U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL LOS ANGELES 1991 : NOTEBOOK : Norwood Pulls Out of Modern Pentathlon

Lori Norwood, the favorite to win the gold medal in women’s modern pentathlon, pulled out of the competition after suffering a knee injury during the fencing portion Wednesday at the Shrine Auditorium.

The 1989 world champion from Bryan, Tex., Norwood says she twisted her right knee while trying to avoid an opponent’s attack. Her coach, Janusz Peciak, and Bill Hanson, the executive director of the U.S. Modern Pentathlon Assn., did not wait for the X-ray results before deciding to avoid any extra strain on the knee heading into the world championships Oct. 31 in Sydney, Australia.

“Lori is the most valuable woman we have,” Hanson said. “Going into the world championships and knowing that a knee injury is very iffy, between her coach and myself we decided not not risk it.”

Said Norwood, named amateur athlete of 1990 by the Women’s Sports Foundation: “We’re just being real careful about it. The problem is, and they are right, my instinct is to go all out and I wouldn’t be thinking about protecting the injury.”

Competition continues today with swimming at USC and shooting at Prado Olympic Park and concludes Friday with running in Griffith Park and equestrian at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.