ORANGE COUNTY OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK : Rain Didn’t Dampen Blutreich’s Odyssey

Sure, Brian Blutreich was disappointed. But he wasn’t about to let it rain on his Olympic parade, even if it did on his event.

After spending a week in Olympic limbo--not knowing if he was in the Games or not--followed by a couple rolls of Olympic red tape and then a few days of the Olympic flu, Blutreich was finally ready to throw the discus in the Olympics Monday.

Then it rained.

Blutreich finished 13th in his flight and a distant 25th overall during the qualifying round. Only the top 12 advance to the final.

“About the middle of the competition it started raining and they stopped everything,” he said. “Even under good conditions, you have to wait 40 minutes between throws, so the delay was not conducive to making goods throws. It’s a rhythm event.”

And Blutreich was definitely out of sync.

The Capistrano Valley High graduate had a throw of 57.08 meters (187 feet 3 1/4 inches), well below the 209-4 he threw to qualify for the Olympics.

When the first flight finished, so did the rain. The second flight was held under clear skies.

Five of the top seven throws came in the later flight.

So what’s a guy to do?

“We’re about to go out on the town,” Blutreich said after the event. “I haven’t had a chance to see much of Barcelona yet. Tonight, I will. I’m going to have a nice dinner and check out the city.”

If Blutreich seems to be taking this all too well, it’s because just getting to compete was victory enough. For him, the Olympic ideal of just taking part was more of an ordeal.

“It was a strange two weeks,” Blutreich said. “It made it difficult to prepare.”

First, he didn’t make the team after finishing fifth at the Olympic trials. Then, he was on the team after Carlos Scott failed to make the Olympic qualifying distance and Kamy Kashmiri failed a drug test. Blutreich made the qualifying distance, but then was put on hold after Kashmiri appealed his suspension.

Blutreich flew to France with the team, awaiting word. Finally, it came. Blutreich was in.

Or was he?

“We got to Barcelona at 3 a.m. and I wasn’t on the computer with the other athletes,” Blutreich said. “They finally got me a 24-hour pass until they could get it squared away.”

He marched into the Olympic Stadium with the U.S. team, then spent the next three days in bed with a virus. He didn’t start training again until last Friday.

“It’s been a roller coaster ride,” Blutreich said. “The whole situation took a lot out of me. Emotionally I wasn’t ready and then I had the illness. It just wasn’t there.”

But Blutreich was.

“This has been wonderful, even with all the things that have happened,” he said. “I’ve had a chance to meet a lot of interesting people. I got to compete against guys I had only seen on television. I got to throw in front of 60,000 people. I’ve had the greatest time in my life.”

Add Blutreich: Four of the top five finishers from last year’s world championships did not qualify for the final, including world champion Lars Riedel of Germany.

So Blutreich is planning to be there to watch a wide-open discus final.

“It’s going to be wild,” he said. “This is the Olympic final, and there are going to be a bunch of guys no one has heard of.”

HOW THE OTHERS FARED

--Sheila Conover, Newport Beach, won her heat in the women’s single kayak 500 meters in 1:54.57, the fifth-fastest time overall.

--Mike Evans, UC Irvine, scored two goals to help the U.S. water polo team defeat France, 11-7.

--Cathy Marino, Huntington Beach, teamed with Traci Phillips of Honolulu to place sixth in their heat of the women’s double kayak 500, but advanced to the semifinals because several boats were scratched from the competition.

--Fred Spaulding, Costa Mesa, advanced to the semifinals of the men’s single canoe 500. Spaulding had to move through the repechage to qualify with the eighth-fastest time.

--Jim Terrell, Newport Beach, teamed with Stewart Carr of Indianapolis to place sixth in their heat and advanced to the semifinals of the men’s double canoe 500 team.

WHO’S COMPETING TODAY

Greg Barton, Newport Beach, in the 1,000-meter kayak heats and with Norman Bellingham in doubles 1,000-meter kayak heats.

Sheila Conover, Newport Beach; Cathy Marino, Huntington Beach, in the women’s quadruple 500-meter kayak heats.

Tammy Liley, Westminster; Elaina and Kim Oden, Irvine, with the U.S. women’s volleyball team against Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

Phil Nevin, Placentia, with the U.S. baseball team against Cuba in the semifinals.

Fred Spaulding, Costa Mesa, in the men’s 1,000-meter canoe heats.

Mark Hamilton, Costa Mesa, in the men’s quadruple 1,000-meter kayak heats.

This report was compiled by Times Staff Writer Chris Foster.