About
MICHELE’S BIO
Michele Mary Smith (born June 21, 1967) is an American, former collegiate All-American, two-time medal-winning Olympian, international pro left-handed hitting fastpitch softball pitcher and current sports commentator, originally from Califon, New Jersey.
Smith played her college career for the Oklahoma State Cowgirls for the years 1986–89 where she set numerous records in the now defunct Big Eight Conference.
She is also a double Olympic Softball gold medalist with the United States women's national softball team, having played in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
Michele Smith has been ESPN's lead college softball color analyst since 1998. In 2012, Smith became the first woman to serve as commentator for a nationally televised Major League Baseball game.
Smith is a USA Softball Hall of Fame honoree.
FUN FACTS
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!"
