Bio: Toburen, Karen (Olympic Trainer - 1988)

Contact: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Toburen

----Source: Tribune/Record/Gleaner (Loyal, Clark Co., Wis.) 26 Oct 1988

Toburen, Karen (Olympic Trainer - 1988)

LA CROSSE -- Greenwood native Karen Toburen has many memories about the Summer Olympics in Seoul South Korea. But the athletic trainer for the USA's women's basketball to says that her fondest memory is "winning the gold (in women's basketball) and becoming the dominant team!'

Toburen, who was in South Korea from Aug. 10-Oct. 4, says the gold medal was extra special since it was first time in. 16 years that all the world's major powers competed in the games. But, she says the gold almost didn't happen. When the ream got on the floor to play Yugoslavia, the officials were from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.

"1 thought that for a medal game, we would have a Soviet-bloc official and one from either Australia or Brazil,'' says the  University of Wisconsin-La Crosse professor. Although the U.S. team won, 77-70, Toburen has no doubt that the officiating played a part in the close game.

Recalling the unfairness, she cites an incident during the game where she tried to get on the floor to assist an injured player. The officials forced her back, saying, 'She's all right." Toburen didn't get to help the player until her teammates helped her off the floor and to the sidelines.

The veteran trainer at the intentional level also saw politics play a part in other events. She was in the crowd when Roy Jones "literally lost the match he should have won" against Souls Korean Past Si-hun.

Toburen says the South Koreans applied pressure in many sports to become the top medal winner from Asia. "Their goal was to win more medals than Japan and China, and they did," she said.

As one of only 12 U.S. athletic trainers, Toburen work with other sports when she wasn't with basketball. She assisted Greg Louganis after he hit his head on the diving board in the preliminaries and she worked with tennis great Pam Shriver, "Having the opportunity to work with the wide variety or sports and athletes was quite gratifying," she said

Toburen says her Olympic work will provide excellent material for her athletic training classes at UW-La Crosse. "My experience allows me to bring back a lot to the students, especially in sports psychology," she said.

Toburen, the daughter of Delmar and Ruth Toburen, 200 W. Begley, Greenwood, doesn't plan to stay highly involved in athletic training nationally like she has for the past six years. She says the U.S. Olympic Committee likes to give others an opportunity to participate in international competition.