A family into heavy metal

By Philip Hersh

July 5, 2008 5:20 PM PT

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EUGENE, Ore. -- You could say that when Michael Carter retired as a track athlete, he took his ball and went home.

Where his daughter picked it up.

The ball in question is a shotput.

Carter used it to win an Olympic silver medal in 1984.

Michelle heaved it a personal-best and U.S. season-leading mark of 61 feet 10 1/4 inches Saturday to win the Olympic trials and make her first Olympic team.

‘There are not too many combos like this,’ Michelle, 22, said of herself and her dad.

Michael Carter has another distinction: the only person to win an Olympic medal and a Super Bowl ring in the same year, his first of nine seasons as a nose tackle (and three-time Pro Bowl player) for the San Francisco 49ers.

-- Philip Hersh

Olympics Blog

Philip Hersh

Philip Hersh, the former Olympic specialist for Tribune Co., covered 17 Olympics and reported from some 50 countries in 30 years with the Chicago Tribune. He likes to use sport as a way to write about the culture of a country or an athlete. Hersh graduated from Yale with a Bachelor of Arts in French literature. His passions include chamber music, road cycling (takes no PEDs except Advil) and Dr. Siri mysteries.