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Lisa FernÁndez

Another Olympics



The U.S. team was heavily favored again going into the 2000 Sydney (Australia) Olympics-they had a 110-game winning streak going into those games-but victory did not come as easily to them in Sydney as it had in Atlanta. The team lost three games in a row, to Japan, China, and their nemesis Australia, during the round-robin portion of the tournament. The game against Australia was an eerie replay play of their 1996 round-robin matchup: In the first 12 and two-thirds innings Fernández allowed only one hit and no runners to score, and she set an Olympic record of 25 strikeouts. Then in the bottom of the thirteenth inning an Australian batter hit a home run off of her to win the game. After that, Fernández ordered her team into the showers, uniforms and all, to wash off the "voodoo." Apparently it worked, because the United States won all of their games after that. They beat China, Australia, and Japan, in that order, in the playoffs to win the gold.



Awards and Accomplishments

1990, 1992 NCAA championships (with UCLA)
1990, 1994, International Softball Federation world softball championships
1998
1991-93 Given Honda Award for best American college softball player
1991, 1999 Pan American Games
1992 Women's World Challenger Cup
1993 Named Woman of the Year by NCAA
1993 Recipient of Honda-Broderick Cup for most outstanding collegiate female athlete
1993 Intercontinental Cup
1996, 2000 Olympics
1998 South Pacific Classic; also named most outstanding pitcher
1999 Canada Cup; also named most valuable player
2000 Sets a record for most strikeouts in one Olympic game, with 25
2002 World softball championships

Additional topics

Famous Sports StarsOther SportsLisa FernÁndez Biography - A Rough Start In The Sport, Bigger Opportunities, World Champions, Chronology, Another Olympics