U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : LOS ANGELES--1991 : ATHLETES TO WATCH : Among 3,000 Competitors, Some Will Stand Out

LORI NORWOOD

Modern Pentathlon

The possibility that women’s modern pentathlon might become an Olympic sport in time for the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta has caused Lori Norwood to reconsider her plans to retire from competition and begin her next career as a sculptor.

During a two-year suspension from the sport after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 1986, Norwood returned to school at the University of Texas at Austin and completed requirements for an art degree.

Motivated by her mother, who campaigned to have the doping-test results overturned by arguing that the positive result was caused by a naturally-produced enzyme, Norwood returned to competition in 1989 and became the first American woman to win a gold medal in the sport’s world championship.