission Bay Makos and Coach Ron O’Brien, as does Wyland, the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist.

Wyland missed this competition altogether because of an injured left shoulder. She is expected to be back in training by October.

But it is not necessarily true that the United States would have won the gold and the silver here if Wyland had been here instead of Clark.

“If Mary Ellen (Clark) had dived here like she did at nationals, she’d be second,” O’Brien said.

Said Clark: “I’m disappointed because this was a mediocre day for me, and this is not when you want to be mediocre. . . . Mentally, I was just a little bit off. I just didn’t have it.”

Even if she had been in top form, it is doubtful she could have beaten Mitchell.

O’Brien said that unless Mitchell has a bad day, there is a big gap between her and the rest of the field in women’s platform diving.

Missing the 1 1/2 with 3 1/2 twists would have made it a bad day.

“I was glad that she didn’t stand there and think about it too long,” O’Brien said. “If you stand there too long, all sorts of bad things can come into your head.”

O’Brien was celebrating on the deck as Mitchell emerged from the water and looked around for her father. She always looks to her father after a dive.

Sunday, he was wearing a baseball cap from her alma mater, the University of Arizona.

“He didn’t fly in until this morning,” she said. “He had trouble with the water (record rains) in Chicago. But he called me and told me to look for him in a red, white and blue hat.”

Red, white and blue seemed to be the favorite colors of about half the fans packed into the Natatorium.

Greeting that crowd with her first Pan Am medal around her neck, her first gold at this level, made the day for Mitchell.

“That,” she said, “was the best feeling.”