Did you know?

• Michele's favorite way to stay in shape is cycling and some bike rides are over 60 miles long!

• On July 21, 1986, while Michele's father was driving her home from an oral surgeon's appointment. The sleeping Smith was thrown from the truck when her door opened on a turn. She was thrown into a roadside post, chopping off part of her elbow bone and tearing her tricep from her left arm, which severed the muscle and nerve endings in her golden pitching arm. The accident forced her to not only face the trauma of her injury, but also the end of her life as she had known it. "It was like losing my identity," she says. Her life was far from over, after 9 intensive months of rehab she made her comeback as a pitcher at Oklahoma State University. She returned throwing 3 mph faster than before the accident!

• In one of life's ironic twists, Michele found herself on the field when the sport debuted in its first Olympics exactly 10 years to the day (JULY, 21 1996) after what appeared to be her career ending accident.

• Michele has the star power to create a frenzy in Japan, where fans clamor to touch her and get her autograph. "It's flattering. They want to shake your hand and scream. I'll shake your hand. Just don't scream!" She has signed $500- $800 Coach purses, briefcases, even the hood of a car. "One and half years later, it was wearing off. They came back and said, 'You have to sign it again!"