A lingering calf injury prompted Michael Stember on Tuesday to retire from a track and field career filled with electric moments.
And if you ask the former Jesuit High School and Stanford star to pick a highlight, he harkens back to a magical day in the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in Hornet Stadium at Sacramento State.
Stember roared from seventh place with 300 meters to go to a stirring third-place finish in the 1,500 meters, the supportive chorus of his hometown crowd building to a crescendo as he passed the runners who remained in the way of his Olympic dream.
"I knew they were pulling for me, and they willed me onto the Olympic team," said Stember, 30.
"That was the biggest highlight of my career, and I think it was a great moment for Sacramento sports. … The stars aligned, so to speak."
Stember still needed to attain the Olympic "A" standard of 3 minutes, 36.80 seconds in the 1,500, which he did a month later with a personal-best 3:35.11 in Monte Carlo. He finished ninth in his semifinal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
"Walking through the tunnel as one of 12 athletes in Sydney, wearing USA on my chest, that was special," he said.
So was winning the 1995 state high school 1,600-meter title with a 4:04 effort as a junior at Jesuit and helping Stanford win the NCAA outdoor championship in 2000 by finishing second in the 1,500 and fourth in the 800.
Stember also won the national indoor title at 800 meters in 2004. But he came up short in his bid to return to the Olympics, finishing 11th in the 1,500 meters in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials at Hornet Stadium.
His attempt this year to again earn a chance to compete in the Olympics, this time at 800 meters, ended when he couldn't recover from a slight tear of his right calf muscle, suffered during an April 12 race in Westwood.
When he was injured, Stember had not yet achieved a qualifying time for the U.S. Olympic Trials, June 27-July 6 in Eugene, Ore.
"It's still sore; it's not going to heal up for another couple of weeks," said Stember, who grew up in Fair Oaks and has been working as an energy consultant for a Roseville-based solar company.
"The bottom line is it just wasn't my destiny this time around. I am at peace. … I just feel like it's time for me to move on."
Call The Bee's John Schumacher, (916) 326-5523.
