Lauren Wenger Cleared to Play in Water Polo Final

Lauren Wenger in Olympic action

U.S. water polo player Lauren Wenger will be back in the pool for the goal medal match Friday, two days after team doctors believed she broke her right hand.

August 20, 2008

U.S. water polo player Lauren Wenger will be back in the pool for the goal medal match Friday, two days after team doctors believed she broke her right hand.  X-rays revealed no broken bones, U.S. coach Guy Baker said Thursday, and Wenger has been cleared to play against the Netherlands. 

U.S. coach Guy Baker had believed that Wenger broke her hand in the closing minutes of the 9-8 victory over Australia.  She was taken to a local hospital for X-rays, but team doctors were confident it was broken.

Previously, Baker had said she wouldn't play Thursday in the final against the Netherlands, which upset Hungary 8-7 in the other semifinal game.

"She does a lot of things for us, especially offensively," he said. "We've got time to sit down and figure it out. We've got a couple days to kind of make some adjustments and do what we're going to need to do."

Wenger, a 6-foot-3 center forward from California, is the team's most versatile player, someone Baker compares to a five-tool player in baseball.

Wenger has provided a big boost to Baker's squad since working her way onto the national team in 2005. She helped the Americans finish first in the 2006 FINA World League, the 2006 Holiday Cup, the 2007 FINA World Championships, the 2007 World League Super Final and the 2007 Pan American Games.

She also earned most valuable player honors at last year's World Championships after scoring 11 goals.

But she's seen more adversity than accolades this year, breaking the middle finger on her left hand and spending six weeks in a cast. Just as she was returning to the pool, she broke her ring finger on the same hand and ended up in another cast and out even longer.

Wenger is a FigureRX Magazine "top twenty female Olympic physiques" winner.

Source:  NBC Olympics